"I got a gnome in the backyard, I put him right on the X mark, he's supposed to show me where the money is "
-Oh Mandy, The Spinto Band

Last night, an old man in a kimono- with nothing on underneath and his bare chest prominently on display- danced for Corrie and I on the street.

After an odd and rambling conversation where it was understood that a) this man didn't speak English and b) we didn't speak Japanese, he crossed the street, pulled out a small radio, took off his straw hat and began dancing with it. We stared in disbelief. More like we laughed and tried not to make eye contact.

There's a big festival this weekend in Fukushima that somehow revolves around a giant straw sandal. Guness Book of Records should be here to see this sandal. There are also giant sandal carrying races, but given the heat and lack of any information in English, I'm not going out of my way to find the race. Corrie and I did catch about two dozen men carrying the giant sandal to its resting place on a stand in a parking lot.

"Sure I had trouble from the onset, I tried to chase things I couldn't get "

There was also a parade which, at one point, featured men dressed as women and men in full spandex unitards. Usually, this wouldn't even make me bat an eye, but the fact that I'm in Japan and I rarely see men out o fbusiness suits made me do a double take.

After the parade, we somehow managed to order crepes from a stall run by a man who didn't understand any English by pointing while the man asked us random things in half-Japanese/half-English about if we liked Washington...not sure if he meant the man or the geographical location. I said yes. We then sat on some local artwork sculptures to eat our crepes and laugh at ridiculous people when we were invited to go to a bar with some Japanese dudes. We said no since neither of us are the "let's make conversation and meet new people" types. I pointed out I knew a bar where we could get beer nad no one would talk to us. So that's where we headed and ended our night.

I'm also currently in the midst of a really bad cold. Who gets sick in 40 degree summer heat? Me. Thanks to a day in the rain at Fuji Rock. I just need to shake this by next Monday when Eve and I leave for Seoul. I'm also toying with a short trip to Singapore before I make my way home in September. For no particular reason other than I can go if I want to.

"remind me once more where this is going, before I fling it out into the ocean "