Yes, I still remember that I did indeed start a website a few months ago and no, I haven't given up on it. I know that it is my duty to keep you all informed and entertained and that the state of the world depends on it, so I have returned to do my part.
So, yeah, turns out I suck at this whole website thing. But I'm gonna give it another shot and see how it goes. Where shall I begin???
Well, for those of you who have deleted my messages lately without reading them, my friend Brian was in town during the last bit of 2004 and the first few days of this new year. It was a cool time, of which I will tell you nothing about, because Brian has a blog of his own, in which he described it all very well, and I just am too damned lazy to tell you about it myself. So, check it out here. (Dec 29 and Jan 8 posts)
Just a few days after Brian left was my friend Jennie's birthday. To celebrate, she invited a few of us to go along with her to Nara, where they were having a festival that day that included catching a huge hill on fire and setting off fireworks. Jennie was convinced that it was all for her birthday, but alas, it was another one of many purification rites that happens close to the new year. Speaking of New Year traditions... on the news last week I saw a couple great ones. The first involves a blowfish auction in which men gather at the crack of dawn, just on this one day every year, and they reach into a bag that is wrapped around the auctioneer's hand and pull his fingers to place their bets for the blowfish. Another involved a man dressed as a monkey (since 2004 was the year of the monkey) that was being chased by a man dressed as a rooster (yes, 2005 is the year of the rooster). On January 2nd, apparently the whole country spends time doing calligraphy. And the last ritual I can speak of to cover the last two weeks is the coming-of-age day that is celebrated every January 10th for all of the people who turned 20 years old in the past year. The women dress in kimono and the men in suits and they all celebrate being able to drink and smoke (in public at least) for the first time. So, just a few more weeks now before the next cool holiday - some of you may remember it from last year - setsubun - we get to throw beans at the demons. Good times.
Okay, I'll try not to make these entries too long so some of you may actually return for more. Yep, go ahead - place me in your favorites bookmarked for frequent visits - I will do my best to keep you awake!
But for now - Oyasumi!
Kim ; )
