First of the Goodbyes

The Mule's Hula Studio at the Kamakura Beach Festival

It's a bit early but the first goodbye came and went today with the Mule's last hula event. She might be one of a handful if any that knows how to dance the hula when she moves to southeastern Ohio this summer. The grand finale of her hulaing took place on a sunny day at Yuigahama beach in Kamakura.

I could not resist adding a short clip of the children singing "This Little Light of Mine." It sort of sets the stage for life in Japan for me. The words were confusing and incomprehensible and then my Jinglish or Japlish as one may call it, kicked in and I recognized what they were singing. The group sang several songs under the blue sky and the watchful eye of many hawks.

If you're a newbie to Kamakura and the beach, do not eat without being under shelter. The hawks will get your lunch. Do not picnic on the beach or display food of any sort while at the beach. The hawks will get your  food, yogurt, or whatever they want that you might unknowingly display.

I was distracted as usual with the Moose but he got me interested in one of my favorite beach activities, building sand castles! There were some awesome supplies at the beach for the kiddos to enjoy- tubes, buckets with the bottoms removed, serious shovels, spades, and more buckets for fetching water. We filled a large bottomless bucket with sand and water, stomped it many times with our bare feet, and managed to get one of three to work. The secret is water and hard packed sand.  So there are no clips of the other hula dances or of the belly dancers. The Moose looked up at the belly dancers and said, "Hey! They've got swords!" They did indeed.

Building Sandcastles

Serious Sand Castle Building

The smile after coming off of the stage- freedom!

The Hula Video

The Mule's Hula Studio at the Kamakura Beach Festival

It's a bit early but the first goodbye came and went today with the Mule's last hula event. She might be one of a handful if any that knows how to dance the hula when she moves to southeastern Ohio this summer. The grand finale of her hulaing took place on a sunny day at Yuigahama beach in Kamakura.

I could not resist adding a short clip of the children singing "This Little Light of Mine." It sort of sets the stage for life in Japan for me. The words were confusing and incomprehensible and then my Jinglish or Japlish as one may call it, kicked in and I recognized what they were singing. The group sang several songs under the blue sky and the watchful eye of many hawks.

If you're a newbie to Kamakura and the beach, do not eat without being under shelter. The hawks will get your lunch. Do not picnic on the beach or display food of any sort while at the beach. The hawks will get your  food, yogurt, or whatever they want that you might unknowingly display.

I was distracted as usual with the Moose but he got me interested in one of my favorite beach activities, building sand castles! There were some awesome supplies at the beach for the kiddos to enjoy- tubes, buckets with the bottoms removed, serious shovels, spades, and more buckets for fetching water. We filled a large bottomless bucket with sand and water, stomped it many times with our bare feet, and managed to get one of three to work. The secret is water and hard packed sand.  So there are no clips of the other hula dances or of the belly dancers. The Moose looked up at the belly dancers and said, "Hey! They've got swords!" They did indeed.

Building Sandcastles

Serious Sand Castle Building

The smile after coming off of the stage- freedom!

The Hula Video