kabuto ichiban

When I joined this naruko dance team five months ago I didn't really know what to expect. I just thought it looked cool and that it would be a good way to make some friends here and learn the language. Never did I think we would we would be winning tournaments now. This past Monday was a national holiday here and we took part in a day long festival in Tokyo. This was our first festival of the summer and we had no idea what to expect since this most of us were new recruits. My heart was about to burst out of my chest right before we had to perform in front of all these people, but I made it though without passing out. Our team did a great job and the whole crowd loved it. But we were all surprised that night when they anounced the winners and our team leaders accepted the trophy. After that we all rushed up on stage and started dancing, a very surreal moment for me. After all that we went to an izakaiya and celebrated with much food and drink. I'm going to try and figure out how to put up the video of our performances on the web so everyone can check it out. Below are some pictures of our stage performance.

up on the stage

Sensei & Gaijin

So uncle Kojisan was teaching me how to windsurf and it was a blast. I went a whole 5 meters. It looks really easy but is pretty much the hardest thing I have ever tried. These pictures were taken by Yuki but the really good ones of me hitting myself with the pole and almost drowning were taken with film; and me without a scanner, darn.

Getaway Vehicles

So here are some pictures of our modes of transportation. This is Yuki's little blue Moca and yes it is as small as she is. For those of you who know my wife you must realise how much fun I am having in the passenger seat and how much hair I'm losing. And below that is my new bike, the uchuusen ichiban. It a transformer and I've been using it to get lost in Asaka lately. Just the other day I tried to take a short cut home but I ended up going two hours out of my way to make it there.

Temple Time

So I got to go behind the scenes during a festival at the nearby temple being the cameraman's assistant. This place was so serene and beautiful I only hope these pictures convey the feelings I had while being there.

Temple Photos cont.

Sakura Time

The start of spring brings about the blooming of sakura, or cherry blossoms. And I'm not kidding when I say this place looks beautiful during that time. I could not get enough pictures of the flowers because everything just looked so amazing. The bad part is that it only lasts for a week or two. As soon as a big storm comes along the trees become bear again. Therefore Yuki and I decided to go for a walk through a section of Tokyo, with her friend Ai, where there are many of those trees.
An interesting tradition they have here is to have a picnic under a sakura tree in full bloom and get drunk. So that is just what we did.

Greetings from the Future

Konichiwa!
How's everything back in the ol' U.S. of A.
I decided to start a blog of my new life here in Japan; so my friends and family back in America, and anyone else who cares, can see what I am up too. It will also save me the time of sending everyone emails all the time; I am too lazy for that.
I have wanted to do this since I arrived in Japan but my computer had died on the voyage over which hindered that idea. But now that we have the internet hooked up in our apartment and a laptop it is time for my idea to flourish.
So I am going to update this blog as often as possible with pictures, journal entries, drawings, etc. of my life over here. Enjoy.