This month started off with Golden week, which is a week in Japan where they have a whole heap of public holidays one after the other. During this week my local shrine had a matsuri (festival) on, in which they race horses up a hill and over a high jump, if the horse makes it to the other side then the harvest is good that year. This showed me how important tradition is for the Japanese people as this matsuri has been running for over a thousand years. The riders and their helpers were all dressed in formal traditional dress too, which I thought was really awesome. Like every tradtion in Japan (and probably everywhere) odd little quirks had appeared over the years, stuff like the fact that the riders weren't aloud to touch the ground for the duration of the festival and that they used to get the horses drunk on Sake before they sent them over the jump (something that was banned when animal welfare complained about it). Of course like every other Japanese matsuri there were tones of foods stalls containing a wide range of very yummy Japanese foods, which I had fun eating.
My host family also took me to Nagashima Spaland, which is a theme park just out of Kuwana, which is where I now live. It's home to the tallest roller coaster (or jeto coaster as the Japanese like to call them) in Japan. I had promised a friend that I would go on it with her, but i had to test it out first. Both my host sisters and host mother said that nothing would make them go on it, so me and my host father went on it, both of us terrified. I am now completely in love with roller coasters :) We of course went on all the other rides in Spaland, they were all excellent, except i got sick on the pirate ship. I also explored the huge outlet shopping centre that is also part of spaland. I will gladly go back there when i have more money to spend.
That night I also made dinner for my host family, which I hope they loved. :)
The next weekend the other exchange students from my district, both outbounds and inbounds, spent the night in Gifu city. We watched Cormorant fishing on the Nagara river, a form of traditional Japanese fishing which is done at night. The fishermen tie rope around the Cormorant bird and get it to fish for them as they move up the river with bonfires on the end of their boats to light the way.
The next day we climbed the mountain Kinkazan, which is a mountian that overlooks Gifu city. There was beautiful traditional Japanese castle on top which was built by the samurai who renamed Gifu prefecture. The long walk was fun with all the other exchange students to talk to, but so tiring that I didn't really pay the castle or awesome view much heed when i did get to the top.
The next day I changed host families to the Sato household, they also live in Kuwana although in a different area to my previous host family. They were very welcoming to me and I am enjoying my stay already :D
The weather is slowly getting hotter here, which is excellent. I'm out and enjoying the sun (and sometimes thunder storms :D) before it gets to humid and hot.
Stay awesome.
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