the ancestor spirits bring us a message....and apparently its "drink you bastards, drink!"

Obon festival – Aug. 15th

Tonight Kayoko, wonderful being that she is, took Kara, Jenny, Trisha and me to the waterfront for the Obon festival. Obon is a pretty big deal here. It’s basically similar to Christmas in that people tend to go home to be with their families and end up drinking and eating a lot and all that. Traditionally though it’s supposed to be a time when families gather to welcome back their dead ancestors who are visiting them in spirit form. The festival takes place over several days but today was the end of it, when the ancestors are bid farewell as they return to the afterlife. In Shimabara and other local areas the ancestors are sent off in boats via lanterns (I was doing my best to keep a non judgmental face as Kayoko explained to me the meaning of Obon). This makes for a rather beautiful spectacle as you can see in the pics I posted. It was pretty funny though, to watch some of the boat-carries try to run with the boats whilst highly drunk. And what was a bit scary was the handling and copious use of fireworks by children as young as 2, senile and blind old people, and inebriated amateurs. Yep, I feared for my life a bit as many a small firework sailed over my head with only inches to spare and fire sparks landed casually at my feet. Of course then Kayoko brought out her own fireworks and I decided I needed a drink before starting down the road to burning myself to death. So I quickly guzzled a beer before sticking a lighter to one of the fiery suckers and prayed that the ancestors would spare my life. When the fireworks were done all that was left was an ethereal smokiness in the air, through which one could see the ancestor boats glowing as they sailed away to sea. In the end it was quite peaceful and inspirational. Maybe because by that time the drunken men were passed out and either being carried home by their families or else were peacefully floating in the harbour alongside the boats. Man, festivals here are awesome.

Kara and Kayoko’s Birthdays – Aug. 16th

So as we were all heading out to celebrate Kara’s birthday I found out that yesterday had actually been Kayoko’s birthday! She had not said a word and Kara had found out from someone else just today. Well as soon as I saw Kayoko, and wished her a happy birthday with a huge hug, I told her in a scolding tone that withholding important information like that was not a good idea since she had thereby cheated herself out of a bottle of maple syrup. Once we were all assembled the whole gang ended up going to this awesome traditional Japanese restaurant/bar. And when I say awesome, I mean fricking AWESOME. I mean it was full rice screen doors, bonsai trees, and little fountains inside the candlelit hallways. We had our own private rooms and since we had some senior jets in tow, we ended up experiencing some of the best Japanese food I have tried to date. It was good times all ‘round. The highlight of the night though was Doug (a 2nd year JET, who is actually this awesome hippy, surfer dude) trying to explain to two of the more delicate Japanese women the finer points of a complicated sexual position. I have never seen a woman look more confused or scandalized. Like I said, good times. I also ended up talking to Kara at length about what she wants to do after JET and she has some amazing aspirations. One of the things she wants to do is ride a bike from China all the way through to England. To tell the truth I have never had a love of bicycles, but since my best friend here has been my little street bike I have grown a bit fonder of the things. One of the things I love about this program is that you end up meeting people with such a passion for life. It’s contagious. I feel so alive from all these new experiences that I just want to keep it going. When I told Kara and Kayoko that I only planned to stay here one year they both said that they would convince me otherwise within a few months. I laughed and was insistent that I needed to go back in a year, however, thinking about it later I wasn’t so sure. I find that all I can think about now is the next adventure. I wanna still backpack through Europe, I want to go to Africa and work with Habitat for Humanity, and even the bike riding thing that Kara was describing seems irresistibly appealing. My mind is awake and racing with possibility. And that is in spite of the booze currently racing through my veins. Tomorrow, it’s off to Nagasaki! Can’t wait.