Higashikagura group photo

Here's everybody! 

We had 13 Japanese volunteers, 29 non-Japanese volunteers, and 195 participants in total!

Carving punkins

Today when biking over to the grocery store, I saw the Nishikawas out in front of the community centre. (The same family that had the pizza-making party at their house.)

Since September 29th, the carved pumpkins from the town Halloween event have been sitting out in front of the community centre rotting, along with uncarved ones that were still firm. The Nishikawas were getting rid of the rotten ones and carving new ones to refresh the display now that the actual Halloween is approaching.

They asked me to help out, so I wound up carving a bunch.

 

 It had gotten dark by the time I carved those five.

After seeing my cat pumpkin, Saki wanted to make one. It was very cute.

I don't know who carved all these other pumpkins, but they made for a nice display all lit up.

I'm missing Jason's annual pumpkin party, so it was nice to get my carve on here.

Higashikagura Halloween Party

On Saturday I volunteered for a spoopy event down in Higashikagura.

Here are some of the games we had for the kids. I have some experience in running events like these thanks to my dad.

The kids were all so cute in their costumes! There were a lot of cat ears and witch hats.

 Look at that one kid in the shaggy camouflage with the huge gun.

I was manning the crafts table.

 The kids could make these paper lanterns,

 or these broomsticks.

I didn't have a costume of my own, but there was a box of costume pieces available. Some weren't that great, like the multiple Mickey Mouse ears, or the jangly Christmas elf costume. But I got myself a pretty good ensemble of a tiny hat, white angel/fairy wings, red bowtie, and maid apron.

I heard some little girls call me きもい, but my costume was a big hit for the most part.

I was hoping there would be pictures of the other volunteers up, but not yet. I'll post them when they show up.

Obihiro and back again

On Sunday morning I walked around Obihiro on my own for a bit before meeting back up with the others for the ride home.

Here are the big ol' hands outside the station.

There was a little art gallery inside the station. I managed to sneak a photo of this one painting I liked. The title is "Hey, nice to meet you!"

Yellow trees in the park.

 A progression of plastic parfaits.

 Amazing arcade prizes!

The mall had a big metal tree with these little dudes in it.

On the way back through the mountains we stopped at this scenic rest stop.

 That little building up there had a great view of the surrounding area.

 That one mountain has a black tip because a cloud is casting a shadow on it, to give you a sense of the scale here.

 We also stopped in Minamifurano to check out the gift shop. Here's their mascot, Minami-chan! Look at her curling stone cap and carrot body.

Miso ramen, butadon, and soup curry flavoured chocolate. Honestly, I bet it's pretty good.

 We stopped in Asahikawa for dinner. A bunch of other ALTs joined us and we wound up with a group of 11. Luckily Namaste could seat us all. I really like this place.

It turned out to be a really nice weekend. I was hesitant  go at first because of how far away Obihiro is, but I'm really glad I did, and it's all thanks to the power of friends who drive. The gas money I paid them was nothing compared to the price I'd have had to pay for public transportation there.