Friday night turned out pretty much as we expected, driving home late at night with 16,000 yen worth of cheese and wine. We got five bottles of wine, five kinds of cheeses (including a big chunk of President for half off), and lots of little goodies to keep us happy and merry during these increasingly cold days.
Saturday I had the day to myself to run errands, and then Sunday I went over to Futami alone to check out the matsuri, since Kuniko had to work.
The matsuri was hopping – lots of people there enjoying the party. I tracked down some of the gang from Denya. The master had to work because he got a reservation he couldn’t turn down, so he wasn’t there. He was nice enough to call me the night before and offer me his happi, but I didn’t take him up the offer. The last thing I wanted was to get roped into carrying that heavy mikoshi around all day.
The gang and I hung out for a an hour or so before going out to catch some ramen for lunch. Then we went back and hung out a little more. It was fun to people watch and to catch up with the guys that I rarely see anymore.
Finally around 2 o’clock I figured it was time to head out, but as I was trying to leave another Denya regular saw me and pressed me into service hoisting the mikoshi. As usual the crowd really liked watching the foreigner lifting. I did one quarter lap around the temple, and then made my exit, thanking my buddy along the way.
Sunday night Kuniko and I put a dent in the cheese (and the wine) and ended up going to bed early. Kuniko has had no time off at all, so a relaxing evening was just what the doctor ordered. I managed to catch a cold, so I’m going to be limping through my classes this week. It’s my first cold in a while… I guess the weather is officially changing.
