Golden!

Golden Week is, as I'm sure I've said, a string of almost uninterrupted public holidays that sits astride a weekend in early May. I used it as an excuse to not think about blogging for quite a while, which is why it's been ages since my last post. It was an action packed week in the end, and even though we didn't take any huge trips, we managed to fill up the time nicely with a bunch of excursions as my photos will attest. Results were varied. Good varied though, between "incredibly awesome" and "mildly annoying", the latter because of the heaving crowds that Golden Week is infamous for. We cancelled our car hire and big trip because of the expected traffic, which I think was a very good idea. In a parallel universe, I imagine there's a Mazda 2 embedded in the side of Kobe's Port Tower, where I sit amongst the chaos with a satisfied smile on my face.

The festivities started off with a bang last Thursday, where we made a special trip out to Nara to participate in the "katsu challenge". Our preparation was sumo-like, not involving much by way of moving around or anything in particular, or eating any more than was necessary to "keep our stomachs from shrinking". This basically meant a strict regime of salted crackers, mixed nuts and Xbox which I didn't have any problem with. When dinner time hit, we took several trains out to the middle of nowhere and walked into an unremarkable wooden building that looked like any other restaurant. Once inside, the only things that suggested anything unusual were banners up on the wall advertising their multiple appearances on Japanese TV, and piles of fried chicken and pork dwarfing their terrified owners. For about $15, you could get what I can only assume was a whole chicken's worth of schnitzel, piled up like a very distressing traffic cone. I hate to think what it would have weighed all up - every piece was coated in a thick, eggy breading and served with all-you-can-dip sauce. It would probably have been quite nice in a sensible portion, but I think most of us were just tasting fear by the time we got halfway through. The boys all got down to the final layer, meaning we each had about 12 pieces to go, before deciding that it really wasn't worth dying for and threw in the towel. As promised, the guy came out and explicitly handed each of us a "yowamushi (weakling) pack" to take home the leftovers in. He also explained how to reheat it, making the strange assumption that we would ever want to eat katsu again. Our pride may have been hurt, but at least our stomachs were still the right way out.

On Friday, we had the school culture festival, which I suppose is a much grander version of the school fetes we have at home. The students all get together in their individual classes and clubs to perform or set up small cafes and food stalls. Lisa and I piggybacked on the English club, packing our trusty koala beanie and Australian flag stubbie holders for an "Australian Snacks" stall. We spent the first bit buttering and Vegemiting crackers, making fairy bread and mixing up chocolate Quik, then encouraged the stragglers in to try them. We obviously did something right - before we knew it, the floodgates opened and dozens of students, parents and teachers had filled the room, clamouring for a piece of the action. The second a piece of bread had been buttered, dipped in 100s and 1000s and cut up, it would snatched away by countless hungry hands. I knew they'd dig the fairy bread, but I was surprised by the reaction to the Vegemite. I had mainly used it as a cruel joke served to people expecting chocolate, but given forewarning and sufficient butter to balance it out, most really liked it. We were run off our feet for most of the morning with this labour of love and before 11, we had completely used everything - a full loaf of bread, two packets of crackers, a packet of 100s and 1000s, 3L of milk, half a tub of butter and the better part of a jar of Vegemite. The English club were extremely pleased, because the attraction meant a full house for all their performances (a strange mix of red riding hood, Japanese comedians and the story of the giant peach). It also meant that we were all packed up by lunchtime and free to enjoy the rest of the festival. We had cakes at the Super Mario cafe, ate some dango (sweet squidgy rice balls on a stick), watched the brass band and chorus club performances and then sat in on a tea ceremony - it was excellent. The photos will do a better job of explaining everything - the sheer amount of work that went into all the posters, decorations and logistics was staggering.

By this point we felt we had roundly earned ourselves a weekend. We spent Saturday wandering around Kobe, lining up our next purchases and eating at places we had always meant to. We were due at a dinner party with a coworker on Sunday night so we spent some time buying up supplies for it in the morning, then headed over there and were treated to something else entirely. Long story short, I highly recommend going to a dinner party with a home economics teacher - it was unbelievable. It does, however, set the bar fairly high for when we take our turn. We're each going to take a turn for the seasons and we're Autumn, which means we have until October or something to get ourselves whipped into shape. Somehow I don't think a portable gas stove is going to pass muster. We've been expressing surprise at how unusual dinner parties are in Japan and how we do them all the time at home, so we better make ours stunning or we'll look awfully silly.

So far we hadn't put a foot wrong, so we were obviously due for some bad luck. We had postponed our trip out to Awaji Island for fear of the throngs of people with the same idea and planned a trip up Rokko mountain instead, to visit the same place I came with the school during the welcome hike. Throngs of people had the same idea, and given the sheer number of bodies in this country I think it's kind of unavoidable during the busy times, wherever you go. We found ourselves smack bang in the middle of rush hour at every turn and having to wait an hour for the cable car/bus to progress to the next stage was a bit grating. Nevertheless, we had a nice picnic on top of a hill, on top of the mountain and the sheer size of the park meant that there was lots of open space to spare. We couldn't get on the paddleboats though, which made me very sad. I'm not leaving the country until I get a go in those damn paddleboats. We managed to make it off the mountain in one piece and left one crowd for another, heading into Mikage for the "danjiri matsuri". Every shrine in the area maintains a portable shrine on wheels (I use the term "portable" loosely) and the danjiri festival is their chance to wheel them out and show off a little. A man sits inside banging drums and gongs and daring young men balance precariously on the roof shouting away and waving streamers and things. It apparently takes months of practice to get right and it definitely paid off - we crowded into a shopping centre for the parade proper, where eight individual shrines assembled, jeered and taunted each other and took a turn to show off their moves. They seriously can't be light with that much thick wood and that many bodies, so it was very impressive to see them stood up on their back wheels, spun around and carted endlessly up and down the street. After dark and seemingly for all hours, they then shuffle around the main streets, lanterns glowing and gongs echoing through the whole area. It's awfully cool, even though I don't entirely understand it. Lisa was marvelling at how this kind of stuff just happens all the time in Japan - it's pretty amazing to think how persistent some of these traditions are and sometimes I wish you could have similar stuff in Australia without filling out 7000 council permission forms and damage waivers (in triplicate).

The last day of note culminated in yet another example of upsetting the food chain by eating something bigger than ourselves. We zoomed out to Osaka to another fairly nondescript restaurant, this time with the promise of a giant parfait (a bit like a sundae). Everyone who walked past the place while we were in line made a comment about how famous it was, which made me wonder why they only had 4 tables inside. Once we made it inside, we ordered the "choco fruit special" parfait, a monster of a thing designed for 4 people (which we luckily had), its jaws dripping with chocolate sauce and melting icecream. I don't know how many scoops it had buried under its layers of cream and I don't care to find out. It was a marvel the thing didn't collapse under its own weight as we penetrated the icecream layer and got into the fruity, cornflakey(?) depths. I don't even really like sweet things and I still massively enjoyed this thing - I think Lisa probably had sensory screen hang. After a brief shopping trip, we headed back to Mikage, our neck of the woods, and met some friends with promises of drinks. The "Mikage Garden Place" (seriously) has officially been added to the tour list - our local bar that is far too sophisticated for us. It has a big garden and lawn, which is bizarre for Japan in itself, but then kicks it up a notch with dark wood panelling and people in very smart waiscoats. They even have cigars... and a section of the drinks menu dedicated to what you might want to drink with said cigar.

All up, it was an amazing week which really struck home when I started trying to sort through the photos. The only thing we didn't do particularly well was shop - buying a gas stovetop is extremely difficult, it seems, unless you know what kind of gas your house has, et cetera. We've got it sorted now so yesterday's frustration will turn into tomorrow's triumph. We'll have this place ready for a dinner party in no time.