Today is Halloween but because we did it on the weekend I feel like it is over so I will tell you what we got up to. It rained and was cold for most of Saturday. So in that way I am sure it was a lot like how Canada usually is. I dressed as a bunch of grapes and my friends were a mosquito, a torturing nurse, a man attacked by an animal, Frankenstein and someone from the matrix. For the most part they were home made costumes. They were a little weak but that’s part of the fun. Most of the Japanese people were dressed as witches.
There was a huge street festival. We had a haunted out that left many a child crying. It was actually my job for a while to usher out the crying kids. Hey, we told you it was scary! I don’t know what was scarier for them, the fact that we kept jumping out and scaring them or that we were a bunch of weird looking foreigners. Both can be frightening to a young Japanese child. There was a pumpkin carving station and a costume contest as well as huge amounts of food that you often find at the festivals. I saw so many of my students out there. They kept running up to me but they didn’t really say anything because they got too nervous. The junior high kids didn’t come out until later and most of them were not dressed up. They are a little too cool for that but it was great to see them. There were also all kinds of Japanese fortune telling and a games and fun house for the younger kids. We were in a costume parade and there was a lot of live music. When we were tired of waving to everyone, we went and hung out in the grocery store for a while and upset some old people. No one likes it when a bunch of grapes and a large mosquito man are messing about in the frozen foods sections. We don’t even go this crazy for Halloween at home! Afterwards, there was a big party and be all stayed out late into the night. We had the usual amount of people who had to crash at both Tom’s and my house but our houses are so cold now I felt bad having them over! But it was about 4:00 AM by that point so I don’t think many people noticed.
I slept through my Japanese lesson the next day and then had a nice breakfast with the remaining stragglers around noon. After that I went to Kiso Valley by train to look at the beautiful fall leaves and have dinner with a friend. It was a great trip and the weather was perfect. Autumn really is the best time in Japan. Forget cherry blossoms, this is incredible to see. Everywhere you go you are looking at a beautifully painted mountain range with such vivid colours. I wish everyone I know was on the train ride so you could have seen it. The leaves haven’t been changing that much back home in recent years or at least not so much in Kitchener. I am sure I will be in several newspapers after this weekend’s events! That is so strange but I know people will be giving me clippings periodically for the next week or so. I have to go back to the dentist today to get the details of my surgery but I have a translator this time. Should be a ball. I’ll keep you all posted although I am sure its not going to be anything too serious. Have a happy Halloween everyone!