Having Too Much Fun: No Time for HW!

Its 11:15 pm and I just got home. And I have yet to seriously look at the homework I have for Monday! OMG weekends go way too fast!

I let myself sleep in today and nearly slept 12 hours last night. It seems like the only time I have to catch up on sleep is on the weekends, yet I hardly can let myself waste the time. There are so many other things that I want to be doing besides sleeping!

I feel bad because I turned down two invites this weekend alone. One last night to go to yakitori and a bar and today to go shopping and out to dinner. Two different friends. Two people let down. I'M SORRY! But I was planning to meet up with Travis today to go to Asakusa again.

Just a few hours after I woke up, I left my dorm to meet him at Shibuya. It was really sad because we got there right as a parade was ending on one of the main streets. Neither of us knew about it. But lol, we got there in time to hear "ありがとうございます！” (thank you for coming) and see everyone who was dressed up in hapi coats. I think it was called hanamatsuri or something like that. Poor Travis was VERY bummed!

While we were walking around, we looked at a few different stores. It is amazing how even the side streets are busy. I love Shibuya, there are just a ton of clothes everywhere. It is great.

After went to Yoyogi park where they were having a "Thai Festival." Basically tons of people, tents selling Thai merch, Thai food, Thai fruits and veggies. Lots of stuff, lots of people. I was so happy because I got to eat pad thai, probably for the first time in 2 months! Yummy yummy. We got it from this stand with women who were obviously ethnically Thai, but spoke Japanese.

Its really interesting how that works out. Like a lot of the kebab places have people from abroad that own the restaurant and serve Japanese people. And there are a lot of black (idk if they are from Africa or are African-American) working at Harajuku. Its pretty crazy to think that they traveled all that way, have settled here, and know the language. Its probably hard to live in a place where you stand out so much and there aren't a lot of people that can identify with your culture.

I also bought a fruit from a stand selling produce from Thailand. Its sad, but I cannot remember what its called. Actually today was the first time I heard of it. But Trav said it was good so I bought a bag. They look like plums on the outside, but have a red skin you have to peel away, the white fruit inside is sooo good. Really delicious! And from what I've heard a lot cheaper here then they would be in the US. Like Travis bought one in Seattle for $3, and I got a bag of 4 for $5 today. So good.

Later we went to Asakusa. Even though the weather was bad and looked like it was about to rain, TONS of people there. ABSOLUTELY TONS! Like it is hard to explain how densely packed the whole area was. It was mainly a lot of waiting around. The main street was closed off for traffic for most of the time, so we were walking on the 4 lane road. Really crazy.

We waited on a corner for one of the major mikoshi to come. Lots and lots of people just waiting. We were on the corner of one street across from the famous huge red lantern (I'm so sad I forgot what it is called in japanese). Anyway, it was funny because Travis pointed out how quiet and patient everyone was. People were standing there I'm sure a lot longer than we were and the volume level was just above a whisper. Really quiet for such a crowd. Waited for probably an hour. It was late.

When it looked like something was coming a bunch of people crowded onto the street. The police were trying to get everyone back. But lol what happen next surprised both me and Travis. A policeman was asking the people in front of us to move back a little more and one old man talked back (actually yelled back to the officer). Travis said he said something like "Well if it came on time we wouldn't still be waiting here." Japanese people around us actually snickered. Very shocking. Lol. The policeman gave up. Haha.

When it finally came, really was a crazy site. The men don't just carry the mikoji, they have the pole on their shoulder and kinda bob up and down so the shrine looks like it is bouncing as it moves. OMG didn't realize how much energy it took. They would switch out in shifts and all of them looked really sweaty. The men who weren't carrying it formed a human circle around the carrying crew. They linked arms and would wobble out or in to keep people from getting too close. Idk if it happned on purpose, but the shrine seemed to drift to one side, pushing people on that side back and then drift to the other, pretty crazy.

It was so hard to see because there were so many people. Both people in matching hapi coats with the shrine and tourists/Japanese people watching. When it came so many phones and cameras were lifted up to take pictures and everyone went on their tipytoes to catch a glimpse. It was very overwhelming. Kinda like what I imagine Time Square is like on New Years Eve. I've only seen crowds like this in Japan. I can tell why there were so many police. It would have been so easy for someone to get trampled.

So not only are people there to watch the mikoji, but after it passes nearly the whole crowd follows it. So it was a swarm of people going after the shrine.

Travis had to explain the whole process to me because I am pretty uninformed on Japanese cultural events like this. Apparently there are shrines for each neighborhood, So it is the people from the neighborhood that coordinate the carrying and determine what the group wears. Also I heard from Travis and Scott that the Yakuza members are allowed to show off their tatooes at some point during the festival. Like that is the only time they are ever actually allowed to. Over the course of two days we didn't see any though. Although today Travis said there were a bunch of "scary looking" Japanese men that were dressed in matching hapis.

Also a shocker was what the guys were wearing. Some had a hapi coat with white pants. Others just had the hapi and a diaper type thing on. Kinda like a speedo, but the bottom half of their butts were exposed. Haha Kim, Candice, and I were laughing about it on Friday. Def not what I was expecting.

We waited again near the Asakusa Shrine. It was another 30 min or so wait. People were lined up in front of the closed shops, on the side streets, really wherever there was room.

Lol I couldn't tell whether it was the same mikoji that we saw earlier, or it it was a different one. Either way it was really close to us. Really close. Like last time, there was a so a float type thing that had women on it playing traditional music. It really set the mood.

After it went by, we followed it just like everyone else. Lol part way though the police blocked off the rest of the crowd right behind us. And once it got to a certain point, everyone had to get off the main street and go a round about way to the actual shrine.

We ate chicken steak there that was ridiculously good. Then went home. And now it is 1:27 am and I really need to sleep...