A few weeks ago, Nagoya had their annual Matsuri to celebrate their city. While it was rainy and we didn’t get to attend the large parade that involves an entire story concerning a princess and the three samurai that the city is famous for, we did get to attend some of the festival-like stuff in Sakae.

 It was a nice break from regular weekends, and it really let us meet and speak with a lot of different residents of Nagoya.

We had to wander around some of the venues, see some taiko performances, and see how Nagoya takes pride in its history. It was also a very good opportunity for me to reflect on how life in Nagoya has been going.

Though it has its faults, I’ve fallen in love with Nagoya. It’s a city rich in culture, and not overflowing with foreigners. Everyone here has been helpful, from the nearby bakery where they patiently explained what the different between take-out and eating-in is, to the man who made my okonomiyaki the other day and complemented me on how well I use chopsticks. Here, foreigners are still new and still interesting, and many residents are so wiling to communicate and help.

Sometimes, they resort to English because they assume we cannot understand, but for the most part, I’ve only had multiple learning experiences that have helped me to get used to living not only in a city, but in Japan. It’s helped me understand how everyday life works here and how to survive.

We got invited to sign a large sheet with colored blocks on them. They had multiple sheets like this, with the end goal being that all these sheets would be put together to make a picture, with each block holding a signature of sorts.

I wrote: “日本、ありがとう！ Thank you for being so wonderful and beautiful. Japan, you are a dream come true! DFTBA. Lera.” I blanked on moving sentences or subjects, so I just blurted out how I felt. I was happy to be there. As I am now. Happy to be in Japan. Never forgetting to be awesome.

Location: Sakae, Nagoya, Japan