Undo Kai Pictures and My New Gallery

Shooting 300 pictures at my daughter's Undo Kai really sent me for a loop. It takes time to...well, you don't want to know all of that. But I'll say this. After some consideration and searching, I changed the gallery section of this site in an effort to make it both better and easier to manage. I really like how it turned out, so please take a look and put up a link.

About the Undo Kai -- for starters, it was quite a bit less competitive than the U.S. presidential election! Wasn't that a day full of surprises!? But you're right, I don't want to go there.

The UNDO KAI attracted at least a couple hundred parents, relatives, neighbors and others who wandered in. To a string of cheezy tunes, the kids performed "taiso" exercises, staged fun relays, performed dances and ran races. I love people watching, so I was pointing my camera at the crowd almost half the time. I don't know if I learned any significant lessons about Japanese life or culture during the day, or maybe I've forgotten already. But I will say this: One of the keys to integration in a new culture is learning how to have fun in new ways (their ways). As my Japanese improves and our relationships grow I find this happening more and more.

I'll be posting more pictures from the Undo Kai in the coming days. But just so you know, you can view all of them NOW by visiting the gallery. I appreciate your comments here.

Posted by jw at November 3, 2004 11:47 PM