Festivals help you make more local friends

The last week of August was when the local festival, which we had been preparing for over the past few months, finally took place. It was a week where the overwhelming busyness felt even more condensed. Summer is coming to an end.

Friday, August 23rd: Handing out flyers immediately after returning home

My flight back from Cambodia was delayed. Also, I realized I had been on a flight that transferred in Hanoi and mysteriously went through Laos. (You can read about my strange adventures in Cambodia in the article below.)

We all laughed, saying, "Wait, aren't we in Laos?" We were so laid back.

In the end, I left Cambodia on the evening of the previous day and didn't get home until after midnight. The preparation for the seminar I was speaking at the following week was always in the back of my mind. I intended to buckle down and get some work done, but after running the washing machine many times, I just ended up falling asleep.

The local festival we had been preparing for all this time was starting the next day. The operations team had been setting up in front of the station since the morning. Feeling guilty about leaving it all to them, I joined them in the evening. Since we had a huge surplus of flyers we had printed, I started handing them out in front of the station.

Passersby initially looked annoyed, but as soon as they heard the words "We're holding a festival," their expressions would brighten up and they would take one. Some people even went out of their way to turn back for one.

Festivals have real power.

A college student joined me, muttering, "Analog is important, isn't it? I was naive to think I could just rely on Instagram ads." Everything is a learning experience, right?

The preparation team had a pre-celebration at our usual spot, and then we dispersed.

Saturday, August 24th & Sunday, August 25th: Two days of non-stop laughter at the festival

The preparation up to this point had been tough. But the actual days were just as busy for everyone.

It was a festival with a concept where students take the lead in operations, gaining internship-like experience while enjoying deepening their connections with the local community.

I participated as a "partner," meant to accompany them and provide advice as needed. But it's in my nature that if I'm going to be involved, I want to do it properly, so it was a very intense few months.

I was moved to see the various projects the students had brought to the table finally come to fruition on the first day. The representative was already crying during the staff kickoff right before the opening, which was an early highlight.

However, after the first day closed, a guerrilla rainstorm ruined many of the items we had set up, so we all gathered on the morning of the second day to restore them.

We drank, laughed, danced, and sang.

Ah, it was so much fun!!!

Old friends and moms from my child's nursery school also came to help out on the day, and I was happy to introduce them to the festival operations team I always hang out with. I want to keep expanding my connections with everyone even more.

Monday, August 26th: The first day back to work

Returning to work after a long break. I spent the morning dealing with a mountain of messages at a furious pace, but of course, that's when the last-minute tasks piled up too.

My tasks were overflowing, so I had the team take on a lot of them. Thank you, thank you.

In the middle of it, a message came into the organizing group's LINE saying, 'Come take the leftover food from the festival.' I went over to pick some up, using it as an excuse for a quick lunch break.

In contrast to me, who had gone purely to get food, there were people there working incredibly hard on the cleanup.

I really should have brought some refreshments with me. My 'adulting' skills remain as low as ever.

My daughter, having nothing better to do, joined the cleanup team on her own in the evening. In the end, she ate yakisoba made from the leftovers and even enthusiastically joined the 'after-party' at a restaurant all by herself.

She has way too many adult friends in the neighborhood. It's a wonderful thing. I worked until after 9 p.m., went to pick her up, and just had a toast to celebrate a job well done.

August 27 (Tue) Utamaro Bath

I had a speaking engagement at SCALE PR ACADEMY. It was great to have a fun conversation with Honda-san!

I hope the participants were able to take something away from it. Thank you so much!!

From the evening, three people in total—two high school students I became friends with at the festival and a close friend of my daughter's—came over to our house for a sleepover.

Relieved that I had finished my work, I got into the bath. But the water was abnormally dirty. It was all bubbly on the surface.

Lately, my two-year-old son has been putting everything he can find into the bath. The other day, he dumped an entire jar of Sabon body scrub in there. It was a disaster.

I got in thinking he must have put something similar in today. It was too dirty, so I drained the water to refill it for the girls, and found a bar of Utamaro soap at the bottom.

Hey, you were making me take an Utamaro bath? It definitely cleans well, but that's not what I'm looking for!

After the bath, the high school students who came over and the others listened back to the song they had performed on stage during the festival.

It's a good song. I heard it for the first time, but I like it.

August 28 (Wed) Everyone has their own weaknesses

When my two-year-old son gets caught doing something bad, he gets startled and makes excuses like, 'I was just doing X!' How cute is that?

Usage: 'I was just looking!' 'I just like this!' 'I was just doing it for a second!'

Today, I'm looking after a friend's children (ages 4 and 1). The 1-year-old seems to absolutely hate baths, crying his eyes out both before and during the bath.

I panicked, but apparently, it's the same at his own home. Raising children really makes me realize that the things people hate are different for everyone. Some kids are terrified of rain and will start crying as soon as it begins to fall.

Thursday, August 29th: A lunch of constant rejections

Today was my first day at the office in a while. As is typical when you haven't been in for a while, I forgot my ID badge again. The sight of me bowing my head to colleagues every time I need to go to the restroom to ask them to 'please lend me yours' is quite comical.

The other day, my co-host pointed out on the podcast I run that 'even when you go to the office, you don't talk to anyone, right?' so I decided that today I would go to lunch with everyone.

However, there were even fewer people in the office than usual today. Well, it is typhoon season. After walking around the office and asking around, I ended up going to lunch with one colleague. My success rate is extremely low. I laughed.

But thanks to that, we were able to talk a lot and take our time!

At night, I braved the rain and went out for drinks.