Festivals Galore (Late...)

Another out of date entry... sorry!

Yamaga Area お月見祭り 10/16/11

Guess I am back to a couple more late ones. Gathering pictures from people takes time! <3

People lined up to enjoy the koto

September and October are purportedly the most apt times of the year to view the night sky in Japan. The moon shines brighter, appears larger, and more often than not, there is no cloud obstruction. Because of this, and the wonderful weather, there are many festivals and activities that occur around this time of the year. 

Getting silly and pretty!

Yesterday (10/16) was one of those events. Specifically the otsukimi (moon viewing). My tea ceremony group was elected/selected/requested to serve at the festival so we became guest participants. I said yes because they told me I could wear a kimono. To that end, Saturday, although I took a train all the way out to Fukuoka (a two hour trip each way) to watch a baseball game and eat dinner with the biggest gathering of Kyushu JETs in years (about 90 of us), I came back that same night to get some rest for the festival.

Turns out I didn't have to be there until 1:30 so I could have stayed out later but we will let that go. Ended up running in the morning while my training partner slept off his hangover (looking for a new running buddy since mine has become slightly unreliable - though maybe he will improve with the New Year). This "morning run" became 10:30 even for me because I was exhausted but once I finished, showered and scarfed down lunch it was off to Yamaga to meet the tea team. The event was to be held at the kouminkan (community center) but when we arrived it was filthy so we got down and scrubbed. Between the seven of us, we finished much earlier than planned so we had a little extra time for getting pretty.

nihon buyo performance

My dance teacher (the local kimono shop owner) was not available to help us dress so we had to forfeit the idea of wearing kimono since there simply was not enough time for the one member available to tie my kimono and hers as well. Instead, my tea friends and I mixed and matched. I wore one of my friend's yukata but as the fabric was silk synthetic it was more like a kimono than a yukata so I got to use the special undergarments around my shoulders to make sure the fabric stood up correctly. The obi was the same as those of a yukata so I guess you could say I was 1/3rd of the way in real traditional garb. Because of weekly dance practice I can put on a yukata with ease so I had a little extra time to help out my friends with their ensembles. 

Once we were ready it was back to the community center (kouminkan - if you remember) with bentos in tow. They put an apron around me so I wouldn't spill all over myself the proceeded to dote on how much I look like a Japanese wife. My tea members then spent dinner trying to convince me to marry a Japanese man. I confess, the thought of staying in the this country had crossed my mind more than once but that is for another day. It really comes down to how much of my life goals my family and I would be willing to sacrifice. To dream, however, is sweet.

You guessed it ... The fabled apron

After dinner we were on the fast track to tea as we prepped the sitting and serving areas for the flood of people that was predicted. Once the festival began to the sound of the electric koto, however (yes, a keyboard and a traditional koto combined into one instrument), there were hardly any people there. It really turned out to be a real shame because throughout the night there was barely a trickle of people although the events and performers were outstanding. An a capella group followed the electric koto and they recited a poem (tanka) to a rhythm then there was the ocarina players, bamboo flutist, harmonica player and lastly a nihon buyo performance (Japanese traditional dance like I study). This was not my teachers group but instead a professional performer who has a small dance school in the area. One of my middle school students actually performed that night and danced beautifully.

The festival ended around 9 but we had to clean, pack-up, unload everything at sensei's house then sit down for some tea and sweets before she would let us go home so I actually didn't get home until around 11. Pretty late for a Sunday but overall a really good experience.

Ota village 濁酒祭り Doburoku festival　10/17/11

On the following Monday (10/17) I was scheduled to visit one of my village schools but a few days prior had received a fax mentioning that there was a local festival in the village and asking me not to drive. Well because of a long weekend and just plain forgetting, I ended up driving to work only to be greeted by a long line of cars parked as far as 2 miles from my school while people crowded the streets from there up the playground of my school frequenting the various shopfronts that had popped up that morning. They were preparing their kiosks for the shrine/sake festival that would be taking place that afternoon.

Because of the festival many of my classes were cancelled but I did get to go out and enjoy the festival with my students while we sold rice they has grown and cut then packaged up real pretty. I was kind of honored when they asked me to come along. and thus also felt obligated to purchase a bag for myself. [It was just finished this morning and was quite delicious by the way] they were selling 1kg bags of the rice for 300yen and although they started with over 100kg of the stuff, it sold out in about 15mins between the cute factor of the children themselves and them yelling and hollering "buy our home grown rice".

Prior to selling the rice, however, we visited the shrine where the main part of the festival was to be held so we could receive our free sake samples. Being as I had driven to work that day (against their recommendation) I was unable to partake in the ceremonial drinking of the alcohol but as I am not accustomed to drinking at 11 in the morning anyway, it was almost a welcome reprieve. They did give me a small sample container to bring home and I did get breathalized (for the first time ever) on my way home as the po-po were out in full force to make sure grandpa didn't drive himself home after praying. The booze was very grainy and did not suit my pallet very well but here's to new experiences!

Yamaga Area 文化祭 Culture festival 11/20/11

My tea group post-culture festival

On account of I am so late with this entry I thought I should go ahead and include another tea event in this part of the blog. About a month after the aforementioned festival, we were invited to serve tea again at a local festival. This time, however, it was a huge event and we literally spent 5 hours serving tea to hundreds of people from all reaches of the area. While it was fun, it was very exhausting and I will detail a little of what I think is important...

We had to arrive pretty early this time, getting dressed in kimono by 8 so we could begin setting up as soon as the tea group from the day before cleared out. I am getting ahead of myself though because I neglected to mention that we had to prep the day before by bringing in many MANY boxes of tea cups (茶碗）and all the other tea supplies. Anyway, once we arrived at the culture center (which doubles as the city office/board of education out here in rural Yamaga) and got set up, things were really beginning to get popping. I then spent the next five hours (until around 3:30) serving tea numerous times not just on stage in front of an audience, but also to the waiting crowds while other people performed for the public. It was a combination of tiring, embarrassing, and amazing.

Me, doing tea.

It has been a while since I thought about this festival but I still vividly remember how difficult it was to serve tea on the stage while people looked on. I guess I don't thrive solo under the pressure, well I should not say it quite like that since I only messed up a little bit during the ceremony, but it was far from easy.

All of my tea teachers and me

During the new year I attended an お茶会 (tea ceremony meeting), like the one I went to a year ago with the fancy candies and the kimono, and I watched one woman pour tea. This time I was a lot more invested in the actual tea ceremony portion of the meeting (the year before I had been a lot more concerned with making sure I didn't spill anything on my kimono or do something stupid) and I noticed how serene and peaceful the server's face looked while she was performing the ceremony. I took multiple pictures for reference to myself later because she simply looked completely zen. I decided I would try from then on to reach that kind of relaxation from tea. I think that is what they originally created it for anyway. Perhaps it wasn't for the sweets and the company after all. haha.

Delicious tea sweets

One of the tea rooms - Western style

Once the tea was done, we ended a little early and changed from our kimono into normal clothes so we could clean up. It wasn't until around 6 that I finally got home after spending a little time at sensei's house where she fed us makizushi and yet more tea. I don't think I have ever consumed so much tea in my life and once I finally got home I simply had to run on account of being so hopped up on caffeine.

There are a few more festivals I had attended since starting this entry. One was the 鬼ｰE (demon calling) festival in Bungotakeda/Kunisaki (January 29th) where we spent a very late night in a temple watching while monks danced around fire and called forth a demon dressed like the dark version of spiderman. When another demon came out and started fighting with the black demon the fire got intense and the temple quickly heated up while people began to clear out. Epic demon fighting festival - check. (I may make a movie about this later, so be on the lookout).

Monks dancing to call the demons

And here they come

Even demons respect monks

Epic demon fire fight. 

A few short days before that (January 14th) I was going to tea in the afternoon when A and M mentioned I should come into Yamaga early if possible. A wanted to wear kimono to tea and M wanted me to see a small festival taking place literally right outside her house. I did both and the festival was a little ridiculous. A man invoked a god and then took a bath in a boiling tub. People stood around to watch and get blessed by the god incarnate while he literally beat them with fern leaves dipped in boiling water. I remarked to A that Japanese people seem to be pretty masochistic. She laughed and agreed.

There were a few other festivals I missed after those big ones since I took a few trips here and there but that about sums up New Year's and year end festivals for me. Since it is almost 桜 (cherry blossom) season, be prepared for more entries yet to come concerning Spring festivals and the like. Love!

Yeah, he is getting into a boiling pot

Triathlon - Oshima, Nagasaki

As another Better Late Than never post ends, another begins. This time we are flashing back to my triathlon last summer which took place on the small island of Oshima in Nagasaki prefecture.

July 17, 2011

It started out like any other weekend. Friday evening I hung out with K and S around my house then woke up early Saturday morning to begin my road trip with S (this one is Japanese) toward Nagasaki prefecture where the race would take place. Before I talk about the race though, I want to preface this major check on my bucket list with a little background information.

For those of you who don't know, my arrival in Japan in August of 2010 was surrounded by turmoil in my life. I look back at pictures of myself then and think I must have been pretty unhappy. In March of that year I broke out of a four and a half year relationship, in May I graduated college and in July I moved home to throw most of my tangible memorabilia away and pack for a journey I was both excited and scared to take. It's no wonder I wound up with some ulcers in October of that year. These factors, combined with a generally change-friendly (flexible) personality made my transition back to "sportsman" (how my Japanese kids describe me now) a relatively easy to follow course (although a big boost from K really got me going on the process).

That being said, when I finished up the marathon in December and finally began to compete again starting around March (winter hiatus), it was all I could do to stop myself from running all the time. I had become an addict. My sister and mother will tell you that addictive personalities are a family trait and be it booze, gambling, smoking, or working - we quickly latch onto addictions when they make themselves available. So when I tell you that I am addicted to “いい汗をかく” (working up a good sweat) maybe you will understand a little better. It's more than the runner's high or hitting your stride because I have found that I can hit these states in other sports as well, but it has really become a type of meditation for me. I have presented this sentiment to two of the most spiritual people I know before essentially posing the theory out loud so hear me out.

I mentioned before I associate with no set religion. But, I have been meditating for years for the purpose of relaxation and self awareness. In college when I didn't have the solitude or drive to meditate regularly I tried to channel that energy into a semi-private yoga class I participated in once a week. Sometimes I actually felt like it was working. When I came to Japan in the midst of the aforementioned turmoil, I found myself so overwhelmed with my new environment that even if I had the drive to meditate, I found I couldn't clear my mind enough to find release.

Once running became routine, I found my mind beginning to wander on the longer runs to the point that I would no longer need to consciously think. My breathing became natural, almost relaxed and the sound of my own shoes tapping the pavement became no more than a whisper as my mind cleared and I released myself into the run.

Needless to say, after a few times of reaching this almost ethereal state, I had found my new meditation. Now, this doesn't happen every time that I run, and I can't even say that it happens sometimes. Rather, I could probably count its occurrence on my fingers. But you do begin to wonder if there are other ways to reach this state. I had a friend from college who I met up with recently describe a similar feeling while fighting kung-fu. He said of course it rarely happens but the sensations described were so similar to mine it was uncanny. You become one with yourself, time and your surroundings as much as you become separated and move beyond these things.

So you may be beginning to wonder how my triathlon has anything to do with this alleged nirvana. Well, I have always loved swimming. I anxiously await swim season here in Japan to the point that the gym teacher has actually made me a calendar outlining the cleaning, opening and closing schedule of the pool for this year and next. I am truly an ocean child. Water practically calls to me and Japan is torture for me once the public pools close for winter, and in April when I ran my last race of the running season it was all I could do to keep my clothes on until the pools startes opening again.

Knowing I wanted to maintain my current level of fitness but also curious still about whether I could reach my trance state in any other way, I began a rigorous training program for the triathlon. It gave me a break from the daily grind of studying for MCAT (which I might actually have been better off studying more for) and the chance to enjoy the beautiful weather outside after a winter of isolation.

Having never competed in anything like a triathlon before, I trained the only way I knew how - swimming, biking and running as much as possible. I swam in the school pool on breaks, ran when I got home in the afternoon and biked on weekends when I could get my hands on one. The trip home helped me a bit too since I didn't have to work and could study and exercise all day.

Overall, by the time the triathlon rolled around I felt pretty good about my preparation (more than I could say about the MCAT a few months later) and so when I got into the car with S on our way out to Nagasaki I was in a good place. We drove uneventfully to Oshima island where the event was to be held and with the remainder of daylight, drove the course. That good feeling I was talking about evaporated. The bike course (40km) was twice around the island. Up and down and up again. Considering most of my training for the bike section had been in Florida (NO MOUNTAINS) I about cried when I say all the hills (which looked like mini-mountains in my trembling mind).

We slept a fitful night in the car, both out of nervousness and because it was damn hot and woke up early the next morning to a slowly filling parking lot and a bright, shiny sun. Thinking about it now almost makes the snow outside my window as I write this feel welcome... almost. By the way, as I write this, the first snow of the year is falling.

After a quick dip in the water to get my wetsuit on, a few encouraging texts from family and friends and some juice for energy (I couldn't keep any food down because I was simply too nervous) I felt about as unready as possible when the gun finally fired. My tummy was rolling, head was reeling and I was feeling failure all the way down to my toes.

Just so you know, triathlons (Olympic distance anyway) have time limits. Thus part of the reason I was so nervous. The swim portion has X amount of time, bike - y, and run -z. If you don't finish each section within the time limit you are disqualified and unable to advance to the next stage. If you finish early, however, you can add that time to the next section. For my race, the 1.5km swim (about one mile) had one hour, the 40km bike (about 24 miles) an hour and 45 mins and the 10km run (about 6 miles) was given an hour. I finished the swim early which was good because I went a little over on the bike but overall finished with time to spare. It was far from easy, however, and I found out later that of the 500 or so participants, only me, S and about 15 others were tri-beginners. The rest ran from veterans to ironman competitors and all of them told us we did an excellent job just finishing. Of those 500 people only about 30 were women.

Yeah, the race was tough. The swim was in a bay in the middle of jellyfish season and thus every stroke had me pulling not just water but a small jellyfish. I wouldn't notice every inch of my skin left exposed by the lines of my wetsuit would be covered in jellyfish stings until a few days later. The bike, as I previously mentioned, was up big hills that I was untrained for, and the run was in the middle of summer heat where dehydration hit me like a brick. I look back and think I could definitely have worked harder because now I know it was  my mind that bricked and not my body (I wasn't sore the next day), but you learn from these mistakes and the experience. There is always this summer.

And someday... I too will be a veteran and an ironman. Someday soon. Love.

By the way, I have much better control of my body and mind than I did then. Meditative/trance states come more often and I can hit it during swimming and biking as much as running now. There really is power in the mind.

Also, I have no pictures from this event (I think both S and I forgot to bring our cameras) but here is a link to the results page if you are interested. My name is listed in Japanese as ファイフ　ニコール:
http://www.osy.co.jp/triathlon/results01.php