mita-sai [三田祭]

 This week saw the annual Keio event of Mita-sai, or Mita Festival - another one of those school festivals they seem to be awfully fond of here. It meant a whole week off from classes and 4 days on incessant festivities on campus: food stalls from all circles (societies, clubs), performances in music, dance and theatre, and over 200,000 visitors!

For me these 4 days resulted in the following:

1. Trying bubble tea. Bubble tea is a Taiwanese (EDIT! Apparently I was misinformed on this!) invention consisting of usually milk tea (but I had some kiwi stuff) and small jelly-looking/tasting balls of tapioka (which is starch from a root). As two of my best friends are obsessed with it (and one even works in a shop selling it!) I felt compelled to try. Verdict: funky, but cool.

Main stage

 2. Listening to a Japanese ensemble concert. A friend of mine played the violin.

 3. Finally - finally! - getting to hear Jason Mraz 'I'm Yours' played on ukulele (by a Hawaiian guy!). All performed by exchange students. Also note the dancing Radish Man in white. That's how we roll here.

 4. Trying this sweet. I don't know what it is, but it was damn good. Chocolate flavour! As mentioned before, putting it on...

People!

5. Watch Kabuki theatre. I didn't understand a word they were saying but I got to experience the essence of Japanese drama. Not sure how I feel about it though. It's very special. Very different from Western theatre. People in the audience will shout out random things, like the name of the actor/character on stage. Just like that. And there are black figures moving around, fixing props etc. Kabuki is more about the performance rather than the story, and the real shows will go on for 4-5 hours! Still, an experience.

And finally...

6. Being picked up by them Japanese boys. Now this is a tradition at Mita-sai. Girls will sit around on campus, and boys will choose a group and go up and talk to them with the sole incentive of getting a phone number/date/whatever. There's even a word for it: nanpa. My friends and I sat down on the side (and this was by the end of the whole festival, so people were getting desperate) and it didn't take long before 2 Japanese guys came up to us and started talking. They didn't speak English very well but somehow we managed to communicate, although awkwardly, and during one particularly tense silence one of the boys decided it was time to clear the air. He searched for the correct English words."This...is nanpa."

Jeez, thanks for clearing that up! Soon they went on their way, probably disappointed that no numbers/e-mails were exchanged. In the next 10-20 minutes boys would walk past, slow down and stare for a bit, then reluctantly walk on. We had some stand close by, (in)discreetly looking our way, but ultimately deciding we were too scary (I blame my hair) and leave.

Still though - if you're in need of a confidence boost, hanging around Mita-sai could just be the thing for you!

Sadly now the festival is over and on Friday we are back to classes. I also realised my presentation is next week, + the essay, so this weekend will be work, work, work. Funsies! Take care of y'all, and stay tuned for exciting news which might be released next week!

Jo x