To
begin w/ I found out about this cool Samurai Festival and that people get to
dress in traditional old armor and fight if they sign up on a list before the
event. But sadly I didn't make the list of people to be samurai in the battle
(they had a long waiting list from last year). Despite that, I decided to be
adventurous and drive the 3 hrs to the battle w/ only directions written on
some scrap paper. I made it there, with some help from signs and out of luck/good
sense of direction b/c some signs said to go one way but then never showed up
again to tell you to turn -.-.....and I found a place to park in a parking lot
of a store. Normally they frown upon parking there for other events, but they
were allowing it since this was such a big event. The old guy who was the
volunteer to help people park in spots that were ok seemed a bit worried about
me being a gaijin girl by myself and when I asked him if it was ok to park and
where the event was at he was very meticulous about giving me details and kept
asking if I understood and was very kind. Then I went to the area and I think I
saw a greatdane off in the distance, and of course I saw lots of people dressed
for the battle. It was really neat to see the foot soldiers, ninjas (yes they
had ninjas :D), archers, leaders and such all decked in traditional-styled
armor/clothes.
While there I found a decent viewing spot (it was already crowded when I arrived). I also so an older woman that was a little peculiarly dressed and was carrying around a doll....but that's beside the point. Anyhoo, I saw a few other foreigners but they walked passed me and didn't really notice. G ranted I didn't say "hey" and wave like a dork, but I did smile and the one that saw me just looked away and started talking with the others in the group. They gathered a bit of a ways away from where I was but I could still see them from my spot. One time while looking around --crowd watching during a break in the battle-- I saw some of them in the group look at me and I smiled and started to wave but they immediately looked away when they saw that I spotted them. Then after the battle I walked around closer to the battle grounds. I saw some of the other foreigners that were fighting (and mind you a lot of them are ALTs like myself) and went up and said "Hello" and they smiled but didn't say anything. Instead they just went on w/ a conversation w/ the person next to them. I saw an older lady (40s or 50s) who was a foreigner and I smiled and said hello to her. She was nice enough to say hello back and smile, but then she looked to the distance and said to herself (but still aloud) "oh the international group seems to be gathering" and then walked off.
While there I found a decent viewing spot (it was already crowded when I arrived). I also so an older woman that was a little peculiarly dressed and was carrying around a doll....but that's beside the point. Anyhoo, I saw a few other foreigners but they walked passed me and didn't really notice. G ranted I didn't say "hey" and wave like a dork, but I did smile and the one that saw me just looked away and started talking with the others in the group. They gathered a bit of a ways away from where I was but I could still see them from my spot. One time while looking around --crowd watching during a break in the battle-- I saw some of them in the group look at me and I smiled and started to wave but they immediately looked away when they saw that I spotted them. Then after the battle I walked around closer to the battle grounds. I saw some of the other foreigners that were fighting (and mind you a lot of them are ALTs like myself) and went up and said "Hello" and they smiled but didn't say anything. Instead they just went on w/ a conversation w/ the person next to them. I saw an older lady (40s or 50s) who was a foreigner and I smiled and said hello to her. She was nice enough to say hello back and smile, but then she looked to the distance and said to herself (but still aloud) "oh the international group seems to be gathering" and then walked off.
So I was a little perturbed that I drove 3
hrs to go to an event that I was told to "by all means come we'd love to
have more foreigners at the event, even if it's just spectating. Can’t wait to
see you there", and then when I go to said event I couldn't get the time
of day from any of the other foreigners. Not that I was expecting the time, but
at least a short: ‘’hello, oh you're from ___, I'm from ___,’’ ‘‘glad you made
it to this event’’, ‘‘this event is a lot of fun isn't it’’, or a ‘‘oh hey
another foreigner that's cool’’....or something. But oh well. I didn't let it dampen my spirits b/c it was a
really neat event and after leaving the other foreigners that didn't want to
chat with me I passed some junior or senior high school boys who---in their
typical rowdy jhs/shs boy manner---said "oh, hello! Nice to meet you. I'm
happy/hungry/hot. Goodbye!" So that was a good laugh to have them randomly
say stuff in English while walking past me. And the view on the way to the
event is absolutely lovely. It's a mountain road that cuts through mountains
and over rivers and dams and small mountain towns and small waterfalls (like
maybe a foot wide if that, but really tall/long) and whatnot. It was gorgeous.
So all in all I’d say that adventure was a victory and it was a nice
festival. Oh, and the guy who
"died" and stuck his sword in a way so that it looked like he was
stabbed and the other one who died but kept kicking their feet around in boredom
where extra amusing to see^^. And a nice---though long-- drive with good music
is always nice^^. But yes, that was that festival. Later will be the kite
battle festival, my parents stay here and some other festival I think? I think
there's another one....oh and the amazing Buddhist Temple and Mountain temple/shrines
that I saw just this weekend
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