Date of Activity: August 25^th

Today was a great experience! We were given the opportunity to help out the community by setting up the Kappa matsuri (kappa festival) that was held that day. In the morning we pulled our half-awake bodies together and set up a big amount of bamboo candles, including the ones that we made earlier this week. This took a fair amount of time, as we decorated a path that would be crossed by about 10.000 people that day. Although we were exhausted after clearing the job, the result of our work that would become visible by nightfall, was totally worth it. When it was time for lunch, we joined in with the locals and fished for our soumen (noodles) that came floating by on a 60m long bamboo structure. Those who lacked the dexterity to fill their stomachs with soumen were saved by the LOC with McDonalds meals. With our bodies reenergized, we joined the Kappa dance parade for which we learned the dance earlier this week. Some of us were dressed up as Kappas or some other funny creature and others were holding their country’s flag. It was entertaining to see thousands of local people react on a group of foreigners like ourselves, dancing one of their traditional dances. I’m very happy that I got this rare opportunity to be so involved with local culture. After the parade, people gathered at a central area in the park where food and drinks were sold and soon people started dancing and singing, giving it a real local festival feeling. The day ended with an amazing fireworks show, which was the cherry on the pie that I would love to re-eat someday.

(Daniel Van Delft, the Netherlands)

Date of Activity: August 23^rd

Finally, Arigato event! I might have been a little tired in the morning, because I forgot to bring my “show cloths” at my host family. But my host father, Shigeru-san, brought it and I was saved. I did not have any problem in rehearsal, but I started to get nervous when I saw a big audience, and I made a mistake while dancing. However, I could say to myself “Daijobu” when I found Shigeru-otosan wearing green T-shirt in the audience. Though it was exhausting day, everybody put a great energy and had so much fun together.

(Yuting Chen, China)

Date of Activity: August 22^nd

After the usual morning meeting, we were joined by two groups of cheerful seniors. The first group taught us how to do the Kappa dance for the Kappa festival later this week. A Kappa is a Japanese legendary water creature that looks like a combination of a frog, duck and human (sounds like a Pokemon). Apparently it has a plate on its head to keep itself moist at all times. The movements of the dance were accordingly inspired by the Kappa – like raising our hand to our head to fill the plate, pretending to swim, etc. Basically, we learned the dance by forming two circles, whereas the Kappa group seniors made the inner circle and we the outer one. Then we mimicked their movements until we sort of got the hang of it.

The other group consisted of a lot of smiling old ladies and two elderly gentlemen who practiced Hawaiian dance as a hobby. First they showed us a couple of dances. The music created a good mood and the image of white beaches and tranquil ocean. They explained that the movements of the dance were similar to sign language, and the dance they taught us afterwards represented a love story. The most fun part of the day was probably when the three WCI guys and the two gentlemen from the group (had to) perform that dance in front of the girls (that outnumbered them by far). There are videos of it available, apparently.

We spent the last part of the day practicing the dances for the upcoming Arigatou Event. Despite having spent a lot of time dancing already, people were focused and determined to learn this as well. I am positive that their effort will pay off on the Arigatou Event day and later at the Kappa festival.

(Torunn Olsen, Norway)

Date of Activity: August 21^st

Today we had a lot of fun! In the morning we met a lot of Japanese high school students who would accompany us during our activities of that day. At first we played a game called “samurai” to break the ice – it was very funny. After that we got divided into smaller groups and the students taught us how to make candles out of used frying oil. We make candles existing of three colours, and there were lots of pretty colour combinations. Our group chose the colours purple, green and blue.

At noon we ate lunch together, and after that we walked to the bamboo forest. The forest was called “Geijyutsu no Mori”, which means “The Forest of Art”. It was the first time I’ve ever been to a bamboo forest, but I really liked it. There was a lot of wind, and when the trees hit each other, it made a hollow sound. At first we each had to cut off a piece of bamboo for our lantern. It was pretty difficult since bamboo’s very hard…

After we each got our lantern, we could use different drills to carve out the design we made the day before. Originally, I wanted to carve out three children holding hands and write “KIZUNA” – which means “strong bonds” – underneath. But due to a lack of time, my design ended up a little different. It became one child with a really big head. It looks really weird, but it’s also cute at the same time, so I like it a lot. There were many beautiful lantern designs. I’m really looking forward to the “Kappa Matsuri” – “Kappa festival” – Saturday, because Abiko will be decorated with lanterns and candles everywhere. I’m sure it will be incredibly beautiful!

(Tine Von Den Broecke, Belgium)