A little extra somethin' somethin'

The "Culture Day" Tuesday did turn out a bit of culture ^^

On a hunch (which is just another word for subtle pattern recognition) I made my way to Senjo ji temple and ran into a parade. It was basically a run-through of Japanese history and culture, and I ended up with 50+ pictures on my camera O_O Some very pretty things there. I also ran into an Aussie that I had couch surfed with at Mochan's place and had a little chat.

After the parade was over I went up Nakamise dori, a shopping street leading up to the temple, to get a few souvenirs for the people at home. The good thing about Nakamise is that most of the stuff in the stalls are made in Japan; of course you get the "made in china" stuff in between but I stay away from it. I mean, seriously - I'm in Japan so I should get things that are made here and not in the neighbouring country.

I asked a sales person about some kanji on a small figurine and the outcome was interesting:

Lady: Helt.
Me: Helt? Eh ...
Lady: Helt! Helt!
Me thinking: Oh crap ...
Lady looking very distressed: Helt! Heelt! Hellsss!
Me grapping on to the last attempt the lady did and running with it: ... Hells ... Health?!
Lady lighting up: Haaaaai! Helt!
Me: Riiiiight ... okidoki ^^

Now, we continued to poke a bit of fun at the Th-sound before I showed her how to make it. In short, I got my phonetic ass in gear and visually showed her where the sound was to be found in her mouth - and she was besides herself.

Lady: Health! The theatre! The the the the! Health!
Me: *With a big old smug smile and feeling happy that I helped*

I got a figurine for free for my help ^^
My phonetics training is really useful here; most Japanese have only minor problems reading English but have great difficulty with pronunciation. It feels good to be useful :)

In the evening it was karaoke time (I kicked ass ^^).
And we did it for so long that I didn't have a voice the next day.