Festivals and sponge cake

Hello there, 

Time for your next update... a little overdue really... 

Last weekend was a three day weekend.  Jeff and I had initially had plans to go away, but we have realised that, as good as Jeff's salary is, all this travel is burning through it pretty fast and we need to save up for our Christmas trip and our travels with our visitors in March/April (we have Geoff & Sandra, Trudi and my parents all visiting within two months!  Awesome, but our bank account won't love us for it!).  Then we were inundated by invitations to festivals, so we decided to stick local. 

On Saturday we had been invited to a festival at the school next door.  I was picturing something like an NZ gala day, with stalls to buy things and kids projects to admire.  We had a lazy morning, watching Outrageous Fortune and eating Korean pancakes for lunch (yum, thanks Jeff!), then headed over about 2pm, knowing it finished at 3pm.  The school was silent, and when I poked my head into the gym, there were heaps and heaps of people in there, sitting in the dark.  We started to beat a hasty retreat, but the maths teacher came out and ushered us in.  They told us to sit down at the back - as if we could see anything in the complete darkness.  They finally navigated us to a couple of chairs, the curtains on stage opened and a play started/continued (no idea which - we don't have enough Japanese to understand what was happening at all!).  I, at least, knew the kids, so could watch with the knowledge that I would later be able to tell them how well they did (although, for the record, when you don't speak the language, it's really hard to tell good acting from bad.  I mean, the fake laughing was pretty fake, but maybe it was supposed to be like that...??).  Jeff, on the other hand, just realised he had an hour of watching a play with kids he didn't know speaking a language he didn't understand, so he scooted out, mumbling something about not feeling well.  So that 'festival' wasn't really what we had in mind!  Clearly it was more like a school performance. 

Sunday we had been told about the Yuki festival.  Jeff works in two different schools in Yuki, so felt he should check it out, but then we were fearful it would be the Yuki version of what we had experienced on Saturday in Jinseki.  For that reason, we went after lunch, figuring that way we weren't stuck for too long if it wasn't enjoyable.  However, this was a totally different experience.  We had to follow a track down into the woods to a beautiful little shrine tucked away in the forest.  There, the straight road/path to the shrine was lined with cymbol-like drums being beaten by guys in ceremonial jackets.  The road itself had taiko drums and drummers filling it.  There were four drummers to a drum and they wore amazing costumes - huge elaborate feathered headdresses, crazy orange and yellow jackets and lime green sashes holding everything in place.  They beat the drums with something that looked like a small hand weight had sex with a cheerleader's pompom.  There was dancing and chanting and drumming.  At each end of the drummers was a black two-man dragon, swirling and posing in time to the beat.  A man in a blonde wig and mask like a red, angry Pinnochio strode/danced up and down between the drummers. I couldn't help pondering if that was what we (read 'I') looked like to them - some blonde haired, red faced devil, a reference to other cultures trying to invade.  I don't know if that's the origin of the costume, but it sure looked like that to me. 

We hadn't been there too long when we got asked to come around the back, where they had small shrines, made to be carried by four to eight people.  Initially we were dressed in the ceremonial jackets and made to help carrying the childrens one (WAY more difficult than it should have been - trying to carry something while NOT standing on the three year old or the loop of rope he was trailing right in front of my feet).  We relinquished that one when it went up for it's ceremonial blessing, feeling like right gits carrying the kiddies shrine.  However, one of the men's groups, when they saw Jeff was free, grabbed him to help carry their shrine - assumably feeling a big tall foreigner would find it easy to carry their shrine.  However, Jeff was so much taller than the bloke in front of him that the guy was struggling to even look like he was taking any weight.  Jeff had the option of taking far more than his 1/8 of the (very heavy!) shrine, or walking with a part squat.  In the event, he alternated.  I ran alongside taking lots of photos and videos (they should hit facebook soon!) when they carried the shrine from the main building, along the driveway to a little park area where more ceremonial stuff happened (some little girls danced, some old guys in priestly clothes said some stuff in Japanese, there was lots more drumming... by this point I was so hungry my concentration span had totally gone!), then getting Jeff food when he was waiting on taking the shrine back to the other end (yes, I was much better once I had eaten!!). 

When they were finally able to take the shrine back, Jeff and I returned our jackets (sadly - I was really hoping to keep mine!!) and wandered home with the crowds - stopping only to buy a banana and chocolate crepe - YUM.  All in all it was a really great day.  And the bruise on Jeff's shoulder has almost disappeared now...

Monday, being the holiday, we had been invited to a taiko drum festival in Shobara, our closest town and closest proper supermarket.  Zac, one of the other JETs was involved in the performance, so we were picking up Emma (another JET) and heading out there.  That one was a lot more popular than the previous two festivals - by the time we had bought tickets, paid for parking, driven miles to the carpark, found a park, then walked at least a km to the festival, we totally missed Zac's performance.  Luckily we heard it as we walked over, so we could still report that he did great.  However, when we got in we found the grounds to be so packed that there was no way we could get close enough to tell which drummer was not Japanese.  He could have been in EVERY performance and we wouldn't have been able to tell.  After the drummers there was a fireworks display that put NZ ones to shame.  It is true, the Japanese do amazing fireworks.  Also, this is dorky, but in NZ I spend fireworks displays being worried about all the horses nearby potentially freaking out.  So it was nice to not worry about any ponies, for once!  Of course, when we were driving out, about 100m down the road Emma pointed and said 'The horses I ride live just down that road'.  So much for no horses to freak out!!

Sorry if this seems a little hurried, but I have to get out the door in an hour and half for work and I still need to pack lunch and dinner, shower and pack my stuff for tomorrow.   And bring in the laundry and maybe do the dishes.  *sigh*  The joys of not being the income earner...  In all fairness Jeff does heaps round the house, but I feel guilty if he brings home the bacon AND cooks it.  And cleans up after.  If you know what I mean... 

Oh, just realised I never explained the sponge cake thing!  Yesterday I went to school at Jinseki chugakko, the school next door.  I only intended to stick round for a couple of hours, but Ken (the teacher that organised for me to attend) asked me to stay another couple of hours, as he had organised an interesting class for me.  Fearing that 'interesting' meant another two hour koto lesson (I do NOT have the patience to play the Japanese harp!!  I think you just play the same piece again and again until you remember it... boring!!), I said yes anyway.  However, it turned out he had organised for me to join in the cooking class.  They were making sponge roll - a cake that the Japanese are particuarly into and you can buy at any conveni (like a dairy).  I was really excited, thinking I was going to learn how to make a sweet treat without an oven (Japanese kitchens only have the gas stove top and a microwave).  However, it turned out that what I mistook for large microwaves were actually electric ovens.  So we made a cake that none of the kids would be able to reproduce at home...  Not so useful!  However, it turns out that the pride of taking home a piece of the baking you did at school doesn't diminish with age (or at least it doesn't if your cooking ability is as poor as mine!), so I was crazy proud of my battered, squished-looking piece of sponge roll that I took home for Jeff!

Next week doughnuts... might have to make it to school again next week!! 

Hope this finds you all well...

Charly