Yeah...Yeah...yeah...I know...it's been a while....

So...as my friend Jan pointed out to me, the last time I posted, we were waiting for typhoon #11....now #15 is blowing around (not coming too near yet, but, the week is still young!). "It's time for a new post!!" :-D

And......how have you been? Things have been good here...busy, but good. Mother Nature FINALLY decided to cool things down a bit....still pretty damn warm in the afternoons, but the evenings.....aaahhhh....the evenings are wonderful!!! So cool....so comfortable...I can actually get a good night's sleep!!! It's not so humid now, which helps to make the fall, probably, my favorite time of the year!!!

With the coming of fall, we have in Nagasaki, a very important festival that started today and will go for the next 2 days...weather permitting. Of all the festivals we have (and we do have a bunch!!), this one really defines Nagasaki. The festival is called "kunchi" and is said to be one of the top 3 festivals in Japan!!! (Of course, one of my students said that all big festivals, all over Japan say the same thing!!!)

Anyway....the picture I put up above is one of the "Ja Odori"...or "dragon dance" that is only one of the highlights of the festival. I was trying to explain the festival to my friend Rochelle in Australia, and....nope...really can't very well so that she could understand. Finally just told her she had 2 choices: 1) go to the Internet and search for "Nagasaki Kunchi" or 2) (and my personal favorite!!) come to Nagasaki next year and experience it for herself!!! I think that she penciled us in!!! :-D

If you want to check out this over-350-year-old-tradition , there are quite a few sites on the net you can find...or go to http://www.ltcm.net/~telkamp/japan/kunchi/kunchi.html and read what somebody, who visited here 7 years ago wrote about....his pictures are also pretty good, which you can click on at the bottom of his page!!

The different towns ("machi") in Nagasaki, all do performances every 7 years....so the pictures from his site are the same things we can see this year!!

Tickets to see the performances are really hard to come by and pretty expensive if you do happen to get them. I happen to be very lucky to have a "connection" at one of the venues for the performances on the second day of the festival. SOOOOooo, tomorrow, I will get up around 4:30 to get my self downtown to the shrine for the start of the performances which is at 7:00. But....due to the beforementioned typhoon, the weather channel is calling for rain....which will really tick me off!!! They will postpone to the next day, but I have classes....hmmm...IF that happens, I will just cancel classes for the morning....my students will all understand!!!

I will say a quick prayer for cool weather, and no rain for tomorrow!!!!

Okay.....I will try to post some more....might even do a bit after my bath and before I "hit the futon".....I am sorry about not posting, but as most of you know my schedule, I'm thinking I am forgiven!!!

I hope that you are all having a good one..."talk" to you later...

Ciao my lovelies!!

d.