The day started out with a yosakoi performance for a 敬老会, or a gathering to celebrate those who have lived to over a certain age - I'm not sure what the exact age was. This performance was fun because it was on a big indoor stage, the likes of which I haven't performed on since I did Chinese dance in high school (very nostalgic), and also because the mayor was there! There have actually been a couple of times where I have the same schedule as the mayor on a weekend, through a combination of yosakoi and work, but until now he's never actually been around during our performance, even if he was at the same event. But this time I actually saw him in the front row, which was pretty cool. I doubt he noticed me (not sure if I'd want him to, really), but the manager of the Secretarial Division, who always accompanies the mayor on weekend work trips, knows I do yosakoi (because we ran into each other the last time the mayor and I had similar schedules) and even joked about it once, so maybe he saw me. I also finally got the chance to talk to someone on the team about getting all of us who are the same age together for dinner or something, which was exciting.
After the performance, which was in the art/culture hall of Aoba-no-Mori Park, I decided to wander around, because it was my first time there, despite having done translations about it at work. It's a really huge park (for a big city, Chiba has a lot of these), and it's the venue for athletic events like international cross-country races, which is pretty cool.I was first intrigued by some signs pointing toward a 'sculpture plaza', so I went to investigate and discovered a big open area with various sculptures, trees, steps, and what looked like a Greek temple! There was a group of cosplayers taking photos in between the columns, if that gives a sense of how it looked.
After that I just wandered for a bit in the gorgeous cool autumn air, through a flower garden, by a lake, around an open field, and into a little orchard. I also saw several people feeding stay cats, which were everywhere, and even ran into a couple of kittens! I also passed by a Chiba-kun cafe, which was unfortunately closing but very intriguing.I didn't want to wander too far or long for fear of getting lost if it got dark, but as I went back through the sculpture garden, I noticed how gorgeous the sky was - blue with lots of wispy clouds, and it was the widest view of the sky I've seen since coming to Chiba. This park is in the middle of the city, but when I looked up I couldn't see any buildings, just pure open sky.
I couldn't help but just stare up at it for a while, and then I heard the sounds of a guitar. A random singer-guitarist started performing nearby, so I lay down on a nearby bench and enjoyed the music while gazing at the sky. It was so peaceful and beautiful and basically just bliss.
I stayed until it got colder and darker and the guitarist wandered away, before slowly heading back to the station. I was in the middle of shopping for some necessities when I remembered that my favorite west coast swing event was that day, and I still had time to make it!
So I hopped on a train to Tokyo and went to west coast swing for a few hours. I hadn't been to this particular event in months, and west coast is my favorite, so I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
And then I had a good LINE conversation on the train ride home and made it back with 3% battery life on my phone - and that was the end of my almost-perfect day! Yosakoi, nature, kitties, swing dance, and good conversations - what more could I ask for? :)
