Ayu Matsuri

On Saturday, Michael and I went into Kochi city. I got a mouse, a gaming headset, some new sunglasses, and other bits and pieces. We stopped in K-town on the way home and had tea with Laurel, the CIR of the Kubokawa komen-kan (Board of Education). The rest of the evening involved YouTube and Turok on the PS3.

I attended a small AoG church in K-town on Sunday. Aside from the pastor and his wife, and me and Laurel, there was only one other person there! We had lunch with Candice -- okonomiyaki! -- and took a mid-afternoon, open carriage train to Taisho. The Ayu matsuri (festival) was happening just outside my town. Mark and Martin from nakamura had driven over this way to attend it, so there were six of us in total (Michael was already there).

The Ayu is a fish that swims in the Shimanto gawa (river). I tried one cooked on a stick, coated with salt. It was ok. We saw some taiko (Japanese drumming) and some yosakoi dancing (like at the matsuri in Kochi city the other weekend).

We spent a little time at Mikey's apartment and went back down to the river to wait for hanabi (fireworks). When it was dark, we went up onto the bridge. They shut down all the lights at 8.30pm and the display began. It was the most amazing fireworks display I have ever seen. The sound was richocheting off the surrounding hills like gunshots and the sky was lit up with explosions and sprinkles of colour. Near the end, some hanabi that were strung across the kawa (river) were let off and produced a golden waterfall of fire that was kirei (pretty).

I managed to capture a bit of the hanabi on my phone and other people took some movies and pictures. I have been unable to access what is on my micro-SD card for some reason, but when I have my laptop, I will upload the best i-motion movie to YouTube.

I have to go to K-town today to swap my phone. It has a leak in the LCD that has been spreading. It is definitely an OBF (out of box failure). I just hope that they will replace it due to its manufacturing fault as they would in New Zealand.

I have a meeting at the Showa chugakkou (middle school) and a dentist appointment tomorrow afternoon. Wednesday, I have a meeting at the Tokawa chugakkou. And on Thursday, I will be going into the city for some re-entry permits and to have my license translated for applying for a Japanese one.

Timotheos