This blog is an exploration of my unique experiences in life - Memoirs of my cherished memories for my friends, family and all well wishers. Feel free to leave your comments.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

A weekend of concerts


Mandolin concert and Harp performer

I was fortunate to recieve passes for two concerts on successive days of last weekend. The first one was a big event held at Harmony hall in Fukui, where in musicians from Fukui and the neighbouring prefectures gathered for a Mandolin concert. It was my first visit to any such major concert and it was a unique experience to spend 3 hrs just listening to a musical feast.
The next day was a concert arranged at a japanese family home, where there were individual performers of harp, piano, flute and some vocals too. It was indeed my first musical weekend!!!

Keimo School Friendship festival


Keimo School kids and Taiko (Japanese drums) performance

On July 7th, I attended a Friendship festival organized in a nearby school. Around 30 foreign nationals were invited as guests to spend time with the elementary and primary school children. The event was truly one of the delightful ones. We were made to play various games (tug of war, ball-in-the basket, janken and quiz with the little kids. It was a great fun to answer their quirky but smart questions. I was amazed at the preparation that they have undergone for this event as each little kid knew their responsibilities to conduct very well. There were also many entertaining performances on stage. I am sure all the foreign guests went back home with unforgettable memories of good fun. A big thanks to the organizers.

A trip in and around Fukui


A Shinto ritual and Soba

Soba making and Kyudou (Japanese archery)

In the last week of June, I had an opportunity to participate in a 1-day trip in and around Fukui city. The event was organized by Phoenix association of global exchange for japanese and foreign residents of Fukui. I was fortunate to get the chance at last minute as I was in waiting list during registration. The trip began with a visit to the nearby Asuwayama mountain, where there was a special ritual of Shinto tradition. According to the priest, the ceremony is held every 6-months to drive the evil forces and clear oneself from the sins that had accumulated in the past. It was an interesting ritual where in one has to wave a bunch of grass reciting a japanese poem. All the foreigners and locals were allowed to have a slice of shinto ritual practice.
Following that, the next stop was at Miyama Choju Soba making center on the highway to Ono city. This was my third time to make soba, so I had minimal trouble in making one. Nevertheless, the soba guides were of great help too. Though there are several varities of soba, the one we had for our lunch was Oroshi-soba.
The most interesting part of the tour was visiting a Kyudou (Japanese archery) center, in fact the major reason for which I had registered in the tour! Though the demonstrators performed in absolute brilliance (hitting the target of diameter 50 cm, as far as 28m), our group of novice who were given a target of 1m diameter and as close as 10m proved futile as most of our arrows could barely hit it. My six trials yielded only two hits:( Nevertheless, it was the most interesting event of the day.
The final visit was to a tea house in a local park where each one of us could get a chance to savor Japanese tea ceremony.

Monday, July 09, 2007

JSMI 2007 award certificate


My poster and Award Certificate handover


Certificate and Present
On June 28th and 29th, there was Japanese Society for Molecular Imaging (JSMI 2007)conference held here in Fukui in which I had submitted my current research work as poster presentation. It was a national level meeting organized every year and this year was its 2nd meeting. I had a surprising moment when I was awarded in three of the best posters of the event. I was much delighted to recieve the award from Dr. Fujibayashi, the president of the society, who is also my chief supervisor. My sincere thanks to you Sir.