toga toga
I'm back ;)
After receiving a number of requests/complaints/inquiries the past few months I've realized how many people actually DO still read this blog and thus have decided to try my best to keep it up, even if it's only an entry a month.
Apologies to those of you who've been patiently waiting for an update. I was rather preoccupied the last few weeks of 2nd semester and then took off outta country for a bit. Then when I got back there was no internet for awhile...
Anyway no more excuses.
I'm officially rolled over to my 2nd year with JET. So far this doesn't mean much of anything where work is concerned. Second semester doesn't start till Sept. Until then I'm come to school, sit at my desk and don't even bother trying to look busy. The staff room is near empty since nobody else has any reason to be here either. I spend some of my hours chillin' with the office ladies sipping coffee and practicing my kanji with the daily newspaper. Sometimes I slip out to run errands or get food (no school lunch in summer). The rest of the time I'm at my computer doing nothing in particular. Sounds exciting, no?
Not to say that August is uneventful. On the contrary, outside of school they seem to condense all the biggest events of the year into 2 or 3 weeks.
In a prefecture that most Japanese haven't even heard of we get an awful lot of internationally renowned events happening. The most seemingly random of these taking place in the remotest village of our region.
Remember the Toga snow festival from back in February? Apparently that same village is known by thespians around the world for its theater scene. Way back a man named Tadashi Suzuki settled in Toga with his drama troupe(why Toga? I don't know) where he founded the Japan Performing Arts Centre and the now annual Toga International Theater Festival. You can't truly appreciate the randomness of this until you make the long solitary drive through the mountains where suddenly you find a magnificent outdoor amphitheater built over a lake with foreigners from around the world intermingling with Japanese in various languages. It's completely unexpected, surreal and amazing.
toga outdoor amphitheater
fireworks over lake during performance
With famous actors and directors coming in to perform from around the world, tickets were same price as if you were seeing a show in the city. Lucky for us tho we were able to get free tickets :D connections are lovely.
The show itself was bit hard to follow, but it made up what it lacked in story with flashy seemingly unrelated pyrotechnics... maybe they did this knowing that the meaning of the play would be lost with half of the audience. In any case it was entertaining. After the play they rolled out two large kegs of quality sake on to the stage which they cracked open with hammers and distributed to the audience. At that point the audience was allowed to join the actors on stage for all-you-can-drink free sake and an opportunity to mingle with the actors. Amongst them was a director of cirque du soleil (see? surreal) Didn't get a chance to talk to him unfortunately since he was deep in conversation with some Australian thespians, although not sure what I would've said anyway.
thespians and audience gettin' boozed on stage before the drive home :P
The surreal night continued on at exclusive and non-exclusive after parties with delicious food, free drinks, and interesting (and some not-so-interesting) company.
The following morning we stumbled upon a local craft festival on the way up to the Nepalese Mediation Center for delicious curry lunch, followed by soft serve at Toga Toga restaurant. Ok, time to clock out.
peace
After receiving a number of requests/complaints/inquiries the past few months I've realized how many people actually DO still read this blog and thus have decided to try my best to keep it up, even if it's only an entry a month.
Apologies to those of you who've been patiently waiting for an update. I was rather preoccupied the last few weeks of 2nd semester and then took off outta country for a bit. Then when I got back there was no internet for awhile...
Anyway no more excuses.
I'm officially rolled over to my 2nd year with JET. So far this doesn't mean much of anything where work is concerned. Second semester doesn't start till Sept. Until then I'm come to school, sit at my desk and don't even bother trying to look busy. The staff room is near empty since nobody else has any reason to be here either. I spend some of my hours chillin' with the office ladies sipping coffee and practicing my kanji with the daily newspaper. Sometimes I slip out to run errands or get food (no school lunch in summer). The rest of the time I'm at my computer doing nothing in particular. Sounds exciting, no?
Not to say that August is uneventful. On the contrary, outside of school they seem to condense all the biggest events of the year into 2 or 3 weeks.
In a prefecture that most Japanese haven't even heard of we get an awful lot of internationally renowned events happening. The most seemingly random of these taking place in the remotest village of our region.
Remember the Toga snow festival from back in February? Apparently that same village is known by thespians around the world for its theater scene. Way back a man named Tadashi Suzuki settled in Toga with his drama troupe(why Toga? I don't know) where he founded the Japan Performing Arts Centre and the now annual Toga International Theater Festival. You can't truly appreciate the randomness of this until you make the long solitary drive through the mountains where suddenly you find a magnificent outdoor amphitheater built over a lake with foreigners from around the world intermingling with Japanese in various languages. It's completely unexpected, surreal and amazing.
toga outdoor amphitheater
fireworks over lake during performance
With famous actors and directors coming in to perform from around the world, tickets were same price as if you were seeing a show in the city. Lucky for us tho we were able to get free tickets :D connections are lovely.
The show itself was bit hard to follow, but it made up what it lacked in story with flashy seemingly unrelated pyrotechnics... maybe they did this knowing that the meaning of the play would be lost with half of the audience. In any case it was entertaining. After the play they rolled out two large kegs of quality sake on to the stage which they cracked open with hammers and distributed to the audience. At that point the audience was allowed to join the actors on stage for all-you-can-drink free sake and an opportunity to mingle with the actors. Amongst them was a director of cirque du soleil (see? surreal) Didn't get a chance to talk to him unfortunately since he was deep in conversation with some Australian thespians, although not sure what I would've said anyway.
thespians and audience gettin' boozed on stage before the drive home :P
The surreal night continued on at exclusive and non-exclusive after parties with delicious food, free drinks, and interesting (and some not-so-interesting) company.
The following morning we stumbled upon a local craft festival on the way up to the Nepalese Mediation Center for delicious curry lunch, followed by soft serve at Toga Toga restaurant. Ok, time to clock out.
peace
Comments
I'm going to have ocha with sensei today. I will make sure she is reading your blog/keeping up with you.
Have fun Diana,
Bill yori