Have you heard about the three biggest festivals in Kyoto? One is Aoi Matsuri (葵祭) in May, the other is Gion Matsuri (祇園祭) in July, and another is Jidai Matsuri (時代祭) in October. First of all, Aoi Matsuri is the oldest of the three biggest festivals. This ceremony shows costumes of the Heian Period (794-1185) and things that are decorated with hollyhock flowers that originated from this festival. Next, Gion Matsuri has more than 1,000 years of history. The highlights of this festivals are Yoiyama and Yamaboko Junko. Everyone can see unique floats and eat some food at the stands. Finally, Jidai Matsuri is held for the celebration of the Heian Jingu Shrine which is one of the shrines in Kyoto. This festival has a parade displaying traditional costumes. In this presentation, the presenter will explain the characteristics and origins of the three festivals represented by Kyoto.
I went on a totally amazing Southwest trip with my classmates. The trip was my first time to go to the Southwest so everything was new to me. Sarah, Anikke and Bethany came with us. They made our trip more exciting. I’m happy I could go on this trip with them and I had a lot of great experiences. First, I really enjoyed New Mexico. It was chilly but not too cold. I went to the Old Town in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I liked the Old Town because there are many cute things and good restaurants in there. For example, I found a gate that was decorated with a lot of red chili peppers. I had never seen anything like that before so I was very surprised and it looked like a lot of flowers from a distance. The red chili peppers were absolutely gorgeous. Not only that, I found a great restaurant. I forgot the name of the restaurant but they have really delicious Mexican food. They gave me some Mexican chips for free and recommended that I eat the chips with honey. I really like Mexican chip