A minute to breathe, thank you?

Wow, I don't even know where to start... It has been a week since my last 'real' entry – meaning not only pictures, but an actual report – and that week has been packed. One of the most important things happening was definitely the fact that I can finally use the internet at school with my own laptop. Already the week before, when I finally (after one and a half week of waiting) got my own username and password to use the school's computers, the people from the office told me that, sure, you can also use the Wifi, the 'cable free internet', with your own computer now. Wrong.

I tried that for two days, but it didn't work. I went crying (well, almost) to Taro-san, one of my teachers and on Tuesday we went to another teacher, a computer-knowledgable one, who told me that to be able to use the internet of Toyama University (of which Takaoka Campus is a part) I first had to get an electronic certificate from their webpage. Meaning: to be able to use the internet, I would have needed an internet connection already, to download and apply that certificate!

… ??!

Well... I was a very happy little girl when the holiest person in the world (aka the computer teacher) downloaded the certificate over his own computer and then applied it to mine. But I was also a bit pissed that those people who should have told me about that little bit of information, hadn't. Anyhow, now it does work and I can use Baku (which is the name of my beloved laptop), if only at school. Still no internet 'at home' at Senshinen, but I guess before that happens I will have to wait at least another 6 months, if I'm lucky. Or then it simply won't happen in my time. Oh well. I can be at school until 22:00 in the week and if I remember right until 17:00 at weekends – that's at least something.

Another very important thing is this: 

 

Yosakoi! 

It's a Japanese dance which wikipedia describes thus: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosakoi

And.It's.Sooo.Cool! That big group of people dancing, everybody holding some kind of rattle in each hand with which they accentuate certain beats of the music; and great music it is. 

The week before this, my first school week, the Yosakoi group of Takaoka campus was performing in the school yard, basically to introduce themselves to this year's freshmen and invite new members – the picture above is from that event. I was swept away by it. It was fantastic, the music, its rhythm, the movement, the energy... just absolutely amazing. And because I know their dance leader since I have a course together with him, I more or less without thinking, asked if I may join and allowed I was.

Last wednesday, the 20^th, was my first training.

Whoa.

Difficult, definitely, but so cool. Using the Naruko, the 'rattles', works pretty well for me, but I have inherited my mum's problems in discerning between left and right and that together with the fact that I don't understand Japanese yet and have to figure out the choreography mostly from watching what the others do, makes the whole thing quite tricky. But definitely not impossible. And again the Japanese are fantastic. When they noticed that I hadn't understood a certain part, they simply showed me, again and again. At the end of the four(!) hours training I think I wasn't actually any worse than any of the other beginners.

But what this means now is: training on Wednesday from 16:00 to 20:00, on Saturday from 9:00 to 12:30 and if I understood right, it's also possible also for some time on Tuesday. Sooo... that will make me very busy. But I think it will be worth it. It's difficult at the start, but when the music starts to play and the movements of the choreography start to make sense it's absolutely amazing. I will see how it goes. If things work out as planned, then our first performance should be in May. I'm not so sure about the whole performing part yet, but I'll just tag along for now and see.

I also tried to find a video of our group on the net but couldn't find any on youtube, and many of the videos you can find there somehow don't capture the way I feel about it, so, maybe at some point I will be able to record a video on my own or get one from someone and then I can show it.

Another thing that happened was that I was invited to attend a Buddhistic wedding this weekend. It seems the monk who lives with his family at the temple the wedding will be held at, housed another exchange student, a young woman from Czech, for two months. I am not sure now if the office people contacted him to give me the possibility to get more in touch with the traditional Japan, or if he offered it himself, in any case, before attending the wedding he wanted to have dinner with me. That of course meant not only me alone, but one person from the office and one of my tutors, Ai.

So, long things short, it was – how else could it be – great. The temple was awe-inspiring, the food really good and the people very nice, but the most breath-taking thing was definitely the temple garden. I am so sorry I didn't have my camera with me and we went there at 18:00 so the light was too bad to take a picture with my mobile, but I hope that on Saturday I will be able to make some photos. It's just so beautiful as it kind of winds itself up the side of the mountain that the temple is nestled against. Just... wow. 

About staying there they said right now it's not s good time because they seem to have other guests or something, but I am invited to visit them, if I want. And who knows, maybe at some point I might be able to stay with them for a short time, too. And to live in a room with direct view onto that garden... oh.... wow...

Was that my third or fourth 'wow' in the post? 

Definitely an interesting week. And busy. There would be more to tell but it's 21:30 already and I have to leave at 22:00. But here a short preview to my weekend:

On Saturday at 9:00 there's Yosakoi until 12:30. After that I will go to the city with both my tutors to watch the festival which will be going on this weekend in Takaoka. At 15:00 there's the wedding.

After that I guess I'll hang around for the festival some more, then fall asleep while standing.

On sunday I finally have to write the post about the courses I'm taking as well as the personal project I've taken on while studying Urushi. I'd also like to tell you, my readers, a bit more about the general Japan I've experienced so far, the food, the people, the weird things, but I honestly am not sure when I will be able to start doing that this weekend yet. I also have to learn more Japanese, research Urushi, and draw flowers (part of one course, I'll tell about it later.)

Ahhhhh...... too few hours in one day! But, as the Japanese would say: Kanbare! – Doing my best!