Should I bad and open my presents now?

I really want to.  I got my Christmas presents from mom and dad in the mail.  It's not even December yet!  One of them got totally mangled and the paper is all torn so I figure that's a lost cause.  Christmas doesn't really have the same... oomph it does back home.  I don't even have plans with Andrew yet.  Ah whatever.  I've never been one to wait.

Single handedly supporting the Japanese postal system

Tomorrow I'm heading to Asakusa to get a charm for dad's Christmas present, and will probably grab lunch with Andrew and troll around.  Then I'm meeting Tomoko for a lesson at 5.  I've got Destini's package all put together; I just hope I put enough glue and tape to keep the envelope closed!  I will drop it off at the post office on my way out tomorrow.  I have to start writing my cards and get those out as well.  

Today I got to watch a folk dance group, Araumaza, at school.  They did some folk dances and songs and taiko!  It was really awesome.  They did few songs from each season.  The last was a winter festival song that accompanies the Chichibu floats and I just found out that the Chichibu night festival is one of the 3 big festivals in Japan (along with the Gion Festival and Takayama Festival).  It happens every year on December 2nd and 3rd and I did some research thinking it would be cool to go to as least one of the big three, especially since it's in Saitama prefecture.  Except, it's on the other side of Saitama prefecture -- 3 hours and 2000+ yen away.  There goes that idea.  They also did the Shishimai (Lion dance for New Year) and did you know that the lion is supposed to bite your head to bring you good luck?  All the teachers got their heads knocked and a bunch of the kids.  They also did a few songs from Okinawa as well.  I love Okinawan music.  I have to go out and search for a CD of sanshin music before I leave Japan.  At the end, the vice-principal pointed me out and I can't help but feel a little bit used.  He gave some spiel about how next year the 5th grade will start studying English and the 6th graders will have moved up to middle school, and when they meet foreign people or go study overseas they can talk about Japanese culture and the folk dances that they saw today.  

I wish I had my camera on me to take some video but I'm never well prepared.  So I did some YouTube searching and found some of the things I saw today. :)

↑ Hachijo Island Taiko (Hachijo Island entertainment)

↑ Mizuguchi Bayashi (Mizuguchi accompaniment)

↑ Shishimai (Lion Dance)

↑ Arauma Odori (Wild Horse Dance)

↑ Hounen Odori (Harvest Dance -- this is a Kagoshima version)

↑ Chichibu Yatai Bayashi (Chichibu float accompaniment)