2015-10-25, ABC Halloween Party and Kyogen

It's been a tiring few days.  On Thursday and Friday we worked during the day to prepare for the Halloween parties. The actual parties were on Saturday so we worked that day too (with no other day off to compensate).  

I talked this group into going for a picnic lunch on Thursday since the weather had been so beautiful the few days before.  Thursday was a little windy but still nice.  It's looking like fall around Shosakai park.

This is how the gym was decorated.

The kids will eat at the middle tables.

games

Cindy and I went out for dinner on Thursday night and I finally tried the yakitori restaurant near the supermarket.

On Friday we continued to prep for the short course (my classes) parties while the kindergarten held theirs in the morning.

I loved Emily's scarecrow costume.

I spent most of the time making chocolate mouse for the graveyard wormy dirt.  But we also had to label ALL the prizes, organize the games and decorate marshmallows on sticks.

These are giant marshmallows and people were getting quite creative.

Most of the food was provided by the lunch company.

Cindy and I worked the 1st and 3rd parties so we went out for some coffee at a cute (but expensive) coffee shop near the school during our break.

It was warm enough for iced coffee yesterday but today I needed hot soup to warm up!
We shared this pumpkin pudding 'cake'.

Here are some of the others in costume - staff and older student helpers - everyone looked great.

And a few of my students.

After the party and clean-up (it was a long day), ABC treated us to dinner (and drinks).

Many izakaya (pub? bar/restaurant) have private rooms.  But the walls are thin and don't go to the ceiling so it's still noisy.

It was a lot of fun, and I always like going out with people who can actually read the menu and recommend new things for me to try.

We didn't get home until midnight and it took me quite a while to get to sleep.  It seems that one drink helps me sleep but 2 make it hard for me to sleep.  In addition the wind was REALLY howling all night and I kept waking up every 1/2 hour or so.  So I wasn't in the best shape when I woke up this morning.

But I had plans so... no time for lollygagging.

The wind hadn't let up so I decided to take the bus to the castle area where I planned to see a kyogen performance.  It seems I had an old bus schedule and the time was wrong.  Back home and onto my bike after all.  It wasn't too bad since it isn't cold yet.  

'Kyōgen (狂言^?, literally "mad words" or "wild speech") is a form of traditional Japanese comic theater. It developed alongside Noh, was performed along with Noh as an intermission of sorts between Noh acts, on the same Noh stage, and retains close links to Noh in the modern day; therefore, it is sometimes designated Noh-kyōgen. However, its content is not at all similar to the formal, symbolic, and solemn Noh theater; kyōgen is a comic form, and its primary goal is to make its audience laugh.

Kyōgen is sometimes compared to the Italian comic form of commedia dell'arte, which developed around the same period (14th century) and likewise features stock characters. It also has parallels with the Greek satyr play, a short, comical play performed between tragedies. ' Wikipedia

Luckily I wore a jacket because I hadn't realized that the stage is outside!  It's sheltered by buildings on each side, but still not a place I'd want to be in the wintertime.

Even though I didn't understand the old Japanese (sort of like old English) I did get the themes of a couple of the acts, and all in all it was MUCH more enjoyable than the Noh play I saw.  (Well almost anything would be more enjoyable than that, but this was actually a nice way to spend a couple of hours.)

Around the castle there was some outdoor ikebana.

On the way home I stopped off at the vegetable market and when I got home I put up some soup to use the old veggies that were in my fridge.  The wind is still howling and I actually put on my polar fleece but my nose and feet are cold anyway.  It's going to drop down to 44 tonight.  Winter is, unfortunately, on it's way.

2015-10-18, Community Center Festival and Omihachiman

The weekend got off to a good start as I went out for yakiniku (grilled meat you make at your table) with Cindy.  As always I was stuffed afterwards but happy.

On Saturday I went to a neighborhood festival.  As you know I've been to MANY festivals.  But I've never participated in one.  So when it was announced in my Japanese class that they wanted us to help at the community center's festival I jumped at the chance.  I was scheduled to help with the yakisoba (sauteed noodles in sauce) so I thought I'd be chopping vegetables and such.  It turned out that the yakisoba came ready made and all we did was heat it on the flat grill.  I did that for about 3 hours with various partners but my hand was getting very tired so I decided I'd had enough.  There were plenty of people to take over.  It was fun though.  Next to us there was a takoyaki (dough and octopus balls) machine and on the other side was cotton candy and popcorn.  There was a flea market, music by a junior high school band and displays of different classes' work (painting, calligraphy, etc.)  There was also some old fashioned mochi pounding.  The weather was beautiful and it was nice to be a part of the neighborhood event.

This is the yakisoba.

This is takoyaki.  Inside each ball of dough is a small piece of octopus, some scallion and some benishoga (ginger).
The outside is a little crisp and the inside stays moltenly hot. 

Pounding steamed mochigome (special mochi rice) to make mochi.

On Sunday Takako picked me up and we went to Omihachiman, a town about 30 or 40 minutes south of here, to see a field of cosmos.  I didn't realize cosmos grow so tall!

The plants to the left are edamame (those green soybeans).

I also found out what's burning almost everyday.  Now that the rice has been harvested they evidently burn the outer coating and the stalks.

We stopped at a produce market where I picked up a LOT of vegetables and something for lunch.

And then we went to a nearby shrine and tourist area.  There was a gondola to the top of the mountain where there was another shrine or temple but we didn't take it.  We had a nice walk around though, some of the trees have already turned so even though it was a beautifully warm day it had the feeling of fall.

There is a ceremony called 3, 5, 7 for children (3 and 7 year old girls and 5 year old boys.  The children dress in kimonos and the family goes to a shrine to pray for the child's well-being.  The main date is Nov. 15 but you can go to the shrine for a month before and after.  That's why AnPan Man (right) and Viking Man are on the steps...  An Pan Man is probably the most loved character for the preschool set.  He and his friends are shaped and named after different breads.  There are a couple of AnPan Man museums as well.  He's got tv shows and books, etc.  I'm not sure if Viking Man is a friend or enemy, but since he's not a 'bread character' I'm thinking maybe he's one of the bad guys. 

I don't know why but there were a number of horse and cow/bull statues at this shrine.

A fire festival is held at the shrine and on the streets in March.  They light these things, and other things, on fire and carry them through the streets.

This is part of a float for children.

There were a bunch of really beautiful spider webs.  Made me think of Charlotte.

This was the path leading up to a roof tile museum.  It's made of course, from old roof tiles.  Pretty cool.

In this section of town there was a beautiful little canal with old buildings and stone walls lining a walking path.  You could also take a boat ride.

I don't know if you can see inside the boat, but the floors are tatami so you take off your shoes (see the shoe cabinet in the back?) and sit on the tatami floor.  It's always strange to see the guys dressed in the old fashioned hats looking at their cell phones...

 One hardly ever sees such a nice, well kept, canal or walking area in Japan.  I try to keep the unattractiveness out of my pictures but if you are there you usually have to really focus on the beauty and block out the other.  That wasn't the case here.  It was a really nice (small) area.

We sat on a bench here and had some ice cream (mine was black sesame flavor).

The bridge is held up by old boats (and concrete I guess).  Quite a clever and attractive idea.

We ducked in here because Takako was having trouble describing the local specialty.

These are balls of mochi with a little anko in the middle - not unusual - but then they are heated until brown and crispy on the outside.  Quite a nice contrast of textures.  (Of course I had to try one!)

Neither of us had every seen this type of persimmon.

So that was my weekend.  Had a nice drive back, washed some of my vegetables and made pickles of a few things.  I think I will try to pack a lunch each day this week and go somewhere for a picnic.  The weather has been gorgeous and I'll have enough time sitting around at home when winter arrives.