Halloween party 2007

Halloween ghosts and Halloween kids

In the last week of October, the yearly Halloween party was organized in a special Halloween train (the local Echizen train) at Fukui. The party is special since the entire train is converted into a disco floor for all sorts of halloween ghosts dancing to loud hip-hop music. The train travels in the evening from Fukui main station to a final stop at Katsuyama and returns back after a short break constituting a rocking ~3 hr journey.

Mikuni Fireworks Festival 2007

Its been a long time since I posted. The days were busy enough to keep me off from penning down. On August 11th I attended a fireworks festival in a nearby portal town called Mikuni. As every year this year too huge number of spectators (~200,000) had gathered for the brilliant fireworks spectacle. I, along with my international friends went by a crowded train, reaching there late evening. After a swift food shopping at the local tents, we groped for a suitable place and fortunately got one of the best views.

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.

Matsuoka Kuzuryu festival

Kuzuryu festival and Traditional dance

Yaki tori and Fireworks
Last sunday there was a festival on the banks of Kuzuryu river very close to university campus. This festival is an annual event held on early June and is a one day event. It is celebrated by most people of Matsuoka and probably is the only time when one can see such a big assemblage over here. It includes performances on the boat, parade, dancing, singing and finally finishing off with brilliant fireworks. Some of the food available in the outlets were mouth-watering and I couldn't resist buying twice!

Matsuoka fest

Its been quite a time since I contributed for the last post. The past two weeks were a mixture of fun outings and hard work at research front. So hardly could make time for posting in the blog. On Feb 18th, the local Matsuoka municipal council (not sure should I call council) in Fukui organized a gathering of localites extending invitations even to foreign residents at our dorm-mates. The event was fun-filled with singing and dancing by local and international groups while having a delicious dinner. Teams were made and a quiz game was held too. Win or Lose, prizes are always distributed to all..no one returned empty handed!!

Ski trip 2007

The previous post highlighted the snowfall happening in Fukui. In fact that was the only time that I could see some snow accumulating on the ground. The ensuing warm days cleared it off the ground in less than 2 days. Since then, only the occasional flurries were seen on some cold days.

Just like every year, the university organized a Ski trip for international students. As usual, the competition to get selected was high considering the no. of students willing to go at concessional price exceeds the selection capacity. But since it was on first-cum-first-serve basis, I got selected as I submitted on early morning hours of application acceptance date. Though the trip was planned for 2 days at Rokuroshi highlands, it was later shifted to 1-day event at Katsuyama Skijam due to little snow at the former location.

The trip was scheduled on 13th February. Fortunately the weather was superb with blue skies, which is perfect for skiing . Though it was my second time, I took time in accustoming to balance even on low-angled slope. My initial few trials also resulted in direct collsion to a colleague. Luckily, she managed without any inuries. Later, did ski carefully only when the surroundings were clear off any people. The best part came post-noon when I along with K.th and S.ley went half-way top of the mountain and started to slide down. The most toughest part of skiing for beginners according to me is the control needeed to STOP or SLOW down the speed, besides needing to make turns freely. While learning that, the safest way to control was only to fall intentionally. Overall it was a great fun-filled day and I didn't want to go back from there, especially after learning to make turns towards the end of day! Nevertheless, the great experience prompts me to go and master skiing in future.