Chris Leone

• 04Feb

  Superbowl Monday(?)!!!

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  Another Sunday is in the books and now it’s Monday. But not just ANY Monday, it’s SUPERBOWL Monday! Ok, that might be a little confusing. Isn’t it supposed to be Superbowl Sunday? Well, yes. But I’m half a day ahead of America time. That means the Superbowl falls on today, Monday, instead of Sunday.

  Just because we’re in a country that doesn’t celebrate this American holiday, it doesn’t mean we won’t. We’re taking a train into the city to an American bar and grill to watch a taped broadcast of the game (they also showed it live, but that was at 8 am) while we chow down on American burgers and drinks. This may seem a little silly, but from both my experiences living in foreign countries, I can tell you there comes a point when you like to feel as though you’re back home - whether you do that with food or celebration or movies. It’s a nice feeling to have that familiarity every now and then -especially when you’re in a place so different than what you’re used to.

  This is the beginning of my 5th month in Japan. I love it here, I really do. But there are some thing at home that I’m missing more and more. I guess you can call it homesickness. I believe I can completely adapt to the Japanese lifestyle, and almost any lifestyle in the world for that matter. But I miss being close to family and friends, being able to do and watch things American things, being able to take my car out somewhere, etc. I’ve lived comfortably without these for 4 months and know I could do it for another 14, but having those is something that means a lot to me and it’s what I look forward most to when I go home.

  Because of this, I think going out tonight will be that much more fun. When I called and made reservations, the girl answering the phone was clearly American. Not only was that a surprise, but it was refreshing being able to communicate with a stranger so comfortably.

  It’s seem I only get nostalgic on days that are a big deal in America. Halloween, Thanksgiving, and now Superbowl Sunday..err..Monday.

  I guess four months here and only 3 or so days of noteworthy “homesickness” is a pretty good record.

  I can’t wait for my burger tonight

  C

  

  Tags: Aimachi

• 02Feb

  Friday/Saturday 2-1/2

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  Friday was a day off for us - but of course that didn’t mean anything was too different about our day.

  I needed to do some more work and even some reworking on the bass drums. I took all the drums up (pitch wise) and will do that again tonight before rehearsal. Hopefully they’ll be pretty close to where we want them by Sunday. I’m skeptical at this point that the new heads are going to sound good. We’ll keep them on for a while either way. After that I did some practicing and then studied some more Japanese. This one Japanese grammar book I’ve been working out of has done a great job of tying some loose ends in my understanding of the language. Almost overnight, I think my language skills have improved significantly.

  This morning was pretty unique. Frances found a new English school for young children and toddlers that was holding their first trial lesson and we were invited to come help out. So I spent my afternoon teaching young children colors, left, right, forward, back, and how to play “London Bridge is Falling Down.” It was pretty eye-opening how difficult it is to teach such young children with short attention spans and only a basic understanding of almost everything. Huge kudos to Kindergarten teachers. I definitely had fun, but it was harder that it sounds.

  Helping out was another Japanese girl who was born in LA and went to school in Boston and a guy named Jake. Jake’s married and was working here with the English teaching school NOVA until they laid off all their employees in September. He suggested some other fun places to go see in Nagoya City including a bar hosting a Super Bowl party this Monday. We’re all hoping to make it out for that. I could go for some football!

  It’s 5:40 in the evening right now so I’m going to go practice, tune, and eat before heading to rehearsal.

  Thanks for reading -

  Chris

  

  Tags: Aimachi

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