Again, this happened yesterday, but who's keeping track, right?
We had a leisurely morning before heading off to perform two school shows about 45 minutes away. The first audience was a younger crowd, impeccably behaved almost to the point of eerie-ness. It wasn't a bad thing, just unusual for us! The second crowd, on the older side, was more like we're used to; noisy and a bit disruptive. Jonathan was apologetic but we assured him that it really was like the audiences we deal with back home. :)
From there, back to our host homes to freshen up before the tea party/BBQ/after-party. On the way, snacks were provided and it was sort of like a mobile picnic! I did a most of my packing when I got back, since who knew when we'd actually get home from the party. Granted, it was only a 5-minute walk away, but I had the time.
The party was a lot of fun. Performers, friends, and family were in attendance; about 60 people got to relax and enjoy the evening. There was plenty to drink, some great food (lots of meat for me), ping pong in the rain, and when the rain cleared up, a hilarious game of croquette. I say hilarious because we all sucked at it something terrible! Still, our lack of skill made it even more fun...
So here I am waiting for the coach to pick us up in 20 minutes; it's been a whirlwind of taiko and new friends and old since we landed 6 days ago. I hate to leave; we just scraped the surface of what's happening out here and there's so much more to share and learn from each other! I daresay this has been the best tour I've experienced in my 17 years of taiko.
From here, who knows what will happen. There's been talk of exchanging songs, having Kagemusha Taiko members visit SJT for our workshop weekends, getting them over for Taiko Conference, etc. It would be a shame for the North American taiko community to miss out on what's been going on here!
Thanks to everyone who made our trip so much fun, and a special thanks to Jonathan for making this all happen!
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