日本: The first two weeks

I've been in Japan for two weeks now - it's been a fantastic experience so far! Starting with customs at the airport, I've spoken virtually no English since coming here. My Japanese, especially my listening comprehension, has really improved. I'm pleasantly surprised I've been able to communicate.

The first weekend, there was a local festival in Ishikawa. I joined hundreds of people in doing a series of traditional dances for three hours. The best part was I got to wear a neat costume for it! There was also a parade in honor of the festival, but I only saw it for a few minutes.

Also on the first weekend, I went to see a circus (unfortunately photography was forbidden.) The acrobats were particularly impressive. Whenever they were preparing for the next trick, two clowns performed dumbshows and usually forced a couple hapless audience members to be a part of it. As it turns out, I was selected to be in one of them, along with three other friends in the same program. First we had to impersonate some animals and do a silly dance, then the four of us sat down in chairs. The clowns contorted our bodies into a convoluted shape and then took the four chairs from underneath us, though we didn't fall because each of us used our knees as a "chair" for someone else's back. Then the clowns left us quite helplessly, and we awkwardly wormed our way out of the mess to the amusement of the audience.

After the circus was over, I was interviewed (in Japanese!) by a local newspaper. I was actually pictured and quoted in a newspaper article!

I'm in the center with the green shirt. Sorry, I'm too lazy to translate the whole thing :)

This weekend was as packed as the first. On Saturday, I toured a Buddhist temple with my host family. It was breathtaking, and also surprisingly big.

In the evening, some of my host family's relatives came to visit. We had make-it-yourself sushi (options of squid, octopus, tuna, shrimp, and various fish.) I also played Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. with the children. Back in high school I was an avid Nintendo fan, so it was interesting to play the games in their original versions. I even played a Pictionary variant and another word game in Japanese.

Finally, today I participated in a volley ball tournament hosted by the international exchange program at the local university. My team won six games undefeated, though I cannot claim much credit for the victories :)