Ofune Matsuri, day 1

Today was my town's festival "Ofune Matsuri." The word "ofune" means boat, but apparently in this case it means "float" or something. Anyway... The first event of the day started at 5:15. A few groups of students from the two elementary schools danced to upbeat songs. They were incredibly cute!!! It was a nice start to the festivities.

Theeeeennnn, the rain came. And the thunder. And the lightning. And when I say came, I mean pouring down buckets of rain with thunder so loud it makes you jump. <_< And lightning you can actually see zig-zagging through the clouds. I'm not scared of thunder & lightning, but once or twice it was so loud that I instinctively covered my ears. :P The five of us, Amy, Brendan, Phil, his wife Yuki, and I shared a couple umbrellas, but it got so bad that we ended up taking refuge under a deserted outdoor patio. At that point we were all soaking wet and chilled. It wasn't exactly ideal. -_- The lightning was so close and bad, in fact, that at one point we thought maybe it was dangerous to stand under something metal (the canopy was a metal frame). But by then, it was getting better.

Eventually, maybe around 7:15-30, it got a lot better, and just sprinkled. The fireworks for the evening were canceled and then because it got better, they ended up doing it. It wasn't that great though- only one firework at a time. But some were cool, changing colors several times in the sky. Makes me excited for the big fireworks festival in a couple weeks!!

Well, I didn't get very many good pictures. I ran into SO MANY of my students!! They were so cute. Some of them were like "TRACI!" and others just waved shyly. Haha. Some of them actually ran away... <_< A group of 2nd years (8th graders) was really excited to see me, and one of them, a boy named Riku, told me to buy him some yakitori (grilled chicken skewer). I laughed and said "I'm sorry." Which of course made them laugh. XD

Tomorrow is the continuation of the festival, from 1 until around 6. I'm so tired, and my hair is still drying off, but I'm planning to go. I just hope the weather is better. -_- I guess there will be a parade and food stalls again. If I see more of my students dressed in yukata, I'll try to get their picture. :) Until next time!

The opening ceremony. The guy in grey on the right said hello to me, Amy, and Brendan from the stage. Totally caught me off-guard!!

A group of 2nd graders performing

Akimiya, my town's main shrine, had many food stalls set up on its grounds

The entrance to Akimiya

I think those are some of my students on the left in yukata, but it's hard to see.

More people came out as the evening went on and the weather improved.