A new place for making noise.

Japan is an extraordinary place for a Nebraskan. You cannot go anywhere and forget you are in Japan. The streets are incredibly small; there is barely enough room for one car, and when the street is crowded with lots of students and commuters, you can only imagine the pandemonium!

Tonight, I decided to check out the music building. We visited it briefly on the day when the four Japanese girls were giving us a tour about three days ago. It is the second floor of a decently-sized cafeteria. On my way up there tonight, I forgot about the never-ending steep hill that leads up to it. Did I forget to mention that Japan is incredibly hilly? We are talking San Fransico here.

Anyways, when I got there tonight (and caked in sweat, of course), there were a LOT of Japanese students playing instruments, and most importantly, they were jazz instruments. In one corner of the floor was what appeared to be a sax sectional, in one corner a drum set player (on the only drum set as well), various trumpet and trombone players practicing solos, and a student playing jazz piano on the ONLY piano. I was wondering if they were doing sectionals during a prescheduled rehearsal, and because I had a flute and obviously not Japanese, I knew I stood out like a sore thumb.

As I sat down and opened my flute, a girl playing trumpet started coming towards my direction. I was thinking to myself, "Dammit, she's gonna say I have to go." Turns out, it was was on the four girls giving the tour (Mizuho, I believe) and I remembered her saying that she played trumpet. So, I butchered some Japanese with her, asking her if it is OK if I play my flute, and she said it was no problem at all. I really wanted to play piano and write some music, but that dude was still playing some jazz, so I thought I would kill time on the flute. So, while everyone played jazz, I was playing French Baroque flute music :)

After returning to the dorm, I tried studying, but instead decided to jam on my flue with Alana on guitar. It was fun, and she is pretty good at guitar. Then, I checked out Paul's newly acquired Shamisen, and even dabbled on that for a bit. All-in-all, a good day indeed! We didn't have business or culture class today, but instead had a brief home-stay orientation. The orientation lady was speaking only in Japanese (using easy words, but Japaneses none-the-less), and we all had a sheet of paper in English with what she was saying. Awesome realization occurred: I didn't even realize she was speaking in Japanese, but was casually following along with what she said. Then, half-way through the orientation, I realized that I was understanding everything she was saying, and I was all like DUDE COOL STORY BRO!

Alas, I cannot let this all go to my head; I have an incredible amount to study for, and have not been doing enough. Alas, it is only the first week, so I will give myself a little credit for the progress I have made thus far. But, pretty soon, I will need to hit the books hard. Until then, I'm gonna eat a little left over dinner and hit the sack because (surprise), I'm pretty exhausted. 

Also, shout-outs to Rachel, Miran, and Chris, because I talked to those guys today. Thanks for making me feel   THIS MUCH closer to home. Please, feel free to comment, chat, or email me whenever you want, and I will do my best to return the gesture!

PEACE