Sunday sunnyness

I can not believe that November is almost over. I have already been in Japan for two months. I feel as though my understanding of Japanese is getting much better. I try to speak as much as I can with my friends, but I also help them with English sometimes which is a nice trade. I hope to expand on my vocabulary by studying because I am finding grammar rather easy to pick up on. I am excited to continue to learn while I am here. Sadly I have not been able to study the environment the past few weeks because I have been so busy and the students who I do field work with are busy preparing for a large science exhibition next month held in Miyazaki city.

This past Sunday, the 25th, I went to a Kimono Festival with several other exchange students from China and Korea. It was a lot of fun! We had to make the train at 6:50am in order to make it to the festival in time. From the Miyazaki Jingu station it was only about a ten minute walk to the There were a lot of beautiful people in Kimono. We got to put on a Kimono and get our hair and make up done as well. The Kimonos are all so beautiful. Before we put on the kimonos we had to do a walk through rehearsal, which I didn't understand any of but it was all pretty simple so there were no problems. Everyone is so pretty! There was a competition for people to tie their own obis. We didn't get to compete because none of us knew how to tie an obi hehe. There were also different examples on how to tie the obi in different ways and how to put on different kinds of kimono. It was all very fun and I had a great time! The women who were looking after us were very nice and helped out a lot by showing us around and helping us into the kimonos. Putting on a kimono is no simple ordeal. It probably took each of us about 15-20 minutes to have someone help us put it on. But it was worth waiting because they are so beautiful. Also, all those anime where you see women running around with long strides in a full kimono are a lie! It's rather restrictive in leg movement and even people who are used to wearing them have to take small steps because of how the kimono is wrapped. They are very elegant though, and I got to learn a few customs of how to wear a kimono, such as bowing and how to walk properly. The whole festival was great fun and a wonderful learning experience. I really want to buy a kimono for nostalgic reasons, but I know they are far too expensive for me~

I am having a wonderful time here in Japan and I want to bring back good memories for all of my friends and family:)