Pre-Departure: A ‘British Festival’

Hey guys! This post is a little late as all of these events happened last week but I’ve been too busy to be able to write up this blog post but finally I am able to take some time out to let you guys know about something I’ve been helping out with for the last four years now. The Disley Show! Which probably doesn’t fuel you with excitement nor have you ever heard of it. But basically, the Disley show is a sort of fair (or festival depending where you’re reading this) put on by the Horticultural Society. Horticulture is a part of agriculture that deals with growth of plants as well as art, technology and other fascinating things.

While I personally have no interest in gardening since for a long time I’ve resented being dragged outside. I have to say that I always enjoy helping out with the show. My role in it all is helping to set up which involves heavy lifting items such as tables, chairs, fences, boxes and more boxes and even more boxes! It’s hard work but I do it with one of my greatest friends called Ryan so it’s a bit of a laugh (Although the entire day is mostly me yelling at him :P) The show is sponsored by a lot of local village businesses and it’s a real community get together and once everything is put together the entire thing looks extremely British and friendly.

The length of the show

It looks quite small and I suppose it is but inside the marquee (Giant tent to the left) it’s actually pretty big with loads of displays all to do with horticulture. My personal favourite is the animals made out of food which is done by the children. The amount of effort they put into it is amazing and puts my work to shame as I can barely peel a vegetable without cutting myself ;(

Nom Nom Nom!

Fruity smiles

On some level I do regret helping out with the show as it means I have to work on the day of the show as a marshal which means I don’t get much time to enjoy everything that’s on offer but I think the best thing that I help out with during the day is the pet show! The show has its own small pet show ring and often features a wide variety of animals varying from guanine pigs and snakes to rabbits and dogs. The show mostly features dogs and my job in the arena is to ensure that none of the animals start dragging the poor children around which last year, one poor girl was dragged away by her dog. The show is always chaos and disorganised but I think that’s what makes it so much fun and I always get to pet the dogs and see them up close while they’re being judged.

This dog was huge but so adorable

Our 'troublemakers' trying to eat their prize!

Overall, I’m glad that I had this show right before I left the country as I think it’ll be a great comparison to Japanese festivals. I’m expecting the Japanese festivals to be a lot bigger and more flashy though but I don’t know if they can beat the traditional feeling of British community culture, but that will be an experience I can report back on later this year. So for now enjoy some more pictures of the show!

Finally, just a few quick updates before departure. I got my grade back for my Japanese course and I achieved an A grade so I am very happy! Now that I’ve achieved that, I hope to enter the AS/A2 exam when I get back to England and go to university. In addition I have received my visa from the Japanese embassy and paid in the final outstanding funds for the trip which means…. I am ready. All that remains is to simply count down the days. (14 at the time of writing this) I am really excited but the fear still hasn’t set in for some reason. I still have a horrible feeling that I will awake on the aeroplane screaming in terror at what I have done :’)

Thanks for reading guys, on Monday and Tuesday I am meeting up with the other volunteers in my home city: Manchester so hopefully, I will be writing another blog then or at least doing a vLog so stay tuned.

14 Days remain.