Golden Week

Golden Week is a smattering of National holidays that occur very close together at the end of April and the beginning of May. During this time, many Japanese people go on trips, so the cities empty and the destinations fill up. JETs, taking their cues from their coworkers, usually go off gallivanting as well. I know people that went to China, Taiwan, Thailand, Egypt, etc. I however, didn't go anywhere. I had a staycation.

During golden week we had a 3 day weekend followed by a 4 day weekend. For the three day weekend I did some cleaning. I'm still not finished cleaning, hopefully that will happen this weekend. Over the 4 day weekend I was in two dance battles, went to practice, went shopping and became a Costco member.

The first battle I entered was with my Saitama boys. It was a 4 vs 4 battle in Kisarazu, Chiba. Very far away. There were only 12 crews signed up and 3 of them were professional (I think the ¥500,000 prize was the reason). I was sick with nerves. The day of the battle, I couldn't eat anything! Luckily my friends were very supportive and I met some new people. Naturally, we didn't get past the first round, but it was a learning experience.

Below are the links to the battles between the pros:

This video is Found Nation Crew vs Floorriorz. I think Found Nation should have won... But the judges decided differently.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY4-AdoRK50&sns=em

This video is the final battle, Floorriorz vs TFZ (also Floorriorz... I don't like this...).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIWFcjOYJIQ&sns=em

After the battle, we went to the outlets in Chiba, but we only had a very short time to go shopping. I just saw the adidas and Nike outlet. I bought some running shorts from adidas. Interestingly enough, there were no outlets in Japan until about 5 years ago. Now outlet malls are popping up everywhere. It's crazy.

The next day, I lazed around and slept in. I went to Utsunomiya in the evening for battle number 2. This event was much smaller and friendlier. It was a 2 vs 2 allstyles battle. I really enjoyed it, the venue was a nice little night club with a live DJ. As it happened, my Saitama Bboys showed up to battle too. I was a lot less nervous with this battle but it didn't stop me from panicking as soon as it was my turn to dance. My friend and I did not advance past the first round :( I stayed afterwards and many people were talking to me in Japanese. I guess my Japanese is improving, because it wasn't too hard for me, though it was just basic Japanese.

In Japan I seem to get way more nervous and panicked about battles than in Canada. I think it's because I cannot hide. I'm the whitey that you can't help but look at... The pressure is magnified because there are very few girls in break dance and a foreign bgirl is the rarest specimen of all (I've met foreign Bboys, but no foreign bgirls, just me). I feel like everyone is watching me and I want to just hide! I want to be the wallflower that nobody notices!

So that was my dancing golden weekend. The next day, Sunday, I ran, biked, and practiced. I ran sooo fast! I haven't run in months and this run was great, except I had a nosebleed afterward. I don't remember ever having a nosebleed in my entire life!

On Monday, I went shopping. I bought a dress, shoes, and a rain jacket. I also became a real Costco member :) hurrah! Now I can shop at costco whenever I feel like it, within the hours of operation of course :)