Sports Festivals

I apologize for the time since my last post- I've been really busy lately with sports festivals (and visiting Tokyo).

First- sports festivals. These are incredibly different than sports days in the US. They involve gymnastics, entrance and closing ceremonies, trophies and games where one could very easily be hurt. The best is the game where one student perches on top of three others, and then tries to knock the hat off of other students in the same position. Kind of like chicken, but it supposedly has samurai roots.

Second- Tokyo. I really like Tokyo. It's a surprisingly easy to navigate city- if you can find the English subway maps (sometimes they hide them). I went down again this past weekend to check out Chocolate Shake, a new dance event run by people who my friend had suggested were my kind of dancers. She was right. The music at Chocolate Shake runs towards the fast and traditional end of danceable swing, and was really enjoyable. There was a good crowd there (including my friend from UW, Debbie), with a pretty high level of dancing overall. And there were 3 really good balboa leads! I danced so much that I'm still sore two days later. If you ever get the chance to dance in Tokyo, I really highly recommend this event!

Also, the Mom's friends, the Hamadas, were amazing hosts. Their dog is adorable.