ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

A year ago, I posted on this very blog, about my first time experiencing the Zenigata festival in Kanonji. On Sunday, I am proud to say that I was a part of it!

The team wouldn't let us carry bags, so all the dancers had to get creative in hiding their money, cellphones, and anything else. Our costume had a pocket already made for things, and Taylor and I also sewed a small pouch into the obi. It miraculously held my bulky camera.

The team had different parts of Kotohiki park where we had to dance, with about an hour in between. The weather wasn't as hot as I feared, but the humidity was definitely hard on me and Taylor. Blessedly, the Zenigata festival set up several tables with free water and salt candy for the dancers.

Our team showed a funny student film that tried to explain the Zenigata coin is something that you can win while dancing, and joked that it was "magic" and showed one of our team members becoming wealthy and popular from it. The best way to win a coin is to dance with your heart, even if you make mistakes. The 2nd time we danced, I got one!

I was doing pretty well until we had to dance in the street. Our routine pushed us to move forward during the dance, and show it off to as many people as possible. It was HOT and tiring, and we had to dance 3 times in a ROW. It was exhausting, and Taylor and I overheated and fled before the 3rd time started. Dancing in the heat is a little harder for foreigners, so we bashfully took a bit of a break and cheered on our team. I didn't see hardly any other foreigners dancing.

The best part of the day for me, was finally bonding with some of the girls on my team. The girls had been quite scared of trying to speak English with me and Taylor, but our new friend Kazue was there to translate. I remembered some Japanese and told silly jokes. I made dozens of mistakes and couldn't dance every performance (because of the heat) but my team was caring and positive all day. I hope I can properly express how honored I am to be a part of something very Japanese. I don't know how many teams would have taken a chance on 2 girls who are yosakoi beginners AND foreigners.