Chris Leone

• 30Oct

  Happy Halloween!

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  Happy Halloween to all! This is the 3rd Halloween I’ve been outside of the United States, although being an “adult”, it doesn’t matter as much as it used to. Still, the band will be wearing costumes tonight at rehearsal so I’m excited about what we’ll see. As conservative as the culture is, the Japanese can still be a zany group of people. My costume is ready to go for tonight and I think people are going to find it pretty hilarious.

  Yesterday was nothing very special. We drove to an outlet mall about an hour and a half away just to walk around for an hour. On the way back, we stopped at a Halloween store in the city. Here, I was able to get the final piece for my “ensemble” tonight.

  I woke up for church again this morning. There’s something about the morning service I really like. Maybe it’s just the smell of the morning air - which always smells very fresh. The walls of the church are large screens that run ceiling to floor so there is a cool breeze which blows through. It’s a lot more peaceful, probably because everyone is so tired, few make any noise. I counted 5 people falling asleep during the speech yesterday, ha ha.

  We went to the farm again this morning to pull up more crops as it is the end of the season. At least this means we’ll never have to pull up eggplant again as along as we’re here!

  I definitely need a shower and possibly a nap this afternoon. I’ll put up some Halloween pictures soon so check back to see how it turns out.

  Chris

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Tags: Aimachi

• 29Oct

  Monday with a touch of tuesday

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  Woke up late monday morning. I hurried upstairs to catch the end of the World Series. In case you have been living in a cage (or don’t follow baseball very closely) , you know the Red Sox swept the Rockies to win the World Series. I don’t think you can be too upset if you’re a Rockies fan. They were very very fortunate to be where they were. Let’s be serious….you’re the Rockies.

  Anyway we had to bring Mitch, our drill designer who spent the week with us cleaning the show, to the airport. We all went along to say farewell and then stopped at some stores to buy more things for Halloween. We got the go ahead from Sekine to dress up for Wednesday’s rehearsal. He passed the message along to the band so hopefully several people will be dressed up tomorrow night. He’s going to judge the best costume and the winner gets a prize. If it’s a prize from Sekine, it should be something really good!

  Later that night, we went bowling with some friends in the band. I had a really great time despite my bad game. The chemistry of the group - including the Japanese members - is really great, so I’m happy about that.

  I woke up this morning for church. This is only the second time I went in the morning. It’s usually too much for me to wake up in the morning (7:15) but sometimes I just have an urge to go. It must be a combination of being in a really good mood and my disdain for waking up really late in the morning - which I have been doing lately. Don’t get me wrong, I hate waking up. I think having to pull myself out of bed when I’m still tired is one of the worst feelings, but I love getting up early enough that I accomplish most of my work in the morning. For example, after church, I had breakfast (which I rarely get to do), sent some e-mails, did some favors for a few friends that I’ve been putting off, and helped clean the Domehouse.

  In ten minutes, we leave for the farm and then are going to an outlet mall - I think they have the impression Americans like to shop a lot. Which is true. I also think they have the impression we can’t go one day without traveling somewhere. Which is not so true. I for one have a lot of stuff I would like to take care of but I cannot when we are always going somewhere. If we were going sight seeing, I would be all for it. But I don’t really have a desire to go to a mall today. Oh well…

  ’til next time,
  -C

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

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• 28Oct

  Sunday

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  Things here are good. I’ll start with that. We had a “full” rehearsal day today, but the drumline and colorguard had a gig in the city (performing a show I am not a part of) so I essentially had the afternoon off. I still tagged along to be the cheering section. After we got back, ate, and had church, we went straight into full ensemble. Just to explain a little bit, we can rehearse in about three different ways. Just bass drums, just drumline, or everybody all together. Sundays are a good chance to get all three. During our 2 hour night rehearsals, we usually do about 45 minutes of just bass drums and about an hour of full ensemble. Since our drill designer from America has been here this week, we spend most of our time in full ensemble cleaning our drill sets. The funny thing about marching band is how one thing can have such a strong influence in another. For example, we essentially have two responsibilities as performers. Our drill (moving around) and our music. This week has been focused primarily on drill cleaning. Now that the band is marching better, we are sounding better. The best way to explain this is the better we march, the better we play and vis versa. If we are very confident in one area, it will carry over into the next. So long story short (now that I have bothered you with the long) we are marching cleaner and as a result, we are sounding better. Hooray!

  Tomorrow is a free day so I’m sure they have something planned for us. This could mean yard work or it could mean a trip into the city. With this bunch, you never know! Either way, I’m sure we’ll only get ten minutes notice before we have to be on the bus. That always seems to be the way of it.

  Check back tomorrow to see how it turns it!

  -C

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

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• 26Oct

  Friday and part of Saturday

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  Hey everybody. Sorry I’ve been slow on the posts the last couple of days. Yesterday, I actually wrote a lengthy post about what’s been on my mind lately, but in the end, I decided not to post it. It turned into an outlet of things that had been swimming in my thoughts. It’s the kind of thing better left to my eyes only.

  Things here have been relatively quiet. We’ve been venturing into the city the past couple of days for short visits. Yesterday we only went in for lunch (at that really nice chinese restaurant I like), stopped at a small holiday store to buy props for the show, and then over to the post office to exchange some money.

  Last night we went to play pool after rehearsal - I was pretty tired but I decided to go along anyway. All those nights of playing pool with Dad are paying off. I’m one of the best players in our group! After pool we went to what I can best describe as a Japanese Walmart. I only say this because they sell just about everything you could need. All the Americans bought costumes for Halloween next week. I ended up with a traditional asian dress. I’m going to find some white make-up so I can dress up like a Geisha. We plan on wearing our costumes in rehearsal, so this should be pretty funny come next.

  The plan for today is to go back into the city and watch the drumline and colorguard rehearse the show they’re performing tomorrow and then head into downtown to do something - I have no clue what. It’s raining pretty hard so I’m guessing it’s going to be inside. I personally wouldn’t mind doing some shopping!

  Until next time - which will hopefully be back on schedule.

  C

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

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