This week was full of fun activities and hard work! At the beginning of the week Motoe, Neha, Rory, and I decided to go to a music festival in a town near Onishi since we missed the local one. It was so much fun! There was tons of good food, little festival games, and amazing entertainment. For food, I decided to have Takoyaki (little flour balls with octopus) and some cold pineapple in a stick. For the entertainment part, the Taiko drums performance was incredible. People learn to play this type of drums for years! It was incredible the precision and strength of the performers. They played for long periods of time non stop. Check them out!
The next day we visited Motoe’s house. A Shrine! Miyogi Shrine was an unforgettable experience. Motoe received us and gave us a nice and personalized tour. She also did some prayers for all of us and gifted each of us an omamori. The Shrine was located in a mountain surrounded by water, birds, and nature. I felt so nice and at peace. The combination of the nature and architecture of the shrine was beautiful. After that we feed Motoe’s fish and spend the rest of the afternoon talking and snacking. When we got back to Onishi, Rory, Neha, Onozawa, and I went to the Chinese restaurant. It was great!
The following days we started working on preparing everything for the exhibition. We had to clean the exhibition space and help the artists set up their artwork. We also had to translate their statements and prepare their exhibition cards. It was a few days of sweating, printing, cutting, and cleaning. It was great to see the end result. The exhibition went really well! There was also an ikebana performance in the exhibit. It was a beautiful show.