Gakusei Travels

7月4日をお祝いしている

Today is the 4th of July. I know it is only an American holiday, but since there are several American military bases, it was likely there would be some sort of event going on. At Yokota, they had a little festival, but in all honesty, it was giving State Fair lol.

Sienna sponsored me on base and I went after my last class. Today was so unbearably hot that I almost didn’t go. I think it was around 90 degrees today, but with the 90% humidity, it was scorching. It was so bad that my shirt was drenched, front and back with sweat, and I could just feel it running down my leg. I know its gross, but I’m just trying to illustrate how I literally felt like I was dying. Just about everyone was carrying some sort of electric fan, and I was chugging down water to keep from getting dehydrated. It was honestly so hot that I just had a straight up attitude. It was the type of heat that just makes you mad. It then did start pouring raining in the middle of the day for all of 10 minutes. After that, it was clear skies again.

Like I said, the festival honestly reminded me more of the state fair with inflatables, booths, live music, even games such as ring toss. I had jokingly said multiple times that I wanted an American hot dog, and while I did get one (it was good), I lowkey wanted more, but I also didn’t want to pay for it lol. I know back at home, my family is getting together for a cook out, which I’m jealous about missing. I could have gotten all the hot dogs I wanted for free instead of for 450 yen (around $3). I did get some shaved ice though which helped cool down in the heat.

There was also this really cool performer dude that was dressed like a space man. He did this cool trick after you pushed the button in front of his stand where he would appear to be floating, as if in zero gravity. I know there is a trick to this illusion. I just don’t know what it is.

I think probably the highlight of the experience though was the go karting. There is a thing in Japan, located in Shibuya, where you can ride go karts around the city. This was like a mini teaser where you could drive around the base. People usually wear onesies or fun hats. Sienna chose the Pochita from Chainsaw Man for me to wear cause it was cute.

I actually had to wait a pretty long time to ride. They did only 5 riders at a time, so I think I waited around 45 minutes before it was my turn. This one lady behind me though was just itching for a fight, because she kept trying to cut in front of me. I’m like you need to wait your turn like everyone else. We all are excited to ride. Your time will come.

Once it was finally my group’s turn, one of the workers of course explained all the rules and safety procedures, the main one being NO RACING. He made it clear the Military Commander would shut it down completely if people started racing or treating it like bumper cars. I was a little nervous at first, only because the karts do get pretty fast. If you press the accelerator it surely will go. And I never wanted to take any curves too fast, because I didn’t want to flip the kart over with my momentum. It was easy to use after the first lap. The only confusing thing probably was that the break is on the left, and when you drive, you tend to only use your right foot for both accelerating and breaking, so I had to tell myself over and over to slow down with your left foot.

Overall, the experience was fun. We only did 2 laps, but I would like to do the real thing in Shibuya if I can before I go home.

As it started to get dark, there were a few more performances. This one guy was super cool. He did a lot of cool tricks like juggling with fire and chainsaws and climbing this pole to do acrobatics. He was also super funny and engaged with the crowd. One of the things he did was purposely mess up one of his juggling tricks, stop, restart the music, and redo his ENTIRE set over again. By far, the coolest thing he did though was breathe and swallow fire. (Yes, I’m easily entertained by anything that looks cool lol.) Sienna did say that he tends to perform a lot at Yokota events, so he’s pretty popular.

The event ended with a fireworks show (after of course they had to sing the national anthem -.-) Imma be honest, the fireworks were kinda boring. They weren’t very wowing or big, kinda pitiful actually. The ones I saw in Japan at Odaiba were way bigger, colorful and cooler. These fireworks just seemed like some leftovers someone found in a garage somewhere lol. Back at home we probably launch bigger fireworks in our street.

Overall though, it was a fun day. I was happy to get out and about. With school now in term 2, my classes are soo much longer. They went from 1 and a half hours to three hours just about every day. And on top of that, everyday, I’m having to study for several hours at a time to stay on top of my work. It’s been a lot. I’m honestly not quite ready to go home yet, but at the same time, I’m looking forward to catching a breath. Nevertheless, I still have a month left in Japan and I’m going to make the most of my last few experiences here.