17th of May... in Japan!

As I expect you all to know, 17th of May is Norway's national day. Oddly enough there was not much celebrating here in Japan(!), but I did tell the Japanese about it, so in a way I remembered the 17th even though I did not wear my bunad or have a Norwegian flag to wave about with.

I did, however, practice Japanese dance at my teacher's house, which was a lot of fun! It goes down something like this:




I practice at my teacher's house one weekend every month. It's a lot of fun and quite challenging (keep those heels and hips down!), but I think It's a lot of fun! I think it's one of the few dances I can do without feeling foolish or embarrassed. (Hip hop could be fun, if I had more self-confidence and didn't feel like such a failure, see...) Also, the choreography seems to be slower, so I find it easier to learn.

I gave my teacher a mini-calendar with pictures of Norway and a postcard with pictures of Oslo as a 17th of May present, and sketched national costumes on a piece of paper, explaining a bit about our way of celebrating. I'm also explaining a bit about the "russ" celebration, and feeling a bit sad that I can't graduate with all my friends. Awww.

Sometimes I kind of wish Japan could be a bit like Narnia, so that I could come back and everything would stay the same. But then again, I'm so curious to hear about the changes and what my friends will be doing now that I guess I'm happy it's the way it is. ...now if only I could take my Japanese host family, friends and some teachers with me when I go home... (Matti-sensei, say you'll come with me and be my homeroom teacher! Pretty pleeeease! There can never bee to many! You and Béatrice will be a great team! I'll handle the translations?)

*ahem*

Japanese dance. Yes.
Well, I'm practicing "Sakura Sakura", which involves a lot of waving about with my two fans (pretty-pretty!) and moving of pigeon-toed feet. But I swear I look really cute and professional! My teachers have said that they'll dress me up in a furisode when I've learnt the whole dance, and they'll take a picture of me that I can show to my Norwegian family and friends. Hurray! :D

Here's hoping I don't get tangled up in those long sleeves...