Tonight was my first practice with Shinkyōtsuzumi DON [心響鼓 DON], the local taiko group led by Nozaki Koushi [幸士].
Waiting for tonight, I was very excited, and very nervous. I had almost no idea what to expect, except that Nozaki would be very friendly and would speak very fast.
I was picked up at school by Nobuya, a company man from Ōsaka who is working with Miyazaki University's medical faculty until April. Besides working very close by, Nobuya speaks English about as well as I do Japanese. Though we conversed almost entirely in Japanese, I was much less worried about not understanding enough to handle practice.
Before anyone else arrived, I had a half-hour alone with Nobuya and Nozaki, time for them to take my measure. Nozaki does in fact speak very quickly (though thankfully with much clearer enunciation than many men). We somehow managed to communicate with only limited help from Nobuya, despite my near inability to follow a complete sentence from him.
According to Nobuya, Shinkyōtsuzumi DON has a core of four performing members (counting Nozaki). The practice tonight was for the six (now seven!) students studying taiko under Nozaki.
The practice was very challenging. After a short time spent on drills, we moved straight in to practicing a new composition by the group. The upright "betta" playing style felt almost as unfamiliar as the original song.
The real shock, though, was being sent three times up to the huge ō-daiko [大太鼓] to solo—three times! The shock wasn't being called on to participate; everyone was. It was that instead of choking completely I managed to improvise something resembling an original solo every time. For me, this is nearly unheard of in 8 years of playing. Just ask anyone in Northwest Taiko.
Much like the taiko community in Seattle, people were friendly and welcoming so that I felt at ease in spite of a predictable assortment of mistakes and faux pas.
I don't yet know the relationship between the performance and student groups of Shinkyōtsuzumi DON, but it seems that everyone is involved in a gig in March, including now me. It's hard to believe I'll actually get a chance to take the stage while I'm here.
On the way home, Nobuya and I talked about the difficulties of being far from home. We agreed, "taiko wo yareba, nandemo daijōbu." [太鼓をやれば、何でも大丈夫。] "If I'm playing taiko, I can handle anything."
Tuesday, January 30
Monday, January 29
Taiko Tomorrow Night!
Just when I was starting to think I wouldn't ever hear back from Nozaki-san, I got a call from him this afternoon. Taiko practice is tomorrow (Tuesday) night at 7:00. He'll pick me up at the main entrance to the campus at 6:50.
Excited, nervous, cramming taiko-related vocabulary, yeah all that.
Excited, nervous, cramming taiko-related vocabulary, yeah all that.
Monday, January 15
A Really Good Day
Just got home from going out to eat with Tomoko [知子] and Yuusuke [佑介]. Delicious food, small cute place, not too pricey, all good things. What really makes me happy, though, is that we went out for no particular reason except to get together. Conversation was often lurching but never boring. Indeed, we kept talking until the staff politely pointed out that it was closing time.
I know, the first rule of blogging is that nobody cares what you had for lunch. The point is that I've made two real live friends, and with just some company for dinner I've all but forgotten that the day had actually started out awful.
I know, the first rule of blogging is that nobody cares what you had for lunch. The point is that I've made two real live friends, and with just some company for dinner I've all but forgotten that the day had actually started out awful.
The Taiko 太鼓 entry below has been edited to fix several small mistakes and one big one. Details at the bottom of that entry.
The Kibana-dai Detour post below is my first attempt at using an online photo album, namely Google's Picasaweb, instead of posting all 22 photos directly to the blog. I'm interested to know how everyone likes (or doesn't) this approach. Comments are welcome in, well, the comments!
Kibana-dai Detour
After Chiaki's plane took off from Miyazaki last weekend (the 7th), I took the train from the airport back to Kibana-eki and started to walk the mile or so back to the dorm along the arterial street that runs almost straight between the two. The street is a pleasant walk on its own, but that day I noticed a curious-looking sidewalk that had caught my eye the night before, too, running up a steep hillside and into the trees.I found a neighborhood that I've walked around every side of but had never seen before. A photo tour of the walk is posted on Picasaweb.
Sunday, January 14
Taiko 太鼓
There is a man in Miyazaki [宮崎] named Nozaki [野崎] who leads a taiko group called Shinkyōtsuzumi DON [心響鼓 DON]. I know this from Hirase-sensei, who brought it up back in November after listening to me whine about how terribly I miss playing taiko now that I'm here. More to the point, Hirase-sensei gave me Nozaki's cell phone number and told me about a then-upcoming performance so that I could ask Nozaki about practicing with his group.
I saw Nozaki perform (together with a shamisen player/storyteller) that week and was quickly convinced that he is as skilled a player as anyone I've ever played with, more skilled than I am by far. The event was a small affair at the downtown train station, and I lacked the courage then to walk backstage and approach Nozaki right there.
I later exchanged e-mails with Joshua, a teaching assistant in my Japanese language classes at Evergreen who had himself studied in Miyazaki and played taiko with Nozaki and his group some years before. I learned that Nozaki is a friendly, welcoming man who nevertheless speaks very quickly with a strong local accent.
Just like Chiaki who (excepting friends) avoids phone calls in English at every opportunity, I have a much harder time communicating in Japanese by phone than face-to-face. Despite Joshua's generous advice and help (owing to some miscommunication on my part, he even offered to contact Nozaki himself to introduce me), I found myself terrified of making the call. I offered embarrassed apologies when Hirase-sensei asked about it and talked about meaning to call sometime when I could have a Japanese friend handy, but I never did make the call.
Until this past Friday. I was visiting Hirase-sensei's office to ask for his support recovering from my earlier failures, and I gathered up the guts to call Nozaki while I was there.
It was fortunate that Hirase-sensei was there (and that my cell phone was turned up loud). He understood that the word I kept thinking was mukai [向かい], "facing, opposite," was actually mukae [迎え], as in mukae ni iku [迎えに行く], "go to pick [someone] up." Without Hirase's help, I would not have understood that Nozaki was offering to call me back on a practice night and come pick me up.
I'm seriously excited. Now if only I had managed to ask what days they practice...
I saw Nozaki perform (together with a shamisen player/storyteller) that week and was quickly convinced that he is as skilled a player as anyone I've ever played with, more skilled than I am by far. The event was a small affair at the downtown train station, and I lacked the courage then to walk backstage and approach Nozaki right there.
I later exchanged e-mails with Joshua, a teaching assistant in my Japanese language classes at Evergreen who had himself studied in Miyazaki and played taiko with Nozaki and his group some years before. I learned that Nozaki is a friendly, welcoming man who nevertheless speaks very quickly with a strong local accent.
Just like Chiaki who (excepting friends) avoids phone calls in English at every opportunity, I have a much harder time communicating in Japanese by phone than face-to-face. Despite Joshua's generous advice and help (owing to some miscommunication on my part, he even offered to contact Nozaki himself to introduce me), I found myself terrified of making the call. I offered embarrassed apologies when Hirase-sensei asked about it and talked about meaning to call sometime when I could have a Japanese friend handy, but I never did make the call.
Until this past Friday. I was visiting Hirase-sensei's office to ask for his support recovering from my earlier failures, and I gathered up the guts to call Nozaki while I was there.
It was fortunate that Hirase-sensei was there (and that my cell phone was turned up loud). He understood that the word I kept thinking was mukai [向かい], "facing, opposite," was actually mukae [迎え], as in mukae ni iku [迎えに行く], "go to pick [someone] up." Without Hirase's help, I would not have understood that Nozaki was offering to call me back on a practice night and come pick me up.
I'm seriously excited. Now if only I had managed to ask what days they practice...
Update 01.15:
Editing the first draft, I accidentally omitted that getting Nozaki's phone number and seeing him play all happened back in November. (The time reference got lost in revision.) That crucial fact has been restored.
(Also corrected multiple word ommissions and fixed a couple of bad sentences that were written very late at night.)
Wednesday, January 10
Let's try this again
It's fair to say that my time in Miyazaki up until now has been a failure.
My Japanese has improved considerably, to be sure, but not nearly as much it could have after three months of immersion. Aside from my twice-a-week part time job at the Global Support Office, I've mostly stayed in my room filling time with world news. When I have ventured out, it's been alone by bicycle with iPod phones planted firmly in my ears. Disgust with the filthiness of the dorm building outside my room has inhibited me from making any contact with my neighbors, and despite the insights and optimism of my last post in November, I have allowed myself to remain socially isolated. Despite all this time to myself, I have written not a single blog entry in nearly two months, have made no progress on my chosen translation projects, and have not even kept up well with e-mail.
What I called "culture shock" back in November now looks more like a full-blown depression.
That's an oversimplification. A large part of the problem has been an unwillingness to write anything new until I catch up on all the old entries that--in my mind--need to be written first. (I'd forgotten the lesson learned from a favorite manager about knowing when to cut bait and move on.) I'm sure I don't need to explain how that kind of thinking spirals quickly in to complete paralysis.
Fear of disappointing friends and family back home then leads me to fall out of touch as I try to wait until I've fixed all my problems on my own so that I can call with good news and not burden others with my troubles.
Luckily (and it really was luck), I made two new friends here in spite of myself. When a field trip that I had thought would be just an evening affair turned out instead to be a dusk-to-noon dance festival at a mountain temple 2.5 hours away by car, Tomoko and Yuusuke helped me not just survive but really enjoy the experience. They helped me pick up Chiaki at the airport when she arrived in December, and Tomoko spent a Saturday playing chauffuer for us. She took the opportunity to emphasize that I should ask for help more.
Getting to spend two weeks with Chiaki and visit with her family in Tōkyō may well turn out to be my salvation. She came bearing gifts and greetings from several friends, reminding me that I'm not forgotten even when I may deserve to be. She spent precious time and money of her own to be here and gave me the best gift anyone could. She made me believe that I'm not alone.
Chiaki also helped me to remember why I'm here and what I have to gain or lose. Nevermind disappointing people. I want a better life for myself, and that's not going to happen unless I can do the work to make my sacrifices this year all worthwhile.
So seriously, let's try this again. There are too many stories here to tell them all, so I'll just try to tell the ones I can.
My Japanese has improved considerably, to be sure, but not nearly as much it could have after three months of immersion. Aside from my twice-a-week part time job at the Global Support Office, I've mostly stayed in my room filling time with world news. When I have ventured out, it's been alone by bicycle with iPod phones planted firmly in my ears. Disgust with the filthiness of the dorm building outside my room has inhibited me from making any contact with my neighbors, and despite the insights and optimism of my last post in November, I have allowed myself to remain socially isolated. Despite all this time to myself, I have written not a single blog entry in nearly two months, have made no progress on my chosen translation projects, and have not even kept up well with e-mail.
What I called "culture shock" back in November now looks more like a full-blown depression.
That's an oversimplification. A large part of the problem has been an unwillingness to write anything new until I catch up on all the old entries that--in my mind--need to be written first. (I'd forgotten the lesson learned from a favorite manager about knowing when to cut bait and move on.) I'm sure I don't need to explain how that kind of thinking spirals quickly in to complete paralysis.
Fear of disappointing friends and family back home then leads me to fall out of touch as I try to wait until I've fixed all my problems on my own so that I can call with good news and not burden others with my troubles.
Luckily (and it really was luck), I made two new friends here in spite of myself. When a field trip that I had thought would be just an evening affair turned out instead to be a dusk-to-noon dance festival at a mountain temple 2.5 hours away by car, Tomoko and Yuusuke helped me not just survive but really enjoy the experience. They helped me pick up Chiaki at the airport when she arrived in December, and Tomoko spent a Saturday playing chauffuer for us. She took the opportunity to emphasize that I should ask for help more.
Getting to spend two weeks with Chiaki and visit with her family in Tōkyō may well turn out to be my salvation. She came bearing gifts and greetings from several friends, reminding me that I'm not forgotten even when I may deserve to be. She spent precious time and money of her own to be here and gave me the best gift anyone could. She made me believe that I'm not alone.
Chiaki also helped me to remember why I'm here and what I have to gain or lose. Nevermind disappointing people. I want a better life for myself, and that's not going to happen unless I can do the work to make my sacrifices this year all worthwhile.
So seriously, let's try this again. There are too many stories here to tell them all, so I'll just try to tell the ones I can.
Sunday, November 12
It's alive!
Old entries newly posted at 10.07 (3 entries), 10.10 (1 entry), and 10.13 (1 entry) below.
New entry written today below, with an explanation of where the hell I've been.
I'm sick of my blog's name but short on better ideas. Suggestions welcome in comments.
(This entry dated 2017 to keep it on top for awhile. Why 2017? Because I'm anal and that's the next year that 11.12 is on a Sunday again.)
New entry written today below, with an explanation of where the hell I've been.
I'm sick of my blog's name but short on better ideas. Suggestions welcome in comments.
(This entry dated 2017 to keep it on top for awhile. Why 2017? Because I'm anal and that's the next year that 11.12 is on a Sunday again.)
Culture Shock
Where the hell have I been?
I've been in a serious funk, and it took me quite a while to realize just how serious it was.
The blog isn't all that I've neglected. In the last four weeks, I've maintained only minimal contact with Professor Hirase and with other students outside of planned events, letting myself become somewhat socially isolated. I've started attending classes, but with such a slow trial-and-error period of choosing courses that I've only just settled in to the courses that I'll stick with for the semester. My attendence has been erratic, and my studying has been minimal.
It wasn't until after two weeks of this I realized I was experiencing some serious culture shock. Not so much from being in Japan, but from being isolated away from town with no transportation but to get a ride from someone or else walk a mile to the train station to catch a once-an-hour or so train, even more so from being appallingly dependent on others for help with even basic activities and transactions.
The social isolation was compounded by the delays and difficulty in getting internet access and a cell phone. These problems were finally solved a couple weeks ago, but by then I was already feeling disconnected from other students here and from friends at home.
Lest this start to sound like a whine-fest, let me own it right now: I allowed this to happen, and did much of it to myself.
Though it's cliché, putting my finger on the problem and realizing I was in culture shock was the first big step towards crawling back out it. My experience in Tōkyō last spring had gone so smoothly that I hadn't really considered the possibility.
That wasn't enough, though. A combination of factors helped me to get in to trouble, and it took another combination to help me get out.
Amanda Jakubcok, the outgoing student from New Zealand, was remarkably friendly and helpful to both me and Shaun up until her departure a week ago. The interest she expressed in reading more of my blog didn't produce immediate results (obviously), but it did help me start wanting to fix myself.
Starting a part-time job in the Global Support Office brought some badly needed structure and routine, even if only 2 days a week.
Before she left, I inherited from Amanda her bicycle, among many other useful items. It arrived with a flat tire, and at first the frustrating obstacles to finding a shop to fix the flat became part of my troubles. Once the tire was fixed, though, it solved two big problems. It was suddenly possible to get to town independently and on my own schedule, without needing to worry whether my purpose was too trivial or troublesome to ask for a ride. On top of that, the 10 kilometer or so ride was real exercise, helping me to shake off some of the high-fat diet that has been difficult to avoid.
Yes, high-fat diet. I'll get to that again in another entry.
Seeing my own country finally wake up from a long dark night of disastrously incompetent government didn't hurt.
The final and best help was Chiaki realizing that I was in trouble, and coming through with the kind of loving encouragement that I needed to finally get around the bend and start working again.
I am sorry to have let everyone down a little. I think I have gained valuable, if costly, insight from this episode, and I expect I will write about it more.
For now, I have finally posted some of the old entries that were written but waiting for better internet access to be formatted with pictures. A few more still remain.
There is also a wealth of material for entries since mid-October that I have not yet written, including some news worthy milestones that I'm embarrassed to have not posted right away. I'll get to all that as time allows in the coming days.
Right now, I'm going to go to South Miyazaki Station to ride back home since I parked the bike there after dark a few days ago.
I've been in a serious funk, and it took me quite a while to realize just how serious it was.
The blog isn't all that I've neglected. In the last four weeks, I've maintained only minimal contact with Professor Hirase and with other students outside of planned events, letting myself become somewhat socially isolated. I've started attending classes, but with such a slow trial-and-error period of choosing courses that I've only just settled in to the courses that I'll stick with for the semester. My attendence has been erratic, and my studying has been minimal.
It wasn't until after two weeks of this I realized I was experiencing some serious culture shock. Not so much from being in Japan, but from being isolated away from town with no transportation but to get a ride from someone or else walk a mile to the train station to catch a once-an-hour or so train, even more so from being appallingly dependent on others for help with even basic activities and transactions.
The social isolation was compounded by the delays and difficulty in getting internet access and a cell phone. These problems were finally solved a couple weeks ago, but by then I was already feeling disconnected from other students here and from friends at home.
Lest this start to sound like a whine-fest, let me own it right now: I allowed this to happen, and did much of it to myself.
Though it's cliché, putting my finger on the problem and realizing I was in culture shock was the first big step towards crawling back out it. My experience in Tōkyō last spring had gone so smoothly that I hadn't really considered the possibility.
That wasn't enough, though. A combination of factors helped me to get in to trouble, and it took another combination to help me get out.
Amanda Jakubcok, the outgoing student from New Zealand, was remarkably friendly and helpful to both me and Shaun up until her departure a week ago. The interest she expressed in reading more of my blog didn't produce immediate results (obviously), but it did help me start wanting to fix myself.
Starting a part-time job in the Global Support Office brought some badly needed structure and routine, even if only 2 days a week.
Before she left, I inherited from Amanda her bicycle, among many other useful items. It arrived with a flat tire, and at first the frustrating obstacles to finding a shop to fix the flat became part of my troubles. Once the tire was fixed, though, it solved two big problems. It was suddenly possible to get to town independently and on my own schedule, without needing to worry whether my purpose was too trivial or troublesome to ask for a ride. On top of that, the 10 kilometer or so ride was real exercise, helping me to shake off some of the high-fat diet that has been difficult to avoid.
Yes, high-fat diet. I'll get to that again in another entry.
Seeing my own country finally wake up from a long dark night of disastrously incompetent government didn't hurt.
The final and best help was Chiaki realizing that I was in trouble, and coming through with the kind of loving encouragement that I needed to finally get around the bend and start working again.
I am sorry to have let everyone down a little. I think I have gained valuable, if costly, insight from this episode, and I expect I will write about it more.
For now, I have finally posted some of the old entries that were written but waiting for better internet access to be formatted with pictures. A few more still remain.
There is also a wealth of material for entries since mid-October that I have not yet written, including some news worthy milestones that I'm embarrassed to have not posted right away. I'll get to all that as time allows in the coming days.
Right now, I'm going to go to South Miyazaki Station to ride back home since I parked the bike there after dark a few days ago.
Monday, October 16
Watch for new posts falling in
Since it took a week to get internet access and I now have limited hours to use it, I'm busy posting blog entries that were written earlier.
Although I'm setting the post date and time to reflect when the entries were written, the actual posting is starting from the two ends, the oldest unposted writing and the newest. (It's just too discouraging to play constant linear catch up with myself.) This means that some entries will fill in to the middle for the next few days.
Watch for new material to pop between Friday 10.6 and Friday 10.13 or so.
This entry itself I am future dating to 2017 to keep it on top for a while. Why 2017, because I'm anal and that's the next time that Oct 16 falls on a Monday.
Although I'm setting the post date and time to reflect when the entries were written, the actual posting is starting from the two ends, the oldest unposted writing and the newest. (It's just too discouraging to play constant linear catch up with myself.) This means that some entries will fill in to the middle for the next few days.
Watch for new material to pop between Friday 10.6 and Friday 10.13 or so.
This entry itself I am future dating to 2017 to keep it on top for a while. Why 2017, because I'm anal and that's the next time that Oct 16 falls on a Monday.
Saturday, October 14
Friday, October 13
Miyazaki Dreaming
I just woke up from a dream that I was newly hired at Studio Ghibli and moments after arriving on my first day met the legendary
He made eye contact, and an introduction seemed unavoidable despite the setting. I used the normal expression for meeting a person, "hajimemashite. yoroshiku o-negai shimasu."
He laughed and said (in English) that newbies are always far too nervous around him. I started to reply in Japanese that I wasn't nervous but wanted to be polite because I respect him, but I got stuck not knowing the Japanese word for "respect." Miyazaki offered "うまの?" [umano], which afaik, can only be interpreted as an adjective phrase "horsey," (of or about horses/a horse).
When I woke up, it struck me that I no longer automatically think of Studio Ghibli when I hear the name Miyazaki [宮崎] in other contexts. Already, the name represents for me this place, the university, the city, and surrounding prefecture. It was not until I sat down to write this entry that I finally made the obvious connection of Zippo lighters with Miyazaki characters being sold in a store in Miyazaki. I think this a good thing.
Incidentally, I checked the dictionary after I woke up but found no other meaning for "umano" [うまの]. The verb "to respect" is "sonkei suru" [尊敬する], literally "to do respect" from the noun "sonkei" [尊敬].
Also:
hajimemashite. yoroshiku o negai shimasu.
初めまして。よろしくお願いします。
Literally, "It's the first time. Please [treat me] nicely."
Used where an American might say "It's a pleasure to meet you."
He made eye contact, and an introduction seemed unavoidable despite the setting. I used the normal expression for meeting a person, "hajimemashite. yoroshiku o-negai shimasu."
He laughed and said (in English) that newbies are always far too nervous around him. I started to reply in Japanese that I wasn't nervous but wanted to be polite because I respect him, but I got stuck not knowing the Japanese word for "respect." Miyazaki offered "うまの?" [umano], which afaik, can only be interpreted as an adjective phrase "horsey," (of or about horses/a horse).
When I woke up, it struck me that I no longer automatically think of Studio Ghibli when I hear the name Miyazaki [宮崎] in other contexts. Already, the name represents for me this place, the university, the city, and surrounding prefecture. It was not until I sat down to write this entry that I finally made the obvious connection of Zippo lighters with Miyazaki characters being sold in a store in Miyazaki. I think this a good thing.
Incidentally, I checked the dictionary after I woke up but found no other meaning for "umano" [うまの]. The verb "to respect" is "sonkei suru" [尊敬する], literally "to do respect" from the noun "sonkei" [尊敬].
Also:
hajimemashite. yoroshiku o negai shimasu.
初めまして。よろしくお願いします。
Literally, "It's the first time. Please [treat me] nicely."
Used where an American might say "It's a pleasure to meet you."
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