Dougyoretsu Part 1

So, since this occurred months ago in September, I finally felt the urge to write about it. I'm such a lazy panda sometimes. Woops. Dougyoretsu means "drum parade" or something of that sort. Remember how I posted about playing Taiko way back in the day? That was practice for this drum parade. :) Remember how I posted about making mochi? That was for this drum parade. I am just so on it. Haha.

After weeks of practice and trying to overcome my failure at keeping rhythms, the Dougyoretsu was upon us. The opening ceremony was Saturday night, (the same day we made mochi!) We each had to go buy our own tabi socks (ninja socks! the big toe is all on it's own, perfect for flippy floppies.) The drum group let us borrow happi (japanese coat) gold obi to tie them shut, fun head decorations, and zori (fancy flip flops.) Since these outfits were for tiny Japanese women, our happi were pretty short, and our zori way too small. My heels were hanging of the end. I don't think I'll ever get my white tabi socks clean again.

 Michael, Me, Kayla, Luc (he's French!)

 Kayla, Sarah (she's Canadian!), Me

We got dressed in our finery and met up at the drum shed near Matsue castle to get ready to go. The opening ceremony was held in the parking lots surrounding the castle. We (and by that I mean the men) had to push the cart holding the giant drums to the castle down the roads. Pretty hilarious.

 Stopped at a red light.

 Our final resting place in the parking lot!

Once we got to the parking lot, we set up camp with a giant blue tarp spread out, and a surplus of snack food and alcohol. So much alcohol. Those drum guys sure love to drink.

Once it was time, we started playing. We got to share the parking lot with one other drum group, but ours seemed more popular, probably because we'd stop playing and let the people watching try. Jake came to see, and I forced him to play some. It kept threatening to rain, but it never poured, just sprinkled on and off. A fun night indeed.

Go Jake go!

After playing, we got to pack everything up and haul it all back to the drum shed. Then we went home to sleep as it was probably 11 or so, and we had to be at the drum shed for the actual parade the next morning at 7 am. Way too early....soooo early....

look forward to that next!

Gessho-ji Temple

One of my trainer's friends, Keiko-san, lives in Matsue, and was looking for someone to teach her kids English. I offered my services, and she took me to her house to get acquainted and discuss details. On the way to her house, we stopped at a Temple close by. Gessho-ji temple is the family temple of the people who were the rulers of Matsue back in the day, and contains 9 generations of graves. It was built in 1664. It's very peaceful and pretty. The graves and monuments marking them are separated into different areas, with stone pathways connecting them. Many have wooden entrance gates. The woodwork is pretty spectacular.

Entrance gate carvings.

One of the grave sites. Each of the monuments are unique, with different set ups, sizes, and surroundings.

The stone pathways had interesting spacing. It was a bit of a challenge not to step into the cracks and twist an ankle. Miki-chan, Keiko-san's 1 year old seemed to especially enjoy walking on the pathways, even though they gave her a lot of trouble. adorable.

Miki-chan insisted on climbing the stairs herself. 

Beautiful carvings in the roof of one of the entrance gates.

Miki-chan!

Giant stone turtle carving. His head was higher than mine. The legend is he used to wander around the city at night causing havoc, so the residents put the giant stone pillar on his back to hold him in place.

 

 After viewing all the different graves, we stopped at the last building and lit some incense. After lighting the incense, you clap your hands together and pray for whatever you need to pray for. After that, we went next door to the tea house for green tea.

 The incense stick I lit.

 Inside the tea house. No shoes allowed on tatami (the straw mat flooring)

Miki-chan was very excited. She kept running around and opening doors. Here she is trying to make a cabinet her new home.

 The small garden the tea room looked out on. It was very pretty.

 Green tea and wagashi. yum.

Miki-chan was all about the wagashi. 

Afterwards, we went to Keiko-san's house to talk, and she served me yakisoba. Ah, delicious. Her 3 children are adorable. I look forward to teaching them :)

Sushi train

It's finals week at my high school, which means no teaching, pretty bad test scores, and going out to lunch! I wish my students would study... sigh. Ah well, for our Monday lunch adventure Heather and I went to the sushi train place. It was delicious and entertaining. If dad ever comes to visit, I know a place to take him :)

Sushi train restaurants come in different shapes and sizes. Sometimes there are sushi chefs that stand in the middle and you can order sushi from them and watch them make it. This place was a little bigger, and you ordered sushi from a computer screen instead of a person.

 The conveyer belt with the sushi plates on it. There are 3 separate ones with about 4 or 5 booths on each side. The booths are numbered, and when you go in, the hostess tells you which booth to sit at.

The sushi is on plates in the capsules pictured above. The capsules are stuck to a conveyor belt that is continuously moving. If you see a plate of sushi you want, you grab the edge of the plate through the finger holes at the edge of the capsule, and it pops open.

 If you don't see the sushi you want going by, you can use the computer to order it.

 Heather successfully ordered 1 plate of inarizushi.

 When you order something, it comes in a special red train piece, and the computer announces your sushi is here. This way, no other tables accidentally take your order. If you see something going by on a red thing and want it, simply order one for yourself using the computer.

 Inarizushi. Fried tofu filled with rice. It's delicious!

 You could also make your own green tea at your table. You simply spoon some match into your cup from the container on the table.

 Then fill with hot water from the dispenser built into the table.

 Above the conveyer belt. You can grab cups and little plates for your soy sauce.

 When finished with your plates, you slide into the slot and it counts them. Every 5 plates plays a little movie on the computer, good guys vs bad guys. If the good guys win, you win a little prize. The prizes this time were little wind up plastic cars shaped like sushi. If the bad guys win, no prize for you. Heather and I each ate 5 plates, so we got 2 tries. Sadly, we didn't win anything.

 Tempura onion rings. Really thick onion pieces, delicious!

You can order dessert as well, and it'll come out in a red dish. Lychee choco pudding. YUM!

Happy Turkey Day

Heather and I taught our students at the girl's high school all about Thanksgiving, and Prom. A nice mix, I know. Thanksgiving seemed pretty boring to them, especially since they don't eat turkey here. They seemed very interested in prom though. We had them make hand turkeys and design prom dresses, which they seemed to enjoy. Some of the "prom dresses" got a little special, but as long as they had fun. :3

All the dresses didn't fit, so each week we'll switch out the pictures for new ones until they've all been displayed.

For thanksgiving, most of the ALTs got together to eat. Kayla made delicious pumpkin pies, Ryan made stuffing, Michael made mashed potatoes, Saki made stew, Jake made vegetarian lasagna, Heather made broccoli and asparagus (or cooked it, whatever) and I brought bread and drinks, as cooking is not my forte. A special thanksgiving feast indeed, especially for the 2 British people as it was their first. Sadly, the group picture we took is on Ryan's camera, so I can't show that too.

Hair Cutting Adventure

So, the last time I had a haircut was right before I left for Japan, so it's been a while. Plus, you should all know of my love of hair dye, and it's left my hair a bit damaged. Annoyed with the knots, and kind of terrified it's falling out actually, I went to get a haircut. Saki went with me for moral support, second opinionating, and translating duties. She's a really great friend.

I went to Conte, which is on the second floor of Aeon, the local デパート("departo" basically it's a mall.)

After being super politely ushered in, the receptionist took Saki and my things and put them in a locker. Then we got to sit in a little sitting area with lots of magazines about hair and style. The people even pulled the chairs out and pushed them in for us. A little awkward for me, as I feel super heavy and not coordinated when this happens. The stylist came over to talk about what I wanted which Saki translated. I was pretty much unhelpful to the cause at this point in time. After it was all painstakingly decided and I was quite nervous, a cute little dude (assistant) came over to wet my hair.

So, in America, if they're going to wet your hair, they spray you with the little bottle of water and away you go. Here, I was escorted to the little room where they wash your hair, and seated. I got a blanket on my legs, a plastic cover around my neck and a white square on my face (that kind of made me feel like a dead body. Maybe they don't want to be stared at?) All this so he could spray some water in my hair.

After my hair was properly wet, it was toweled off, and I was led to a comfy hair cutting chair, the blanket promptly placed back over my legs. Perhaps their clients get cold? I have no idea. The assistant painstakingly combed my hair out, in which I feel a little bad for him, as my hair gets crazy knotted when wet. When it was knot free, the actual stylist came over and went to work. Saki went over to read some magazines in the chairs leaving me and the stylist to awkwardly attempt conversation about where I was from, what Japanese food I like, and where I've been in Japan. After that, we just quit trying. After a while, Saki came back over and with her mad Japanese skills, we had a little mini conversation. It was good fun.

 The combing of the hair!

 Actual cutting!

 Progress!

 After the cut was finished, I was escorted back to the sink area to rinse my hair. Why? I don't know. But I got my blanket, neck towel, plastic cover, and face square back, and this time a hot towel under my neck which was lovely. I also got a cute towel turban after it was rinsed. Keep in mind, no shampoo or conditioner was involved at any time. So random.

 Towel turban and towel scarf = cutting edge fashion.

In my lovely towel turban, I was led back to my hair cutting chair. There the little assistant man announced it was massage time, and proceed to give me a fabulous scalp and shoulder massage. Even if every thing else had been horrible, this would have made it totally worth it. Halfway through he asked "いたくない？" (Doesn't hurt?) which I understood! Amazing! The answer was no of course. He seemed impressed by my awesome taste in massage strength, but maybe that's just me. After he finished I was draped in another plastic poncho. Then cute little assistant man proceeded to painstakingly comb out my hair. It took at least 15 minutes. He divided it into minute sections and gently worked the comb through. Perhaps he was taking to long, or maybe it's how it usually works, but then my stylist came over and finished combing for him.

 The oh so thorough combing.

After my stylist finished combing, he switched back with little assistant man who started to dry my hair with that same precision that he combed it. Partway through, my stylist came back and and tagged him out so he could dry my hair. They switched 2 more times. I thought it was an excessive amount of hair drying myself, but whatever floats their boats I suppose.

 Ta-da! It's dry!

When finally finished and sprayed and such, we were told to sit back in the chairs in the waiting area, and my stylist brought our bags out of the locker, which was right next to the reception area. Then we could stand back up and go pay. I find it amusing that we had to sit for 30 seconds for this to happen when I could have just as easily grabbed the stuff out ourselves. Actually, it probably would have been easier for all involved since I was awkwardly pushed in again, and they had to fumble with our nonsense. Then I got to pay while my stylist looked on and bowed, and I tried to juggle my belongings and bow and pay at the same time. I'm just so coordinated. Tipping is a no-no in Japan, so I hope my stylist felt my love anyway.

 Finished product!

The top guy was my little assistant man. The bottom was my stylist. He's a captain! Whatever that means.