The Festival of the Dead (and Me)
This Saturday was the Obon Matsuri (festival of the dead) in Ajimu Machi. It is the biggest festival of the year in our little town of Ajimu, and this was my fourth year (have I been here that long?) to see it. And all four times have been great fun. The Obon Matsuri is one of my favorite memories of Ajimu. The whole town comes out for the Obon dance and the fireworks. All the young people have returned from University or their jobs in the big city to come back for the Obon festival.

I went with my successor, Josh (who, by the way, has his own weblog up in running in case anyone is looking for a second perspective on Ajimu life). I decided that if I was ever going to wear the Yukata (Japanese robe) the board of education had given to me, this would be the time. So, decked out in the Yukata, and the sandals which came with it (which were too small for my feet), Josh and I set out.

Every town has its own unique dance for the Obon Matsuri. Every year I learn the Ajimu dance, and then forget it and have to relearn it the next year. This year I re-learned it for the fourth time, and Josh and I did our best to join in the dance. Even though it was evening, it was a hot summer night and we were soon dripping with sweat and quietly ducked out of the dance.

I met a lot of my students and a lot of former students. "How do you possibly remember everyone?" Josh asked me. "I don't," I replied. "I remember them by face, and on a good day I can remember which school they are from and which grade they are in, but I can never remember their names."

My job officially finished this Thursday, so the Obon Matsuri was possibly the last time I am going to see many of these students. But since I've already said my good-byes at the school last month, it was almost a bit redundant to run into some of them again. The most common comment I got was, "What? You're still here?"

A few students said they didn't initially recognize me at first because of my beard. (Did I mention I'm taking advantage of my holiday to experiment a bit with facial hair?) I suppose I do look a bit different, but it is not like I really blend into the crowd here. Even with a beard, how many other tall, Dutch Americans are there wandering around the streets of Ajimu?

I've been getting mixed reactions on the beard. Actually the boys don't seem to care, but the girls are always in a state of critiquing my appearance. Many of them said my face looked dirty and I should probably shave. But at least a couple students were very enthusiastic. "It looks so cool. I can't believe how cool you look" one of them said. At any rate, since I'm not going to start my new job for another month, I'm going to experiment for a while.

But enough about me and my beard. You get me started on this topic and I'll be typing here all night.

Anyway, good fun at Obon Matsuri. Saw a lot of friends, students, former students, and some people I hadn't seen since the last Obon Matsuri. The fireworks were pretty crappy, but appearently the budget for fireworks in Ajimu was pretty small.

Afterwards we went to a good-bye party for Ron in Nakatsu. Ron is an outgoing 3rd year Jet like me, and there aren't too many of us left anymore. Most of the others have already gone home. I thought it was pretty funny that the majority of people at Ron's good-bye party were new JETs who had just met him in the past couple days.