springtime is here!

さようなら

sayounara

good-bye

梅

うめ

ume

Japanese plum

ざうお

zauo

Zauo, a restaurant in Osaka

京セラドーム

きょうせらどーむ

kyousera do-mu

Kyocera Dome

Buko

young, drinkable coconut

Khanga

A multi-purpose, towel-sized sheet of fabric sold in Tanzania, often having bold patterns and a Swahili message on the bottom.

Lola

grandmother

Butanding

whale shark

花見

はなみ

hanami

cherry blossom viewing party

桜

さくら

sakura

cherry blossom

In just a blink of an eye, we've gone from saying さようなら to the previous school year to holding mid-term exams here at Chikusa High School. Where did all the time go? A lot has certainly happened in the past 2 months, and it's about time to catch you up! Here's some of what's happened in my life since I last wrote.

weekend fun

ナイター

naita-

nighttime skiing

炬燵

こたつ

kotatsu

small table with an electric heating element on the underside

Sorry I've been a little off the blog a while. I've been pretty busy and haven't had as much time to sit down and write as I'd like. Thankfully, my school schedule is starting to slow down as we near the end of the final term, so let me catch you up on what's been happening in my neck of the woods.

hadaka matsuri

褌

ふんどし

fundoshi

traditional Japanese loincloth undergarment

西大寺

さいだいじ

Saidai-ji

temple in Okayama

裸祭り

はだか まつり

hadaka matsuri

Naked Man Festival

Some of you may have caught a strange post I made on Facebook over the weekend:

I was in Okayama prefecture this past Saturday attending a very special, if unusual, Japanese festival that happens every year in Okayama City. At this festival, countless men, young and old, drop trou and hike a 褌 up their rear end, and then run around the streets surrounding 西大寺, one of Okayama's main temples. Why such an event takes place during the coldest month of the year says something about the people who choose to participate, though it is quite hilarious to watch a bunch of grown men clutching each other, jogging to the beat of taiko drums while screaming at the top of their lungs.

The event is called 裸祭り, or the Naked Man Festival.

in with the new

Wow! That holiday break was a real whirlwind of activity. The hardest part was keeping the majority of it secret—unbeknownst to my parents, I sneaked onto a bullet train to Tokyo on December 22nd, then boarded a triple-7 bound for IAD the next day to surprise them for Christmas. For the better part of a month, my brother and I plotted and schemed in the dark to guarantee maximum shock value. Did it work? I'd say so.

yep, it's winter

Today, I was supposed to participate in a golf tournament with a couple of teachers and some of the students from our school's golf team, but I decided last-minute to back out and stay home. I know, missing an opportunity to play golf?? What's wrong with me? I must be crazy! In my defense, this is what it looks like in my town today:

Frankly, the fact that they're still going to play is pretty bonkers, but apparently, it's not raining or snowing in the neighboring district where the golf course is. That's still something I have to wrap my head around living up in these mountains; weather is extremely local and follows certain trends, but is very much subject to change at a moment's notice. It will be sunny one minute and then all of a sudden, the sky will open up. In fact, over the past month or so, I've seen both at the same time on numerous occasions—yesterday being the most recent.

Either way, it's not going to be pleasant on the golf course today. I have no regrets.

preparing for winter

炬燵

こたつ

kotatsu

small table with an electric heating element on the underside

It's been a long, long time since I've had the full autumn experience—mourning the waning daylight, feeling the brisk chill in the air, and most of all, watching the color-shifting landscape. The cold has been rapidly approaching since the end of October, and with it, a rapid change in the temperature in my apartment. I suppose the nostalgia of the autumn seasons of my youth are keeping me afloat at the moment, but there's no doubt that the thought of winter, when the temperature isn't likely to climb much above freezing, has me a bit worried. Fortunately, I'm no longer living on a Peace Corps salary and I can actually afford to make my life a bit more comfortable. In this entry, I'm going to introduce some of the things that will hopefully get me through the harsh winter of Japan.