After Tokyo orientation, all new JETs in my prefecture flew to Tokushima City, the capitol of our prefecture. We flew on Japanese Airlines (JAL) and the biggest thing that was different from American plane companies was the headsets. They were like stethoscopes! Four people from my office picked me up at the airport and took me to my apartment. That night I participated in the Awa Odori dance festival in Naruto. It is believed that many spirits come back at this time of year and Awa Odori is done to entertain them. The saying goes that those who are dancing are fools and those that are watching them dance are fools, so you might as well get up and dance. It's basically a parade where different groups dance down several streets in the town. More people are in the parade than are watching!
Over the weekend all of the new Tokushima JETs met at the YMCA campgrounds in Anan (an hour south of Tokushima City). We helped run an English camp for high schoolers. We went orienteering, played lots of games, and put on a skit in English. Here is my group and the view from the campsite.
At camp I had the opportunity to try a traditional Japanese style shower. You undress in one room, go into the open shower room where there are many low showerheads, take a plastic stool that stands a foot off the ground, sit down in front of a showerhead and wash! The shower rooms were separated by gender of course, but most of the women in there when I showered I had only met a couple days ago. And yeh, couldn't take a picture and share that tradition!
After camp we headed to Tokushima City for another Awa Odori festival! It was just like Naruto's Awa Odori but much much bigger - more people, more streets, more food, more drink. The music is fantastic. Everyone is dancing the same dance to the same song, but some are better at it than others. I've added a link on the right to a video I took and uploaded on google video! You just have to see it.
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