Finding Happiness in the Smallest Pleasures

...however, sometimes those smallest pleasures come with a price tag and a rather large one at that!


Story:


With the iris festival in full swing, I am constantly being exposed to new things, new people, and new places. I have met a local artist in Itako. Her name is KOZU. She is a really cool, hip, groovy lady. We, the iris princesses, eat in the back of her studio during the iris festival. We have gotten to know her and her art. I, being an artist, asked her where she bought her supplies. I have been nervous because I thought I needed to go to Tokyo and if I needed to do that a) it would be very expensive and b) I would not be able to buy as much because I could not be caught DEAD driving into Tokyo.


I have become friends with KOZU over the past few weeks. She expressed that it would be fun to go together to go to her store that she knows of. Low and behold, it is a home store called Joyful Honda. There, you can find a world of art supplies for a reasonable price. A lot of money and some time later, I am now fully stocked with new art supplies so I can being my art carrier once more. It has been difficult to get started again because of several obstacles. I am sick of making excuses and now I have no excuse. My goal is to have an art show here in Japan during my stay. I hope to have an exhibit perhaps at my school, locally, or even in Tokyo. It is a realistic goal, I just have to work hard at it.


I am very pleased to say that finally after over a year of rest, I am ready to start painting again. I was sad this past year that I wasn't painting. But now that part of my life can come back to life. It is an incredible feeling that only some of you will understand. But if you are passionate about anything, you know how hard it is to put something like that on hold.


I.AM.HAPPY.

This is a quick 25 minute drawing I did using charcol and water color. I have never had the patience for watercolor so now I am going to try experimenting with it. Wish me luck! Here goes nothin' =D

Suigo no Akari ~ Festival of Lights

Last Saturday after the Iris Festival was over for the day, thousands of candles were lite to illuminate the iris garden. I am not sure the meaning of the candles but there was a wedding procession. I met with my friend from Nepal, Sapana. She came with her son and her husband. We walked around and enjoyed the lights together. We shared some food and laughed with her son. It was great to see many people that saw me in my yukata during the day and then have them see me again as a "normal" person just enjoying the sites. Here are some pictures from that evening. It was very fun and I am glad I was able to spend it with Sapana, my new friend. She has invited me over to her home for dinner this Saturday - traditional Nepalise food :)


Here you are:

Dancin' in the Street

...with the sun shining bright and the flowers all in sight.

Last Saturday, June 13, was a really fun and big day in Itako. John and I had invited a ton of our friends from all over Ibaraki to come and enjoy the iris festival. That day was an exceptional day for many reasons. It was a gorgeous day. The sun was bright and beautiful. Annelyse came and had stayed the night with me on Friday night. We went out of eat with John and then started making some preparations for the party. Annelyse and John were true rock stars to help out and put everything together. We arranged furniture and started making food. We made everything from guacamole to pasta salad. John came over on Saturday and helped make food while I wasn't there.

During the festival, Annelyse and I were dressed up in our yukatas. She had one from when she was here before. Osaki san helped her get into it and we paraded around the festival together greeting people and taking tons of pictures. She was able to earn a bento lunch by helping pass out brochures to the guests of Itako. It was really fun having her there! I even taught her the edo period dance and we danced together in the town's dance competition. The competition went on for three hours she was so sweet to stick around and dance for about half of the competition. We danced from 4 to 7 and then there was an awards ceremony for the best dancers/costumes!

It was just such a fantastic day to have the whole town of Itako to come out and support each other and be a part of such a big day. It was great seeing my students and have them shout my name from the side of the street while I was dancing amongst the ayame princesses. My cheeks hurt at the end of the day because I had been smiling literally all day long. My feet have definitely become accustomed to the geta. The first weekend my feet hurt so much but now I am getting used to them and don't mind them so much!

This week has been very busy and this weekend will be hopefully not so busy aside from the iris festival. 2 weekends left! Tonight I am going to a going away party for my good friend Shota. He is leaving for Jordon for two years next week. We are having a proper farewell for him tonight!

Until next time!!

The British Invasion: Lily Allen 2009 Shibuya O-East

Well, a few months back (i.e. January) I was looking up who was coming to Japan - concerts that is. Low and behold I saw that the up and coming star, Lily Allen was going to grace Tokyo with her presence on June 5th, 2009. I immediately told Annelyse, as Lily is one of our favorite singers and we have known about her for some time now even though she is now just exploding. As the winter months passed, weeks became days then hours and it was fast forwarded into space to June 5th, 2009 before we even knew it!

It was a rainy Friday evening. We both left school immediately and booked it to Tokyo. We had reserved a hotel in Shinjuku because we were uncertain how long the concert would actually last. Annelyse got there before me and was able to check in for us. Shinjuku is the biggest train station in the world so it took me a minute to grab hold of my barrings and understand where I needed to be. I was running late due to Friday night traffic and the rain certainly did not help things.

I ran up into the hotel, dropped my bag off, quickly changed into my outfit and we were out the door in a taxi on our way to Shibuya O-East theater. Our taxi driver was fantastic. I do not mean driving (he was good driver too) but his English was amazing! Many people in Japan, you will find out if you visit me, are not great at speaking English. It is rare to find someone who is actually fluent in English. Our driver was provided the most entertaining cab ride. He dropped us off at the koban (police) station just outside of Shibuya eki (station). We asked where Shibuya O-East was and we were on our way darting in and out of the millions of umbrellas clouded above us. It was really an incredible site to see all the umbrellas contrasting against the neon lights of Shibuya.

Once inside, we checked in at "the list" and were on our way to listen to Lily rock out for the next hour and half. O-East is a nice little venue. It is a club on the weekends and also a music venue. It was very intimate and wonderfully set up to have not a single bad seat in the house! We walked until we found the perfect spot to see her, dance, and sing the night away. Lily Allen's lyrics are some of the most original lyrics I have ever heard. They are mind blowing, vulgar, and sweet all at once. She is an adorable girl (she is our age) and has rockin' stage presence. She really knows how to work her crowd and we just had the best time!

After the concert, we went out and enjoyed a delicious dinner at a restaurant called Elephant in Shibuya. It was an ethnic restaurant providing many different nations of foods. We ordered several dished, dug in, and went back to the hotel to rest and talk. It was an enjoyable evening despite the rain. I needed to go to bed early because I had sports day the next day...or so I thought.

I woke up and was out of the hotel by 5:50 AM to be able to catch the first bus back to Itako. In the midst of going back to Tokyo Sta. I received a call saying that Sports Day was cancelled. I took advantage of the day to rest and enjoy myself and take a mini break from the Ayame Princess...