Matsuri (part 2) + 20% free added value!

Gokigenyou! (btw it means "you look healthy today" or more accurately it's like "tu as bonne mine" in French :D)

My most humble apologies, I told you guys that I would write more yesterday and I didn't...
I somehow ran out of time (and preferred spending what was left of it with my sister who was actually home yesterday but ok :P)
So yeah about the matsuri!
I ate takoyaki (balls of vegetable something with fried octopus in them), okonomiyaki (more veggies! But I can't really explain what it is exactly... And apparently the sauce they put on it has a very recognizable smell because my host mom instantly noticed I'd eaten it). Also had some mizu-ame... Apparently I had a bit of an unlucky streak because normally mizu-ame is a grape or small apple in liquid candy but I got an umeboshi-flavoured one (I don't like umeboshi, it's incredibly sour AND bitter AND salty. They make it by placing some kind of fruit in a lightly salted liquid for a certain time). I did have some luck though because due to winning against the stall owner with Rock Paper Scissors I got an extra no-fruit one so that was ok. And I drank Ramune Soda! I love Ramune Soda! I had it in Belgium as well but I only really appreciate how specific it's taste is over here. They even have Ramune Soda flavoured ice cream over here... It's yummy...
Anyway, back to the matsuri
After all that munching I watched a show at the primary school where they had invited some (locally) well-known enka (traditional japanese singing) performers.
I got quite bored after a while and walked around some more.
In the evening I watched the aomori nebuta parade.
>>> Nihon no bunka intermezzo: aomori nebuta: Movable lighted statues made out of rice paper and metal wire that are painted to depict traditional japanese themes. They are originally from Aomori prefecture so everyone calls them aomori nebuta.
Apparently they let Hadano's middle schools enter some simple square ones that they'd painted so that was quite interesting :) Some of them were really pretty :O (watch the pictures, they're worth it)
After that was finished the fireworks started. Because it was really dark by then the pictures I took then are quite worthless but they should give you an idea of what I'm about to describe. They started by lighting up piles of wood along the river and playing drums and stuff, and after that the real spectacle began: they lined the full length of the river with a rope filled with a kind of giant sparklers that rained down colourful sparkles for like 10 minutes or so.
Japanese people really turn fireworks into art.
In the regular air fireworks I saw some quite amazing stuff, like smileys with the outside and the eyes in different colours and things like that. Really pretty.

And now for some added value!

It's small, silent and pokes at your back in an attempt to get past you.
Old ladies at the matsuri.
It's large, loud and pokes at your back before pushing you aside.
3 Old ladies at the matsuri holding hands.
How do you recognize a drunk at the matsuri?
He's holding a paper cup with "KIRIN" on it and trying his very best not to fall into the river :D

Then something about yes and no.
Yes and no are very complicated over here... You have to listen very carefully to what they say. And on top of that it differs from person to person because some people know that it's different over here and adapt to our way of thinking, which only leads to misunderstandings.
When someone asks you "Aren't you going to eat?" in English you can answer "Yes, I'm going to now." In Japanese you'd have to answer "No, I'm going to now", because the other person said Aren't, which is a negative form.
The thing that bugs me the most is the fact that my family assumes that I'd say Yes and No in English instinctively. So every time I say iie, which means no in Japanese, they think I'm saying Yeah in English... Every time that happens I say "NI-HON-GO" (Japanese) quite expressively :P

Some more added value! (all to make up for the lack of content the past few days :D)
The water over here is completely crazy. For example it's full of air. Whenever I take a bath all the hair on my body fills up with bubbles and the bubbles start creeping up my back and irritating me :P
Aside from that it seems strangely more viscous than Belgian water... Strange.

An important note on the side: My class is making "Belgian Waffles" for the school culture festival tomorrow... LOL :P

Das Jorenness, over and out.