Irises, Laughter, BBQ, & Beers

The final day of the Iris festival was a great day. Everything went smoothly. We had several breaks and laughed all day. We greeted the last of the visitors and ate ice cream sandwiches. We casually walked the dusty sidewalks and observed what was left of the dying iris. It was rainy and then sunny then rainy again. It was a day of joyfulness and of sadness. We had the crowing of the Iris princesses. They both recieved trips to Korea =D Pretty cool. After everything was said and done we rejoiced with a fantastic BBQ under the terrace. It was pouring rain but spirits were high. Beer and food didn't stop until 9. We had a blast enjoying this last day together.


I really did learn a lot from this experience. As much as I am indeed happy to have my weekends back to myself, I will miss seeing the girls. My Japanese level went up significantly, I made really great new friends, AND I can now tie my own Yukata! I think this experience really was life changing in a really great way! I am considering doing it again next year! I saved money, made money, and had a really fantastic time!

Here are some pictures for you from that last day =D Enjoy.

Resigning The Crown

As many of you know, I participated in a month and a half long Iris Festival here in Itako. Well, I am happy to say I can finally step down as princess and go back to my normal life here in Japan. The paparazzis will need to put away their cameras until next year when the princesses will come out again. Many people have asked me about next year and I will not do it again. Especially since it was a volunteer job. If there was money involved I would perhaps give it a second thought. June 27 & June 28th were the final days of the festival. Those two days were a blast - in the evenings at least!

During the days we did our typical routines. On Saturday Sapana, the Iris daughter from Nepal, had invited Aya and I over to make dinner at her house in Ushibori with her son and her husband. I went home after the festival to change clothes and meet them. We had a blast! We made homemade curry, nepalese chips, okonomiyaki, and watermelon! The most fun part was cooking and talking together. We are connected through Japanese and a little bit of English. It was great going back and forth between the languages as I normally do on a day to day basis! So here are some fun pictures for you!!