taiko, what?

last week i spent three of five weekdays driving to haruna(my friend shane's town) to practice traditional japanese drumming. it's called taiko and it's harder than it looks and it looks pretty cool. a lot of japanese kids grow up knowing these 'phat beats' before they reach the age of six, but starting out at age 24 is a bit of a challenge. but hey, i did play timpani in 8th grade for a song in a concert. the reason we practiced? for the haruna matsuri, October 21 2006. we were due to deliver a perfectly polished product at the town center at the end of the evening. the "we" consisted of shane, jamie, and myself; otherwise known as the three gaijin(foreigners) in town.


before our unveiling we participated in the pulling of the floats, called mikoshi. each neighborhood has its own mikoshi and its own groupies. we started the festivities by slamming down some sake and performing a series of claps (two) and bows (three in total). this was a very serious time.

then we proceeded to pull the mikoshi around the neighborhood so all could see the float in its brillance. we even got escorted by the po-pos at one point.

we finally arrived at the town center to meet 12-some other 'hoods' and their mikoshi. everyone was in good spirits as most of the adults were drunk off sake and the kids here are usually in high spirits (i know this because i am a teacher). we were awaiting our big moment. we ate some food, ok, a lot of food, and drank some chu-hi, we were set. then it came. we played for a total of 20 minutes. it was the fastest we had ever played. there was a huge crowd gathered to watch the gaijin play taiko. we did our best and that was all they asked for. as you could say here in japlish "we gambatteimasu-ed".

ah...what a wonderful weekend/birthday

i had a lovely, lovely birthday. only made lovelier by those i shared it with. miss molly came from chiba for the long weekend. she came bearing such wonderful gifts as kat-tun (a japanese boy band) cards, a cat paw key chain, and delicious pineapple wine from okinawa. each a delight in their own unique way.

we spent most of our time 1)shopping, 2)eating, 3)drinking...either pumpkin spiced frappicinnos from starbucks or wine, 4)talking about philosophy--thank you ayn rand, and 5)dancing to beyonce's "get me bodied". i believe we hit up every 2nd hand store in town, making friends with the workers as we danced in the aisles.

sunday evening found us dressing up in our best japanese-style inspired ensembles. a group gathering at ninnikuya (known as "the garlic restuarant" by us foreigners) started the night off right. nothing like garlic-infused food to celebrate with.



i'm pretty sure a good time was had by all. the night included karaoke for a full three hours(!), the longest ride/walk back to my apartment ever, late-night snack at matsuya, and a group sleepover in #305 Pearl Mansion. it was exactly what i had imagined my 24th birthday would be like...the stuff of dreams. ha.

there and back again

while home i visited my sis, angela, her husband, david, their son (my nephew) august, and their dog, pagosa. i am constantly reminded of them at school since i introduced my family to the ichi nen sei. everyday they do these question cards which include such questions as "Where does David work?" and "What does Pagosa eat?" one of these days i am going to get some video of the little munchkins speaking of my family who are 'oh so far away.'
the duimstra family packed up and headed out of iowa in late august in order to surprise a certain man(david) for his 30th birthday. the surprise included david's brother and his family coming to the party. angela cooked it all up. she even rented a margarita machine for the event...lord knows us duimstras love us some margaritas.



my favorite part of the whole weekend was getting to hang out with my godson. that's right, i am a godmother to my nephew. he is simply a delight and full of boundless energy. no, that's not a "nice way" to say he's hyper. he just loves to play and talk and share his little life with you. it's amazing how much he has grown over the past year, but i know i should expect even more when i see him next...in about a year. too long, but unlesss angela and david send him over in a package that's the way it is. i miss you little gus.

once again, it was great to be home.

introducing konan chugakko's sports day 2006

autumn in japan means one of three things: koyo (changing of the leaves), the nicest weather, or sports. this year the coveted national sports day takes place on my birthday, October 9th. my school's sports day, however, took place last week. there was tension in the air on the days leading up to the "big day" as teachers and students alike worried about the weather. would sports day have to be moved to thursday? what would that do to the classes? should we stop the action if it starts to rain? it really wasn't that dramatic, but i was really looking forward to it so such questions did run through my head.

as it turns out the weather was delightful. and the crazy events and competitions were equally delightful. in fact, one of my favorite students, kano, managed to get lapped twice by the leaders in the 1km race. he did his best and that is what counts. his class and i cheered him on in a makeshift rendition of "defense clap clap" inserting kano for defense. go hawks by the way.



throughout the day each class competes for the chance to win the coveted silver trophy. it gets quite competitive. the 7th graders started practicing weeks in advance for the all-boy and all-girl jump-roping competition. in my one attempt to jump with them i was the only one who missed the jump. thus, i was not invited to ever jump again.

the students did a great job though and i was impressed with how fast they really are--even when they have to hop around in potato sacks or have their legs tied to their teammates. everyone was in high spirits and sporting their class color via headband. for the first time i thought about how sad it will be when i finally do leave konan. i think it will be a lot harder than i have imagined. these students, though sometimes frustrating, have been a major highlight of my time in japan. i'm glad that i have more time to get to know them and teach here. on that note, congrats to 3-3, 2-3, and 1-5 classes for their outstanding showing!*

*the reality is: my students may never see this so there really is no point in my congratulating them, but...i didn't know how else to end this post.