Labor Thanksgiving Day

Around the end of November, there is a holiday here called Labor Thanksgiving Day. I wasn't so sure of the meaning of the holiday, but I looked it up on wikipedia... thank God for that website. Anyway, we live right next to a pretty popular shrine, like right next to it. During the weekend of that holiday, there was a small festival. The streets and alleyways were lined with lanterns made from tealight candles encased by drawings by children at the local elementary schools. I believe that the purpose of the holiday is similar to the American Thanksgiving in that it is an opportunity for everyone to be thankful for what they are blessed with. A long time ago, it was a holiday to celebrate the rice harvest.



We were very busy those couple of days. I had to work on Saturday (as usual) and didn't get home until late, but we had dinner plans with our couchsurfer, Georg, along with Marta and Cody. Well, on our way to dinner we saw the end of the festival.

Now, I'm not sure what these characters represent, but Marta and Cody had been drinking before they got to our house so they were not shy about introducing themselves. It made for a good photo opp.

While waiting at the train station, we caught a glimpse at the performance happening on a stage built behind the station especially for the festivities. I'm not sure what's going on here, but it looked nice and peaceful.

Meanwhile, the local volunteers were walking around, blowing out and gathering the lanterns for the evening. Marta was doing her best to help.

And here, Georg, Cody, and Marta are doing their best impressions of the drunk salary men passed out on the trains.

Needless to say, we had a good night...