Bunka no Hi

Today, having mostly slept off my cold, and with results of the election not yet in, Hamish and I set off for the Bee Summit. A lot of JETs went last year, and they talked it up so much, I have to admit I was surprised (disappointed) in its small scale. But we did get Hebo-goheimochi (mochi on a stick with a sauce made from bees), and then we watched them smoke bees out of their hives and then weigh the hives. I think they then sold the honeycomb at high prices. My friend (acquaintance, I guess) Rei was manning the goheimochi, and she was also selling her pottery. I didn't buy any, but I plan to when I go to her house next time.

We headed out to Damine (in the mountains of Shitara, and also home to one of my favorite elementary schools) because I'd heard there would be a festival there. There was nothing doing at the temple, so we got fortunes. I couldn't read much of them. Apparently the person I am waiting for is on his or her way, but they are going to be a little late. I think I'll find the thing I lost. That's good news, I guess.

At Damine Elementary, we could see a crowd. They were having a community field day. They offered us food and beer, while we watched. It turned out to be great fun! Like a regular Japanese field day, the kids were grouped into Shirogumi and Akagumi (White and Red), but since the school is so small (only 19 kids), everyone was participating. The first event we watched was a relay. The kids would run halfway around the track, then pick a piece of paper out of a hat and do what was written on the hat. One girl had to do Janken (Rock-Paper-Scissors) with someone, and then both people had to run the rest of the track. She ran over to me, and I lost as rock to her paper. As I ran around the track, my left sandal broke and fell off. Everyone was impressed that I continued to run with one shoe I went back to my seat, and then another student got me to skip around the track with her. After that, Hamish and I participated in tug of war (one win, one lose), competitive Janken, and finally, an obstacle course relay which I did barefoot and came out of really dirty. One of the obstacles involved shooting over a box of matches with a water gun. There was something wrong with my team's pistol, and it wouldn't shoot with enough force. The guy after me was a police officer, and after everyone started jeering at him, he just started shooting all the kids. They also had water guns, and it was a full shoot out. The opposing team had a lead on us towards the end, but the guys holding the finish line started running away. As the old man running towards the finish got tired and started to give up, our guy sprinted passed him and won. Ha!

After every event, participants could pick out a prize. Among the prizes, it wasn't only candy and plastic trinkets, but useful stuff like socks, garbage bags, and sponges. Wow! Bizarre, but really practical!

After that, we headed to the Nanaharas', my former host family and watched kendo and the election on t.v. A lovely day. (Besides the election.)