～さようならジャパンツアー～ (Japan Farewell Tour)

I can hardly believe that I leave Japan in two weeks...and I'm not even going home....

Whose idea was it to go to New York anyway?? My brain can barely keep up.

Anyway, whether I like it or not, my grand farewell tour of Japan begins this Saturday. I'll be going to Takamatsu to sing in a jazz festival, then to Oita to see my Dad's aunt, to Kyoto to see my host family, and finally to Tokyo to see Shisei, Yuriko, and my roommate's family. Then it's three days back in Ehime for some final packing, cleaning, and cavorting with the softball men, and finally, sayonara Japan. (And hello Mom, Dad and everyone in Seattle!)

Here are a couple pictures of my town that I've been meaning to put up. Enjoy!

This is the view from the shack where my jazz band practices. (Yes, it's really a shack. You'll see in the next picture.) The shack is literally in the middle of nowhere -- nothing but rice fields all around.


And yet for some reason, our shack, smack dab in the middle of the Japanese countryside, is covered with graffiti. (>_<);


The inside of the shack...


...and the kerosene stoves that keep my lips from freezing to my trombone in the freezing cold Toon-shi winter.


My friend Michiko and me posing outside of the shack before practice. I don't quite remember what we were doing when this picture was taken...flashing gang signs?? (No, I didn't graffiti the shack. ;)


Here is my softball team in action:



This is the pitcher that I caught for most of the season. You can't really tell in this picture, but his upper arms are almost as big as my thighs. He is very fast, very accurate, and throws crazy breaking pitches, so he was a lot of fun to catch.



Here's me and two of my teammates, Kosaka-san and Shimada-san.



And finally, the happiest picture in the world:

What could be happier than eating ice cream with friends at Tokyo Disneyland??


Oh, one last thing. Originally, at the bottom of this post, I had added a link to a video of the Shinto priest's band on Youtube. But a few days later, the video mysteriously disappeared so I guess I'll take the link down. (Maybe the old man who sneakily videotaped us and posted the videos realized how sketchy that was and took them down?? Alas, there goes my last shot at instant fame and Japanese pop-stardom. I guess I'll just have to try to relaunch my career and get discovered in New York :)