Before my trip to Tokyo, I decided to go to Hakuoh University's school festival, a place located in Oyama. In Japan, school's all over hold a school festival once every year. Students prepare their classrooms, build tents, show off their talents, and sell food! I did a lot, seen a lot, and experienced a festival that beat my own school's festival.
Oyama was great! I got to see my brothers, Taku and Ryouta, and I got meet with old friends that I haven't seen for more than 2 years. The festival was fantastic! The talent in the school blew me away. I knew the difference between my school and Hakuoh the minute I stepped onto their campus during their school festival. Each group from each tent had a totally different theme. These people put their hearts into their stall. In one stall, all the people were wearing custom-made jerseys. In another stall, they were wearing costumes. You could definitely differentiate one tent from another.
The Hakuoh students were also very aggressive when it came to selling their goods. As you walked from one stall to the other, all you could hear were people yelling, "Delicious Food! Buy it before it runs out!" Some of the people were even begging their friends to buy food from their stalls. It was definitely a high tension environment. I remember mentioning to one of my friends how great the selling atmosphere in the festival was, and he told me "It's only because they want your money." hahahaha! They must have really wanted that money.
Talent in Hakuoh University was another thing that surprised me. It was something very different from the talent in Akita International University. Hakuoh University students were talented in dancing, singing, design, and fashion. The crowd in Hakuoh University was diverse. They had guys with fancy hair, girls with lots of makeup, people with funny hair-dos, and mixes of different styles from all corners of Oyama. Their dancing performances were top notch and you could tell that they practiced for hours and hours every day. Their choreography was outstanding as well. It was similar to America's Best Dance Crew styles, and a lot their moves were fluid, as if they were natural. Their tents and classrooms were above and beyond in decorations, and everyone was fashioning their group's style.
The student committee in charge of the planning and stuff for the festival was all dressed up as well. They wore blue shiny jackets that stood out from the rest. They even wore headsets for communication. It was like security, which it was, and the staff for some fancy concert, which they did hold.
In the festival, they had a Mr. and Mrs. Hakuoh University contest. Similar to America's Prom King and Queen, people of the school would nominate the most all-around talented people to be voted for. What was fascinating about the Ms. Hakuoh Contest was what the contestants did. They made brochures that had pictures of themselves, descriptions as to who they were, and why they were running for Ms. Hakuoh. I was surprised to find that on the last day during the voting, they came out wearing full wedding dresses. It was spectacular, and the women were BEAUTIFUL. The whole school seemed to stop and watch as they stood up there waiting for the winner's announcement. Of course, like any serious pageant-like contest, all the contestants cried in the end, regardless of whether they were the winner or not.
Soon after the Ms. Hakuoh Contest's winner got announced, I rushed off to go to the Golden Bomber Concert held in Hakuoh University's gym. It was awesome! It was my first time ever going to a Japanese concert. It was A LOT of FUN! The concert was like a workout session. It was kind of like that Zumba thing we have in Hawaii. Everybody is jumping up and down, following the singer's dance moves, and yelling out the words to the songs. I wish I could have taken pictures and video taped the whole thing, but all of my cameras and stuff were taken away from me at the entrance. No one could take pictures.
During the concert I wanted to dance and scream like crazy, but because I had forgotten my deodorant in Akita, I felt the need to keep my arms down as much as I could. That itself was impossible as there were hardly any times where we would keep our hands down. As much as I felt bad for the girl next to me, I couldn't help but dance and jump like a little kid on Christmas day. Hell yeah!
During the concert I wanted to dance and scream like crazy, but because I had forgotten my deodorant in Akita, I felt the need to keep my arms down as much as I could. That itself was impossible as there were hardly any times where we would keep our hands down. As much as I felt bad for the girl next to me, I couldn't help but dance and jump like a little kid on Christmas day. Hell yeah!
The next couple of days in Oyama was spent well. I went to Nikko and visited all sorts of different restaurants. Nikko was beautiful! The autumn colors were nothing I've ever seen before. I was amazed by the red leaved trees and the beauty of the whole town affected by it. I took plenty of pictures!
I ate at loads of different restaurants while I was visiting the place. I tried new dishes, and I even tried a soy milk ice cream in spite of the freezing cold weather. I took as much pictures as I could, and made sure that I made every minute matter. I'll always miss Hakuoh, or rather, the people I've met and built a relationship with there. Never will I forget, and never will I surrender!
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