四季の歌

Alright, let's make a plan of attack

I. School

II. Hanami （花見）

III. Hajime no Ippo (始めの一歩）

IV. Taiko (太鼓）/ Fue (笛）

I. So school started this last week. It's been awesome so far. I got into level 5. That's one up from last semester and 3 from the top. I feel pretty good about it. The 10 classes don't repeat teachers too much. Last semester I had 5 teachers for 10 classes, this time I think it's 7. The ones I've had so far are pretty fun.

My class is mostly chinese and taiwanese people. I'm kind of happy about it. When I have friends in a class I tend to pay less attention. That's not to say I can't make friends with the Chinese and Taiwanese kids... It's just that because there's that language barrier, I'll probably talk to them less.

I'm already off to a good start. I'm not putting off homework and studying every night. I'm gonna give this semester my all!

II. So after school on Friday I came home and ate and chilled for a while. Then around 5:30 Jen and I set out for a Hanami (花見）party. Hanami parties are a Japanese tradition around Sakura season. People gather up friends, coworkers, or clubmates and throw down a tarp under a nice cherry tree and party. It's awesome. Our friend Hori started an international club on campus called Amie. He organized this party. We met him and Lily and some other people at Demachiyanagi-eki (出町柳駅）then made our way over to the place Hori had picked out.

I kind of had to force myself to go. Ever since I got back home from spring break, I've been kind of unsocial. It's hard getting back into the groove of things. But I can say, I'm glad I made myself go.

It was a nice mixture of Japanese people and foreigners. We ate and had a bit to drink. It was a really nice night. I met a couple of underclassmen (こうはい)-- Mizuki and Yumi. They were hilarious. They taught me a phrase similar to "brown nose" or "suck up" in Japanese. For those of you that are curious, it's ゴマする. They both expressed an interest in learning more English and hanging out, so I got their numbers and invited them both to come to Vampire Diaries night. Should be fun. Yumi ended up pretty darn drunk by about 11pm, so she and Mizuki went home.

After they left, Jen and I started talking to an old friend of Hori's-- Taka. He's originally from Okinawa and came to Kyoto to study to become a Doctor. I taught him and Yumi and Mizuki's Senpai, Natchan (なっちゃん）how to play King's Cup. Let me tell you, that is a tough game to explain in Japanese. Somehow they picked it up. They really want to play it with me sometime.

[Left is Taka, middle is Natchan, right is Jen]

Jen and I ended up getting home as the sun was rising. It was a crazy long night, but loads of fun.

III. I walked in Saturday morning at 5AM. At 9:30 I woke up in anticipation of receiving my fue. It didn't end up coming till 11:30, so in the mean time I watched more Ippo! Well, once I started, I just couldn't stop. I finished up the last few episodes of New Challenger. SO GOOD! Oh man. I may have a new favorite anime. Maybe. I dunno. Gundam Wing is still pretty up there. I think I need to revisit that show first though.

Anyway, it's on to the manga now!

IV. Sunday I waited with bated breath for the taiko meeting. Jen came with me. I heard about this club from a number of people. The first person to tell me about it was Ruben, a new UC arrival for the Spring. The second was Hori. Then Lily. It was nice to know that so many people were keeping an eye out for me!

After contacting the dude, he told me the next practice was Sunday at 3pm. Jen and I took off around 1 to make sure we got there on time. We explored for a bit after getting to the meeting point, then when 3 rolled around we met up with the taiko folks.

On Sundays they play in a cultural center over an old bowling alley. I don't think the bowling alley is in business anymore, but it's a super cool place. I don't think the members there today were the whole group, but they're a decent size. They seemed so surprised that so many newbies came!

The group is through Ritsumeikan University, so there were a number of Ritsumeikan students there, but there were also students from KyoDai and Kyoto Arts College. Most people had no prior experience with taiko, but there were a few that had played in High School.

For the first meeting they taught us Miyake. I'm starting to think that's a community song because Uzu Daiko played the same song, just a longer version of it.

I got the hang of it pretty fast and was able to help Jen. She had an awesome time. She understands why I love taiko so much now.

Anyway, we played Miyake for an hour or so, then they performed a couple of songs for us. One of them was called Oni. It's crazy fast. I was totally impressed. Only 2 chu, 1 odaiko, and 3 shime. After that they played another song that was more a matsuri song. They repeated a rather simple drumline, added in chappa and fue and then 4 members danced. It was super cool.

After that, they offered to show interested people how to play fue. Of course I joined in. In the 20 minutes we played, I learned a TON about playing fue. It's freakin awesome. I know have the skills to pick up my fue and make sound come out without having to readjust my lip a million times! It's freaking awesome.

Jen and I are definitely going to continue with the club.

I'll keep you all posted on other stuff that I learn!

For all the Senryu people are working hard for Spring Concert, keep up the good work! I, too, will be ganbatte-ing (頑張っている)！

Love and miss you all.

Love until later,

Caitlin D.