Goodwill Envoy, Double Bachelorette & Kabuki

Well, there were obviously some unpected turns along the planned social route this weekend (if you read my last post about the bruise, you know what I mean), but the bachelorette party before all the trouble went down went exactly as I hoped it would and I had a great rest of the weekend.

I didn't go to work on Friday, but rather headed to the regional immigration office in the morning (yes, my favorite place in Kobe... not) to change my visa to tourist status.  I had everything prepared before going in so it went pretty smoothly, but I'll have to go back once more before leaving to pick up and pay for the actual visa.  After 3 years living here, it feels a little weird to become a "tourist" again... but thus marks the end of a chapter, I suppose.

After the errands, I met my friend Chris for lunch and then we headed toward the Board of Education buildings in Motomachi for a ceremony inducting us as Goodwill Envoys for Hyogo Prefecture at the Hyogo House.  The Governor of Hyogo Prefecture was intended to present the awards, but he couldn't make it, so we met the Vice Governor instead in sort of a typical accept-and-bow ceremony with a beautiful little reception afterwards.  As an Envoy, I will basically represent the prefecture when I talk about Japan (have snazzy little lapel pin and fancy new Powerpoint to help), but it was honestly fun just getting to explore the Meiji-era building where the ceremony was held (have always wondered about it, actually) and catch up with other recipients in attendance.  

After the ceremony, hung out and chatted some more with Chris before he headed off for a boys night and I ran some errands before calling it an early night.

On Saturday, I was up early to prepare for the double bachelorette party I was hosting that day.  Started off with a run (it's getting really hot outside... the air is so thick with humidity that it's almost hard to breathe) and then hopped a train with Deyi to Costco for lunch and to pick up supplies.  We decided to do catered, Western food from Costco so we didn't have to cook and were able to get some cheaper wine and champagne bottles at the chain as well.

We spent the next couple hours preparing for the party, which started off at Dave's house.  I had sent a couple of text messages during the week, telling the two bride-to-be's (Emi and Katie) where to meet, then follow-up emails to the rest of the group letting them know the real plan for the big surprise event.  Dave and Bob cleared out the backyard for us (before they had to leave for their own guy's night), while Deyi and I set up a beautiful little dinner table surrounded by candles.  Most of the girls arrived around 5:30 and then Maki went to meet Emi and Katie at the bus stop to blindfold them, crown them with veils and sashes we'd prepared and then kidnap them in a taxi so they wouldn't know where they were actually going (a few blocks away).  Katie had suspicions about the party being held close to home (even though they drove around for 20 minutes and she also thought the cab driver was also Dave for most of the ride), but the plan went off without many hitches.  When the guests of honor arrived, we led them around Dave's house to the backyard and took off the blindfolds with a big SURPRISE.  Priceless.  They were totally fooled in the end (even Katie, I think).  There was a champagne toast, lovely dinner, fun conversations, gift opening, a few games (think pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey with red lipstick and the grooms pics, a bridal gown TP competition and how-well-does-your-fiance-know-you drinking game/quiz).  It was awesome.

Emi had never been to a nightclub before and Katie had never been to one in Japan, so we decided to pack up and head into Osaka for a few hours before taking last train home.  I haven't danced that much in  really long time and the club manager at Sam & Dave's gave us some deals for the special ladies, so it turned out to be a really awesome time.

When we got back, the fight happened and I got a bit bruised when I tried to get in the way (again, silly)... and then proceeded to fall into a muddy rice field when I tried to walk across the partition instead of going around it... but overall, I had an excellent night.  I think we all did.

Sunday was a pretty lazy day, just hanging out and watching movies in Amagasaki.  In the evening, I met Bob and Katie for a Kabuki play at the famous Ninagawa Theater in Namba.  This was the last of the 4 main forms of Japanese traditional theater that I had yet to see (Noh, Kabuki, Bunraku & Rakugo) and I was very impressed.  Some call kabuki the Japanese version of musicals because of the elaborate sets and costumes and all of the colors were truly stunning.  I couldn't understand a lot of the Japanese (much of which was in formal Japanese -- so I caught words and sentences), but it was actually a rewritten version of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night so I got the gist of what was going on... and spent most of the evening admiring the costumes through the privileged lens of my monocular :-p  The play lasted for over 4 hours, including an intermission for dinner (huge, formal sushi set in the theater restaurant -- another experience on it's own).  

It was a late night with the trip home (almost fell asleep on the train... lucky I set the alarm on my phone!), but definitely a very satisfying experience -- and weekend :)