Last saturday I was invited to the Onahama & Izumi junior and senior high schools' concert, and had little idea that I was in for a big trip back memory lane.
First of all, the standard of music was amazing. Not perfect, but nearly. But it did break a stereotype I had that japanese kids do nothing but study. Its actually far from that. They are amazingly all rounded - most kids stay after school almost every day for sports or music or some kinda extra-curricular activities. Heck they even go to school on most weekends and holidays for that stuff.
Back to the concert - there were about 8 school brass bands that performed, playing all sorts of songs from pirates of the carribbean to 80s japanese pop.
But the best part was, I thought, watching the percussion department do their stuff, while all my secondary school orchestra/wind band/swing band memories flooded back, and remembering how much fun, how much drama it was; all the good and bad times; all the competitions and performances; all the banter...
ahh to be a high schooler again. I won't say I'm living in regret, but I do with I had made use of all those opportunities laid out in front of me, and done more, tried more, seen more. But seeing these kids doing all this was quite heart-warming. It was probably a good thing James was sitting next to me....the japanese probably wouldn't appreciate a crazy freckly gaijin joining the band half way through their ensemble...
No comments:
Post a Comment