Kesennuma Minato Matsuri 2016!
This year all 4 recontracting ALTs were invited to dance with groups in the first day of our town’s summer festival.Our newbies also got scooped up by another group too, and one of our retiring ALTs played taiko so we had 100% participation this year! Crazy!
Our group was by far the coolest with our white and black happi and moves choreographed by a friend. The main street is blocked off from traffic and all the groups loop around constantly dancing for 2.5 hours with a break every half hour, so I briefly got to see two of my schools’ dance groups as well. A few of the passing groups shouted “カッコイイ‼” as we passed, though I think it was mainly for the real dancers in front of us. I think us ALTs kept up pretty well for having only learned the dance the week before!
We did step on a lot of toes though and I accidentally kicked someone on another dance team during the cool part. Whoops.
I was nervous about having the physical stamina to dance for that long in this summer heat, but I think there’s a sort of runner’s high that comes over you and eventually you just fall into a trance. So much so I apparently stubbed my toe bad enough for it to bruise several days later.
Considering all the times we were practically standing in one place, I wish we could have danced alongside the school groups longer. I rushed back to say hello to my third years during one of the breaks, and they treated me to a drink and made fun of me for how sweaty I was. “I’m not tired. I’m not sweaty at all,” one smart alec told me, but she’s one of my favorites so what can you do.
I wasn’t sure I would be able to go to the second day since I had to negotiate rides from several different sources, but I was able to manage in the end. It’s awkward having to ask for things outright, so I hope this license nonsense is over after the next test.
On the second day we walked along the port to watch the taiko performances and the fireworks over the water. While I only noticed a few students the first day because we were both dancing, I saw many more on the second day, including one pair that I think were dating. So cute!
Last year it was fun to watch the festival while everything is still so shiny and new. This year I feel like I’m home.