Happy Canada Day!

The night started in my apartment looking at an internet site with step-by-step pictures describing how to tie a yukata and obi. Linea and I did our best flipping back and forth between the pictures to make sure we were doing it right. In the end, they were on, they were tied and they stayed on (almost). We carefully got into my car, drove to the station and waited for the local train. When the train pulled up, we got more than a few glances from the other passengers. But nobody said anything. We got off at Toyama, and the station was packed. We had to negotiate our way through the crowds, stares and comments. It’s a little uncomfortable being a foreigner in a traditional Japanese dress in a sea of Japanese people wearing business clothes, casual attire and school uniforms. But it was all in the name of a discount. And I LOVE saving money!


To celebrate Canada Day, some Canadians and “friends of Canada” (that’s me) went to an all you can eat/drink for two hours for about $38. But if women wore a yukata, it was half price! Heck ya!! The food was pretty good, lots of fried food, but they also had salads, steak, and fish! The sashimi, raw fish, was gone before we got any. But, our table won a prize in a drawing. We were the lucky recipients of our own fish! Yep, we got the whole thing. It was pre-cut, but just barely. And by that I mean, that it had been cut minutes before it arrived on our table. It was the freshest fish I’ve probably ever eaten. Linea was dared to kiss the fish for fun photo opportunities. And she did. Seconds later the fish started moving. I’m not joking. At first it was just his fins (the ones that hadn’t been sliced off) and then his whole body started moving around. His lips even started quivering. It was amazing. Linea brought it back to life! We weren’t the only ones in awe of our new pet fish, people from other tables (all Japanese) got in on the action and everyone enjoyed our fish performance. It was also pretty tasty!


We capped off the night on the waterfront (I didn’t know there was one in Toyama) and did some fireworks. I persuaded some others to go also wading, which explains why my yukata looks a little wet!

Linea and I got the last train back to Nyuzen. We braved the stares and the crowds and not so politely sat on the train eating ice cream, taking not so appropriate pictures with our cell phones and filling our friends inboxes.

It was a fun night of food, beer, yukatas, fireworks and friends….all in the name of Canada!

P.S. Adrianna—thanks for retying my yukata! I’m not sure I would have made it home in one piece!