ねじめドラゴンボートフェスティバル

Dressing up in costume and racing a canoe shaped like a dragon down the river along side about 50 other JET’s is just about as good as it gets. This is why I eagerly jumped at the opportunity to take part, for the second time, in the annual Negime Dragon Boat Festival. Our team knew from the start that we didn’t stand a chance as participants from all across Japan and even other countries traveled to compete in the race. Actually, we were eliminated in the first round, but it didn’t matter because we didn’t come to win. Some of us came for the cultural experience while others came for the pre-race party. We all came to have a good time and this goal was most certainly accomplished. Not only was I able to meet several of the new JET’s who had arrived to Japan earlier this August I was also also able to get off Nagashima island for the weekend and explore a bit more of Japan which is something I am always eager to do. It was definitely a good weekend.