Concert Video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTg8St59xVg

Enjoy. ;)

(I'm the 3rd from the right in the purple dress, and Hanna is the third from the left in the white dress)

Sticky

One night during dinner, we were asked to try this food that was a sticky clear substance with little green pieces in it. (I never found out what it was called...) when you brought it up to your mouth, strings of the sticky stuff would still be hanging down. So it was taking Hanna and me a while to eat it, and Okaa-san, Otoh-san and Yuka had all gone either to the kitchen or somewhere else, and all who was left at the table besides us was Hiroki.

As I watched Hanna try to get a bit of it with her chopsticks, I commented that it was "sticky." Hiroki looked up at me and burst out laughing. "Sticky? Hahahaha!" "Yes," I replied, "it's sticky." We weren't sure why he thought that was so funny, but we decided that we would have to ask Okaa-san in the morning.

So morning came around and we went up and asked her what "sticky" meant. At first she didn't understand what we were trying to say. We pinched our fingers together and exaggerated pulling them apart. "Like tape," we told her. She finally got it, and laughed. "Ahhh, sticky." Evidently, "sticky" in Japanese means "nice, cool guy." Or, as some American girls might refer to some guys as "cute" or "hot."

Greeaaat. We just referred to that food as a cute guy. Hopefully Hiroki knew we were talking about the food? Haha. We had Okaa-san explain it to him later in depth. :)

Leaving

I didn't know it was going to be so hard. But surprisingly, (or not so surprisingly?) it was. All too soon, we were dragging our heavy suitcases down the stairs and into our homestay family's cars. Then within minutes we were standing at the bus station, saying goodbye. I didn't think I was going to cry, but what do you know, Okaa-san started to tear up, and of course I couldn't hold it in either. ;) We thanked them again for their kindness, and told them we hoped to see them again someday.

At the banquet, one of the students made a short speech about how that when he came to Japan, one would think that he would be homesick, and I'm sure he was a little. But he would also get homesick when he came back from Japan, because he really had become part of that Japanese family, and felt a closeness to them.

I hope to be able to see my Japanese family again someday, and who knows, it may be sooner than I think. :)

Two random things you may or may not know about Japan:
1. Everyone drives on the left side of the road. (Hard for Americans to get used to.) ;)This also means that moving walkways in airports are also like this.

2. All books/magazines open from the left side, instead of the right.

So does this make Japan just a backwards country? ;D

Just a note

I'm going to continue to post pictures and videos, and maybe talk about some other things, so check back often! :)

Day 17 (April 27th) CONCERT

The past few days have been a blur, and I still can't believe it's over already! I don't even know where to begin...how about the concert itself? :)

Hanna and I woke up early on Sunday morning to prepare ourselves for the day. After a quick breakfast and some last minute practicing, we were off to Harmony Hall. We were feeling good about things, and not too nervous. We arrived at Harmony Hall and started getting ready. We had done our hair/makeup before we left our house, but everyone brought their dresses and put them on there.

[helping Yuka with her dress]

By then I felt a tiny bit nervous, but mostly excited and anticipating what was about to happen. All of the students (250+) were told to go to the small hall and wait until it was our turn to play. It was nice because they had a screen and speakers set up, so we could watch and hear the concert even though we couldn't be in the main hall.

Each group of 10 people were called every few minutes, and before long, they were calling for the Paderewski Minuet! (That's us.) So we lined up with the other students, and went down the hallway towards the main hall. Once outside the main hall, we lined up and waited with the other students. Almost too soon, the group before us played the end of their piece. We all took a deep breath and walked out onto the stage. Luckily, I didn't trip and fall or anything. :)

And....it was amazing. The feeling of playing and hearing such an awesome sound coming from 10 grand pianos is unbelievable. I forgot everything I was thinking about before and just focused on making the best sound I possibly could. Everyone felt that their hard practicing had finally paid off!

After our piece was the Beethoven Turkish March (performed by boys only) and then Clair de Lune, (performed by girls only.) And then for the end, Rondo Brilliant by Weber. And brilliant it was! It sounded like a difficult piece to play as a solo, but even more difficult with 9 other people. After all pieces had been played, we were all brought out on stage for the "final bow."
Was it over? Not quite yet. ;) That was the first performance, and we had to eat lunch and do it all over again!

I have to say that I've never seen so many students looking so nice with the boys looking handsome in their suits and the girls in their gorgeous dresses. :) After all was said and done, Hanna and I changed out of our concert dresses and found Okaa-san and Yuka and got in the car and drove to the Buena Vista hotel where the banquet was being held. The banquet was a lot of fun! Lots of picture taking, and several heartfelt speeches from teachers, students, and even from Dr. Kataoka's daughter and son. I think I might've even seen a few of the teachers tearing up at more than one of those. ;)

After the banquet, everyone said goodnight to each other, and said what a wonderful concert it was. We drove back to our house and Hanna and I started the task of...packing!

I've heard from other students who have been to more than one 10 piano concert that once you go to one, you are addicted and can't wait to do it again! I know I will remember the experiences I had, the kindness and generosity I was shown, the friends I made, and this trip forever. Not everyone has gotten such an opportunity as this, and I am thankful that I was given this opportunity!

It's good to be home. ;)

Day 16 (April 26th) Dress Rehearsal Day

I don't have time to write much today, but the dress rehearsals ran all day from 1 to about 10 pm. Ours went pretty well, and Hanna and I are very excited for tomorrow. :) We've worked so hard, and now's the fun part.

Oh....I ate Eel and some raw Octopus today. :D Mr. Boiney told us that eel (onigi) was one of his favorites here, so I had to give it a try. It was gooood.

BIG DAY TOMORROW!

Day 15 (April 25th)

Today was a very....tasty day. :) Mr. Boiney called me on Thursday night and invited Hanna, me and Okaa-san to lunch with him and Ms. Shen, (Hanna's teacher.) Of course, we agreed. ;) We drove into Matsumoto and met them in front of Matsumoto station, then walked down the street a ways and into a curry shop.

It was delicious!

Afterwards, we went in search of this tea shop that we had heard about from a few teachers who had been there. We weren't quite sure how to get there, but as luck had it, we ran into one of the teachers at the cross walk! Imagine that. :)

Too many choices! But we heard that the cream puffs were excellent....

Me, Ms. Shen, Okaa-san, Hanna

Ms. Shen and Okaa-san drinking their tea.

It was good tea. :)

And the cream puffs were indeed excellent! Mr. Boiney had to have three. :) See the way he looks at them?

Afterwards, after thanking Mr. Boiney and Ms. Shen for lunch, (and tea!) we parted with them and visited a shop on the street, where I bought a few things. Okay, more than a few things, but you'll have to wait to find out what they were. ;)

Dress Rehearsal tomorrow!

Mata ne. ;)