Today is Tanabata- the star festival, which happens every July 7th. Today was the first time the holiday landed on a class day since I've been taking class, and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to teach the kids some culture. I think culture of martial arts is important because without it, martial arts really wouldn't be "art".
I have fond memories of this day. This was the first holiday ( it was the first week) that I celebrated in Japan, now 6 years ago. How the time flies by. I don't now if any of them appreciated the name tags in Japanese I made for them or the origami that went with them, but they certainly appreciated the candy. I bought Japanese candy from the giant Wegman's and made dorayaki with nutella instead of traditional anko filling. One of the fuzzy head twins was having a bad day- sleepy and just over-all cranky- when I told him about the nutella, he went from cranky to happy in seconds. The kids were told to eat AFTER they changed, but it was like flies to flycatch tape. I saw Owl sneak a few candies in the folds of his gi.
So it was exhausting, and I think I'll start much earlier next year, but it was fun. Today was a quiet day though- not many kids. The class is experiencing its usual shrink during the summer months. I found out Owl is moving away too. That leaves a lot of "wiggle room" at the top kyu ranks.
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