Returning there this year for the festival you will see in the following pictures, reminded me of how I felt like newborn baby. I needed help with everything. Where’s the bank, where’s the post office, where’s the supermarket, is this thing I just bought at the convenience store edible or fantastically poisonous, and why does this toilet have all these buttons? These were just a few of the thousands of questions I barraged my roommates, coworkers, and anyone else who appeared to understand English with.
Being rendered completely illiterate and effectively mute overnight changed the way I interacted with the world. No longer did I read labels at the supermarket. Rather I examined pictures, smelled this and that for familiar odors, and if all else failed shook and squeezed the contents in an attempt to determine what I was about to purchase. Though it was trying at times, each day brought a brand new set of adventures.
After having lived in Hiratsuka for a little over two months, I began to notice unusual decorations showing up here and there. 
When I asked my roommates about them, they told me they were for a festival. That festival was Tanabata and though I did not know it at the time, Tanabata festival marked the true start of my transformation from whining American to seasoned world traveler.
Though I have solved most of the mysteries, like what is that man cooking? 
Living abroad continues be an adventure and still occasionally turns my idea of reality on its head.
If you would like to know more about the Tanabata Festival, as always wikipedia is there to guide you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanabata
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