sparkles and supper

The next two blog-worthy events of 2016 were going to see takarazuka in Takarazuka City and then attending my first Burns Supper!

I had gone to see takarazuka (all-female musical theater, basically) before with my friend Jane in Tokyo, and this time she helped get us tickets in the home of takarazuka itself, Takarazuka City! I took a night bus to Osaka and met up with our other friend Charlie for a quick breakfast before taking the train to Takarazuka and meeting Jane, dropping off their stuff at their hostel, and heading to the theater! The show was the story of William Shakespeare as he became a writer and grew more famous, followed by the usual musical revue. Just like last time, I thoroughly enjoyed it despite not fully understanding everything. Then after the show we relaxed for a bit in a

cafe before heading into Osaka to meet up with other friends for dinner, drinks, and fun. :3

Then, two weeks later was the Burns supper! Apparently this is a common thing in Scotland, to celebrate the Scottish poet Robert Burns, and the St. Andrew's Society of Tokyo and Yokohama hosts one every year in Tokyo. This year, because the ball that they usually held separately didn't happen, they combined the two into a black-tie Burns supper event! I borrowed my sister's prom dress and brought it back to Japan when I came back after Christmas, because I figured I might as well take the opportunity to dress up. :D The dinner featured an open bar with lots of different types of whisky, an absolutely delicious dinner menu including haggis and lamb, the traditional Address to a Haggis, bagpipes, address to the lasses and reply to the laddies (where both sexes poke fun at each other), and my favorite part of the night - a ceilidh of Scottish country dancing! They didn't do a very thorough job of teaching us the steps, but luckily my date was Scottish and knew all the dances so all I had to do was try and follow along. :3 All in all it was a super fun night and I hope we go again next year!