Today was the first day of class! Japanese lesson is soooooooo long, about 3 hours...and it is going to be every day! I also went to the Joint Seminar which was pretty interesting. After class finished we all went as a group to Sannomiya (escorted by our senseis). UNFORTUNATELY, we decided to ride Hankyuu, meaning I had to pay for transportation when normally I can go to Sannomiya for free.
Anyway, while everyone else went into Ikuta Jinja, I went to the police! Know that train pass I lost in the bustling streets of Sannomiya? Yeah, Japan found it and I got it back! I tell you, that would NEVER be the case in America. All I have to do is go back to my home station and get 500 yen back since I paid 1,000 for a new pass. A lot of trouble for $5, but it was an interesting experience. After arriving back at the shrine, everyone was already seated. They had the stage all set up and everything.
It was very interesting. They started off with Kyogen performance, which I didn't understand at all. Then they lit these fire pit things and then the Noh performance started. The flavor of the day was Tsuchigumo. I had no idea what was going on but it moved a lot faster than I imagined Noh to. There were some theatrical effects, such as the spider character throwing string at the other characters. The fight scenes were pretty flamboyant.
After Noh, they gave us an edamame branch. I am not sure why, but hey, it's edamame! After that, we wandered around in a large group looking for food. Aaron's friend was showing us the way, but the original Kaitenzushi place would not accommodate our large group. After about an hour, we ended up at a Kaitenzushi place in JR station. It was kind of expensive for the quality, in all honesty. The uni was the worst uni I have ever tasted! I only got four plates and it was 1,008 yen! Whatever, it satisfies me at 9:30 at night. I ended up getting home at 10:30, the latest so far. Fun day!
