Mr. Patrick Whiskers .VS. Godzilla

Ever have that experience where not a lot happens for a long time and then -- Wham! -- lots of things happen at the same time? We did. So someone at work offered us tickets to the Iwakuni Guitar and Mandolin Society concert, and I thought with Dan taking guitar lessons it would be perfect. So we got all dolled up and had a wonderful evening at the Iwakuni Symphonia listening to some very beautiful music. They threw us for a loop by adding some dancing to the second act. The program and narration all in Japanese added a whole "surprise" element to the night. I wondered why one guy in the audience kept holding the program to his face, but Brenda figured out there were scented cards inside. We still have no idea why.

The next morning was our long-anticipated trip to the

Yamaguchi Flea Market. It's only done once a month and people come from miles around to attend. Unfortunately, it rained. So after getting up at 5 and taking a two-hour bus trip, we braved the torrential downpour for about half an hour before giving up. The girls each got a used coat and a new umbrella out of the trip, but it was little compensation as far as Dan was concerned for dragging her new shoes through the ankle-deep mud. We wandered to downtown Yamaguchi and found the covered shopping outdoor mall area. Of course, it opened at 11, so if you want to know what the outside of a lot of Yamaguchi stores look like, well, you know who to ask.

The second part of the journey was a trip to the historic 5-storied Pagoda and Buddhist temple. The pagoda was built in 1442. We were told it is opened only every 500 years. The girls watched a woman and daughter ceremonially wash a Buddha statue and wanted to do it as well, which we allowed.

There was also a huge prayer-bead pull the locals

were lining up to do, which we respectfully watched and went around. We climbed the hill behind the pagoda for a better view, but the rain really started coming down hard. When Cordy fell and hit the ground hard (like big bruise on the tush hard), we headed back to the bus. So overall it was a semi-successful adventure. We didn't have the fun we anticipated, but we made it out and back, experiencing some culture along the way.