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Yesterday we went to another festival. It was similar to the last one with danjiri but this time they were carried instead of pulled along. Have a look at the (slightly unclear) picture below. A large float is being carried up steep stairs into the temple. They spent most of the day carrying this danjiri up and down one street. It was pretty to watch but a bit repetitive and nowhere near as much fun as the previous danjiri festival in Kishiwada. After that they went on a little excursion around the town we went off to get some udon noodles.

Reiko`s sister is a teacher at a deaf school. I helped out in a lesson there when I was in Japan in April. So whilst the danjiri were on their excursion, we went to their sports day at the school. Sports days in Japan are held on the weekends and the kids get the following Monday off. They didn`t concentrate so much on actual sporting events although there was the running and realy events but rather on games like a crazy one where they have logs of different lengths in the middle of the field and two teams at either end. These teams have to get the logs to their side of the field in a crazy mass tug of war game. Much pain and many tears ensued but it was really fun to watch. Whilst we were there we saw the danjiri float being carried on a side street as if they were angry with us for ditching them. Tough. Get more interesting.

We went to the Yakitori last night (Skewered chicken if you please) As it was a weekend evening it was incredibly busy. It was good just to hear the crazy man speak again. Memories.

The other night as I was going to the fridge, I saw two cockroaches in the rice container having a feast. I couldn`t get them out. They are too grim. They are massive and scuttle around quickly. I wanted to crush them with a litre bottle of water or pour boiling water over them - anything indirect - In the end I closed the lid and left them in there over night with a note in Japanese by Reiko like the wimp I am and let someone else deal with them.

I also haven`t started preparing my lessons for Friday yet. I think it`s better to pretend that it doesn`t exist to protect my sanity for the time being. Yes.