Big Island Tour Update Coming Soon

So it's been awhile since my last post, and that is largely because I wasn't around for 5 days. In fact, I was quite far from any sort of internet access because I was on the Big Island of Hawaii (which is named, Hawaii). I was there not for vacation, but for a 5-day performance tour, which had a whooping 9 performances and 4 workshops on two sides of the island packed into a very short time. It was tiring, but fun at the same. I started writing my epic post describing my tour, and I reeeeally wanted to have that posted before any other post to keep things in Chronological order, but I realized that the amount of time it's going to take me to finish that post would just mean that you guys won't have anything to read for quite awhile. =P So, I caved in, and decided that I'll have smaller postings while I work on the big one, and just put that up when it's done.

So, things are getting busier over here. And it's actually not for taiko (unfortunately), it's with work. Yes, I finally have a real job of sorts, and I just started three days ago. I'm working at a law office, and it's in fact the same place that Yoko works at. I work part time (just three days a week on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday), and I honestly I couldn't take much more than that. My work consists of such enjoyable pleasures as filing, answering phone calls, making copies, shredding documents, and mailing documents. Joy. The saddest part is that I began contemplating to myself on the FIRST day how much of this sort of work I could stand before just totally losing it. Honestly, after having experienced this great taiko lifestyle for the past month (where I had no real job, and thus also no real income =P ) it's harder to entire the "normal" world. Especially doing this kind of work.

Despite the work being...well...(to put it bluntly) not fun, the three lawyers in the office (my bosses) are all really cool. They're all pretty young (probably in their mid thirties), and they're also really chill. They're relaxed about work, and even about showing up to work. They're very accommodating to my crazy taiko schedule and all of the performances I have, which is a real plus. They also buy me lunch sometimes too! =P

As far as taiko things are concerned. Taiko has actually been quite relaxed this week. We have two performances on the weekend (one being for the Pro Bowl), and Sensei has a concert on Friday with guests from Japan. I'll be helping out with the concert, which promises to be pretty awesome. It's being held at a small venue called the rRed Elephant (yes it has two r's in it), which seats about 150 people or so.

Flyer I designed for the concert

I actually had a fue (bamboo flute) workshop with one of the artists who will be playing in the concert on Friday, Kaoru Watanabe. Now, if you know me, I can't play a flute of any kind to save my life. However, I really want to learn, and since he was offering lessons for any skill level, I thought I'd give it a shot. So, I had my first lesson, and I was actually able to make sounds out of the instrument (definitely better than any of my previous attempts).

I had to sit seiza (the uncomfortable way of sitting where your knees are touching the floor and the lower part of your legs are under your thighs) during the whole lesson, and my legs not only fell asleep, but actually lost motor control and all nerve sensations because they had absolutely no blood in them. =P In fact, I could not physically move my left foot for several minutes after the lesson.

I learned that there are a lot of nuances to playing the fue in my lesson (including how to sit seiza for a long time), and although I'm terrible at it, and I've never done it before, I'm excited to learn and try it. In fact, I'll be purchasing a fue from Kaoru (a very nice one) so that I can practice on my own and really get proficient with the instrument. It's a way of putting myself in a position where I'm certainly not the strongest, and I'm willingly embracing that challenge- a challenge that will make me a better taiko player and a better musician.