Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Rotary Meeting in Minou

 

This is the whole group standing in from of the infamous waterfall in Minou.
This last weekend was spectacular! I knew I was going to go to a Rotary meeting up in northern Osaka, but I had no idea it was going to be so fun. After gathering all the student up, we had a few workshops. 

The first was a samurai expert, demonstrating the different levels of expertise of sword fighting and bujitsu. He also brought a collection of ancient katana, some of which actually had killed people hundreds of years ago. The swords were pretty heavy, which I found out when I held one in my own hands!

 The next was a form of traditional Japanese puppetry. A man sang the story with koto accompaniment (a stringed instrument). Three people man each puppet, enabling them extremely realistic movements, like head moving, hands flexing, eyes blinking. It was creepy, yet REALLY COOL!

The third was an old fashioned play, which the theme was treating family with respect. The cast wore kimono and face paint, like in the old days. The props and set were also made to look like a traditional home. Unfortunately, I couldn't take a picture!

On the side of the mountain was a huge hotel/resort, where everything took place. The rooms were super nice. Our room had a beautiful view and I slept so well on their futon. The hotel also had a complimentary Onsen, or hot spring/public bath. It was my first time in one, and it was super relaxing (and a little embarrassing!)






Here are a couple of pictures of the landscape on our walk up to the Minou waterfall. It was really beautiful! There are aparently wild monkeys that live in the forests but we didn't see any. I was really disappointed!
Also, I added a picture of the entire group: Rotarians, Rotex, Inbounds, Host families and all.

The Rotary really took care of us on this trip! I feel privileged to have such an active and supportive group on my exchange.

Tomorrow is my schools Taiikusai, or Sports Day. I get to wear a yukata and dance with the thirds years (while I'm in 2nd year), which is a real treat! Keep an eye out for my journal entry.

3 comments:

  1. Wow...that was a lot of very cool stuff packed into such a short period of time. Love the pictures and your description of events are a good read. Thanks for keeping it honest (as in your assessment of the public bath house). :)
    Brynne

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  2. So amazing to be experiencing so much of their history and culture in these unique activities!

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  3. That last post was me, we'll see if it shows my new photo..so you know who I am. =)

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