On Friday (09/25/09), I went to my friend Shouhei's apartment. His girlfriend was over at the time, and we had nabe (or nabemono) for dinner- as far as homemade stews go, I must admit this was possibly one of the best I have ever had in my life. And of course, I had plenty more opportunities to practice my conversational Japanese skills, so I stayed for a few hours after before finally bidding farewell to join some international students at the nearby pub... After a few expensive drinks, the night ended pretty typically (I had to be careful not to drink too much; I had a half-hour walk back to my room).
"Nabemono", which was delicious.On the Saturday right after that, I spent much of my time resting (after joining Aikido, my body felt like a sack of dirt). Though there was a small dinner at a nearby TGI Friday's, we didn't end up doing too much of anything...
If we had stayed out too late, I knew I wouldn't be able to survive the Machida Festival (Matsuri). Volunteers who had signed up gathered at 11:00 AM, and were dressed in the "uniform" by 12:00. We carried an "portable shrine" known as an O-mikoshi, which weighed in at the range of about 700 kilograms. After parading it throughout the streets of Machida, we brought it back to the starting point and were allowed to explore the Tenmangu Temple and have fun on our own.
We were given appropriate clothes for when we carried the O-Mikoshi.
We were given appropriate clothes for when we carried the O-Mikoshi.
The O-Mikoshi. It weighs about 700 kilograms.
The Tenmangu Shrine looms in the distance of this wonderful festival.I finally got back to my apartment at around 8:00 PM (with my studies left yet undone at this point), but I must admit that this has been an interesting week indeed.
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