Some more pictures to go along with "Gone Fishing"

Here's that small car that Mary so kindly noted I dropped the ball on. I saw this one sitting at a stoplight in Nagoya before I chased it down rounding a corner for a picture.



Chris catches an eel!



Palm and I instantly drop our IQ by 20 points at the sight of an oversized crab.



It's been AT LEAST a week and a half since Chris has been able to get into a car without falling asleep...regardless of the length of the trip.



Masa was literally sweating when he started eating his soup at the Chinese restaurant. I tried it and felt like my tounge was on fire. When the Thais tried it..."tastes good."

Gone Fishing

Hello again! On Sunday five Thais, two Americans, and a Japanese guide (Masa, the lead trumpet player from Aimachi) ventured on a magical journey to a beach town on the Pacific coast of Japan.

The journey was an unplanned and unexpected one. Well…someone expected and planned it…it just wasn’t any of the seven foreigners. In fact, said foreigners stayed up very late the night before because they were under the impression they’d be sleeping well after noon (the all-day Sunday rehearsal was cancelled).

I’m having some fantastic dream about kingdoms and castles and Gary Coleman (the previous statement was slightly fabricated) when all of a sudden Michi walks into the room at 8:25 AM because every 22nd of the month, the members of Ikeo had to the cemetery in the morning to visit Coz’ father’s (the man who founded Ikeo) grave.

Michi: “Hey…guys…we thought you’d like to go to the cemetery with us”

Chris and Matt: *Look at clock…telepathically communicate displeasure to eachother*

Michi: It’s ok…you don’t have to go…we just thought we’d ask.

Matt: Ummmmmuhhhh…ahhhhh…uhhhhh *stalling as Chris and I continued to telepathically debate what we were going to do*

Michi: OK OK, you guys won’t go.

Chris: AHHHH WE’LL GO!

Matt: How much time do we have to get ready?

Michi: Uhhh…not much.

Chris: 20 minutes not much…or 5 minutes not much.

Michi: Ok…five minutes not much.

*Editors Note: This is typically how we are informed of things here at Ikeo*

On our way to the bus, we ran into the Thai guys, who seemed as confused and caught off guard as we were.

We did the typical Tenri prayer sequence at Coz’ father’s grave…and then proceeded to make our way through the cemetery bowing at each grave that belonged to a deceased member of Ikeo. In America, it’s nearly impossible (pretty much my fault) to get my family of five to my Grandpa’s grave at the same time. Here, a group of twenty to thirty people drop everything to visit and everyone’s so casual about it.
That’s by far the biggest difference here...and please understand that by “here” I mean on Ikeo…I’m not making a generalization for all of Japan, because I’m certainly not experienced enough as far the whole country goes. In America…we work late hours because we have deadlines…we have deadlines because we have jobs…we have jobs because we need money…we need money because we have bills to pay.

On Ikeo, the church pays for all of their living expenses. They do some sort of job at the complex…whether it be cooking, or sewing, or gardening…and in return, they are provided food, housing, etc etc. In several cases, the men will go out to work, but his wife and older children remain to work on Ikeo to earn their stay. It’s all just so relaxed…I never really see anyone in a rush. When they work, they are always laughing…you can tell they are sincerely having a great time with eachother. It’s probably much easier for the community to be motivated for work when the task you are doing is having a direct effect on your standard of living.

The Tenri way of life is based around the mantra “The Joyous Life.” As far as I can tell, the biggest sin that exists here is “selfish thoughts.” If you have lived your life with the purpose of making others happy…you have lived a great life. Work on Ikeo, watch after the smaller children, make a snack for your fellow workers, go to prayer…you have lived a great day as part of a great life.

This is soooooooo different from what I have always pictured a “great life” would look like. Spreading joy is easy…I want to change lives! I want to travel the world, I want to experience the most passionate, overwhelming kind of love imaginable…I want to be remembered forever!! That’s so selfish!

It’s still what I want, though. Sometimes I feel like if I’m not doing something extraordinary, I’m restless. I’m no longer enjoying the moment, I’m missing it…too busy looking around for the next BIG moment. But it’s still what I want…sort of.

I can see why this lifestyle would make them so happy. Nobody’s trying to make the incredible happen…they’re just being happy making each other happy. There’s got to be some sort of balance.

This is what I was looking for…another way of looking at life. Three and a half months full of brand new experiences...minus excreting over one of those holes in the ground.

So ANYWAY…that is a huge digression. So we got back from the cemetery and Hatsumi asked us where we wanted to go. I was kind of pumped for the zoo…but in the end, I lost. She pulled out a shoe box filled to the brim with pamphlets and maps and she laid them on the grass. The consensus was the beach town…and we were off.

Masa, from Aimachi, drove the seven of us there. His English was fantastic, which made the trek a little easier. There must have been some sort of “Incredibly Little Car” convention, because we saw a whole lot of vehicles that looks like this one.

We found an area of beach to hang out for a bit. There was a natural “dock” made of rocks that a bunch a few fishermen were using, so we decided to check it out



As we walked further down the dock, one man had a net half sitting in a very shallow part of the water. I looked in and via the use of gestures asked him what was in it. Reciprocating my use of gestures, he told me they were eels (maybe I’m not really learning Japanese…just some caveman version of sign language). He then handed me the fishing pole and waved his arm signaling me to try it out. We set out on a very dangerous boating expedition around the southern tip of Africa. That’s when I got the bite of my life. A three ton killer eel known to most in the region as Doby Mick, took the bait. It was a four hour battle and, at one point, I was pulled overboard by the beast. Luckily I was wearing rubber-soled sneakers and wasn’t affected by the electric pulses Doby attempted to send through my body. I bit the creature in the jugular and, then hung on for dear life as it fought until its untimely demise. I pulled the eel back on the boat where, it shrunk down to the size you see in the picture below.

Or maybe this is how it happened:

There were so many eels in the area, you really couldn’t screw it up (though my fishing skills are world renowned). In fact, you didn’t even have to cast out the line…you just plop it in the water by the rocks and within seconds, an eel is attached to your hook. The camera adds twenty pounds to eels as well as humans…so the eel you see below was actually negative weight…and quite pathetic.



Next Masa (guide) took us to a Japanese fish market where we ate about a million free samples of fish (cooked and uncooked) and different types of fishy tasting crackers. The place was a mad house and all of the employees were yelling in Japanese for us to buy (I think).





After that, we went to this Chinese restaurant back in Honda City and ate a whole lot of very spicy Chinese food. Chris and the Thais got in a battle of who could eat the spiciest food…anyone who has ever tried Thai food can guess that they beat him. He put up a valiant fight…and everyone was sweating by the end…except for the Thais…who seemed unphased.



Ok, I’ve got to run to rehearsal! I’m going away for a day and a half (not exactly sure where) but I’ll try to get in one more post before I go! I also owe a few people some emails…I’m sorry…I’ll write back tonight, I promise I promise I promise!!!

Some supplementary pictures for "First Japanese Game Day.

Hey! Here are some extra pictures from the previous post. Read it to get the full scoop.

My first Japanese "Game Day"

So yesterday was my first Japanese show! It was actually an exhibition and the band’s second performance of the season. American drum corps do four to six shows a week, while Japanese drum and brass bands do shows roughly once a month…a grand total of four or five a season. The reason for this is that the people in these bands are students or have jobs. Nights and weekends are the only opportunities to rehearse, so if you have to do 30 shows a season…you’re going to lose lots of practice time.

Saturday morning (show day) rehearsal began at 9:30 AM, so I was up at 8:15 to get some breakfast and do some last minute uniform fitting. Here's a candid shot of Palm (from Thailand) and myself talking about something funny while we have some final adjustments made to the uniforms.



During this morning rehearsal we hit a bunch of big chunks of the show and then did a run through. After the run through, the entire band cleans the gym, loads the trucks, eats, and then goes to a little good luck prayer service in the gym (I’ve recently learned that Tendi is not a religion but, rather, a way of life…many of the Tendi people are Buddhist, Christian, and (in parts of the world that aren’t Japan) Jewish. I’ll explain Tendi in more detail at some other time…I’m still kind of figuring it out.

Anyways…as we were preparing to depart, Suey asked me to ride in a car with Hiro, Bahn, Ose, Mitsiyoshi, and himself over to Rainbow Hall (laugh it up) in Nagoya (the complex is pretty huge). I was kind of excited because it gave me the opportunity to bond with some of these guys outside of rehearsal. Here's a picture of Suey, Hiro, and myself. Suey marched 2006 Cavaliers and said he wouldn't take the picture unless I wore his "Gears" around my neck. :)



You might be wondering how I bonded with them when I don’t even speak their language. Well…we did what any multilingual group of trombone players might do…we taught each other every dirty word in our respective languages that we could come up with! I learned essential Japanese phrases such as “pubic hair,” “penis,” and “boobs.” I’m ashamed to say I’ve forgotten them already, but I’m sure they’ll remind me on Tuesday at rehearsal when it’s clear I’ve forgotten. On my end, I gave them a ten minute lecture on the differences between the words “bitch,” “slut,” and “whore.”



So once we got to Rainbow Hall the brass line went to the competition area to do a rehearsal of the encore material with the other groups. Let me tell you…the Japanese really know how to cheese it up. This performance was part of the Nagoya festival and consisted of marching bands AND many baton groups as well. For the encore, they started with two vocalists singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” as a duet…then a rock band (synthesized) and a HUGE Japanese gospel-type choir joined them for the chorus (with every other group, including Aimachi, clapping and dancing like excited fools behind them). Next, all of the bands played “Over the Rainbow” and ended the piece with each of us throwing out our right hand (in jazz-hand type fashion) and waving to the audience for the next three to four minutes.

After the encore rehearsal, we ate lunch and chilled out in stands in the practice gym. The practice gym is lined exactly like the main floor and each group comes in for ten minutes, does a run through, and maybe hits a spot or two. We were on last, so we got to see almost every group do their run.

I was BLOWN AWAY! As we walked in from the encore rehearsal, the first group we saw was an elementary school marching band. First of all…we don’t even have elementary school marching bands in the United States. Second of all…they had straight legs, kept straight lines and played REALLY LOUDLY!! Without exaggeration, they were better than half the high school marching bands in the U.S. And they aren’t even half way done with their season yet!!!

And the baton stuff…don’t even get me started! It’s really a beautiful art form; I wish there were more groups like this in America. Maybe I’ll start a baton class when I have my nonprofit arts organization. The festival featured groups ranging anywhere form five years old to the Japanese national champion.

Then…MY FAVORITE…the Nagoya ALL GIRLS High School Drum and Brass Corps. OH MY GOD!!! They were the most bad ass thing I’ve ever seen in my life. When there snare line came forward for their feature I almost ran away…these girls’ faces had “I’ll kill you with my bare hands” written all over them. Not only were they intimidating, but they had incredibly straight legs, and could stagger breathe like mofos. They played loud for long periods of time with NO holes in the sound…and their hornline wasn’t even that big! I think I’m going to by the video just so I can show people this group!

We got suited up into uniform and it was time for our run. Here's Takeshi and I in uniform.



We did the each piece one at a time and then we were ready for the real thing. Aimachi has kind of a cool vibe. We were all just chilling in the hallway two groups before we were going on. Chatting about whatever. Palm and Mate were teaching me how to say “Good luck” in Thai…”Cho deeeee na!” and I was trying to get the mellophone section to pronounce “McDonald’s” correctly. It’s not really their fault, though…their word for it is spelt something like “MacaDonoald’s”. “Seven Eleven’s” are spelt “Sebun Erebun.” Sorry, I’ve gotten off topic.

So it’s a very relaxed vibe...until the group before us goes on and we enter the final holding area. It’s a very small almost pitch black room (only a little light from the outside hallway manages to get in). I look to my right and the drum line is totally still looking straight forward looking like they’re about to stab someone with their sticks. Everyone I was just talking to is falling into this mood as soon as they enter the room. What was a pretty light atmosphere is now a ball of intensity about to explode. When the group before us finishes, the door lady puts her hand down signaling for us to take the field. We don’t march out, we all just kind of purposefully walk. I think it’s pretty cool and actually more impressive looking. So as soon as the first Aimachi uniform comes out of the tunnel, the crowd erupts…pretty sweet.

We get into opening set…the announcer starts speaking (I have no clue what he’s saying. Then…all of a sudden he goes into English. “Ladies and Gentleman…Boys and Girls…IT’S SHOWTIME!” If I wasn’t so nervous, I might have cracked up at the corniness. Later, Yuko assured me that they don’t usually say that, it must have been just the Nagoya Festival.

Anyways…the show went well, it was my best run through so far. I’m still getting used to the technique (but after watching the video, I’m pretty much looking like everyone else) and I’m playing pretty well now! It was kind of funny…at this exhibition they also added these huge laser light effects to everyone’s show. Nobody really informed Chris and I of this which kind of scared the crap out of us. Here we are during one of the opening impacts. We have a few holes at this show, obviously.



We did the encore, which was still a little corny but REALLY fun. There’s something about dancing with hundreds of people to a jazz version of “Over the Rainbow;” everyone’s giving thumbs up, clapping, jazz hands, etc…it MAKES you smile!

We packed up…grabbed a snack (Japanese pastries), got back in the car with full uniforms on minus the marching shoes (which I had to replace with my brown casual shoes. Not only would this sequence of events be breaking every Cadet uniform rule…but black pants and brown shoes is just poor fashion sense!

Once we got back to Ikeo, everyone helped clean the uniforms, shoes, unload the truck and put away instruments. At The Cadets, pretty much everyone does their own individual stuff by themselves. At Aimachi…EVERYONE helps EVERYONE out. I don’t know which way is quicker…but the Aimachi way is certainly a little more fun.

We all got together and watched a video of the show afterwards and then Aimachi was done for the night. Coz took a bunch of us to a Roman House (like Roman noodles…but authentic and incredible). I have thanked Coz more than anyone else in my life…I’ve been here for almost two weeks and I’ve spent…about 15 dollars. Pretty much if I point to a menu and say “What is this?” he calls the waiter over and orders it. If I touch a souvenir Hatsumi tells me it’s a present for me. Chris and I joke that if we pointed to Nagoya Castle and asked what it was, we’d be living in it by that night. I’ve been fortunate to meet a lot of really generous people in my life. These also seem to be the happiest people I know…obviously that’s not a coincidence.

Ok…well I’ve run into the five picture maximum problem again…so I’ll add more in another entry. Enjoy!

I don't have time to write a full article...so gnash on these briefly described pictures!

An incredibly busy day! We have a show tomorrow night...and today was the dress rehearsal! I included a picture of our uniform a few pictures below. Ummmm...Chris, myself, and the Thai guys were herded into the car today with no idea where we were going. Turns out it was some sort of Japanese technology/environmental convention. I've never been so confused in my life...but i did get to drive a very small car (of the FUTURE). Pictures of that tomorrow.

Anyways, it's 3:15 in the morning and I have to wake up in five hours for breakfast, followed by a 9:30 runthrough before we leave for the show. Enjoy this cornucopia of pictures and I'll update more tomorrow!

Here is a great picture of the part of Ikeo you can see when you walk out of my dorm house. Clearly it's a garden area. There church is straight ahead and there is a living area at the right of the picture. Below the living area is the cafeteria.



Speaking of the cafeteria. Here we are on October 12th, celebrating Chris' birthday! A few of the girls in the colorguard bought Chris a fine assortment of pastries. When the left...the men of Ikeo had at it. The cute little one in the yellow was the kid I mentioned a few days ago as "Chris' marching tech." When Chris was learning the drill, Yutaka chased him around (he had marched the spot prior to Chris' arrival) and told him where to go. Chris and I affectionately refer to Yutaka as "junto onnanoko" which VERRRRY loosely means "the little girl." He likes it...I swear...



My favorite place on Ikeo. There's this pond of fish near my dorm house...they're big and colorful which is enough to entertain a simpleton like myself.




Here we are tonight after the dress rehearsal! Aimachi gets new uniforms every single year. Except they don't buy the uniforms premade all the time...we (yes I helped!) made these uniforms to fit this year's show. Clearly much different from my Cadet days. Anyways...here we are striking our best ninja poses. I'm one of the guys with his hat on, just to Chris Gow's left (if you're Chris Gow looking at the camera).



More being ridiculous. This time were at a big department store in Nagoya called Loft. On the eighth floor we found the Halloween section. If you wore this in America, you would have the cops called on you in a second. From the viewer's left is Chris Gow, Lung (pronounced Lewng) from Thailand, and yours truly.




Oyyyyyyy 3:30 AM....goodnight! Thanks for commenting!

m...e...t...s....*sniffle*

Mets-vs-Cardinals started at 9:18 AM in this time zone...so I read through a little bit of the play by play...read through the last inning...oy.

Tigers-vs-Cardinals??? Who wants to see that?

Here are some pictures from a game about a month ago that I went to with Tom, Jeff, and Phil. They lost that one too.

Our first trip to downtown Nagoya and the series of events that led us there.

So on our trip to Tokoname, I casually mentioned to Coz that I had heard there was some sort of festival in Nagoya on that day and the next. Of course, in order to communicate, it didn’t come out so gracefully. It was more like this:

*The following “conversation” is to be read very slowly and with as little confidence as is possible*

"Ummm…Coz? *He looks back at me* I *pointing to myself, probably unnecessarily* read in book *making an opening and closing of book gesture with my hands* that there is a fair *Coz gives me a questioning look*….ummm festival??? *he shakes head to signal that he understands* in Nagoya *for some reason I do a little half circle thing with each of my cupped hands which signals the world…who the hell knows what I’m doing, really…Chris is sitting next to me and he probably has no idea what I’m trying to say* today *points to ground* and tomorrow *points from ground to my right…just making shit up as I go*"

What happened next was one of the most amazing things I’d ever had the honor of witnessing. Coz and Hatsumi engaged in a three minute dialogue. The tone was exciting, the pace was voracious. Coz' voice was elated at times, yet mournful at others. Hatsumi, like the greatest of actresses played a pensive role one moment and a renowned general about to lead her troops into battle the next!! I had no idea what they were saying (with the exception of the word "Nagoya" thrown in here or there) but whatever it was, they must have been having quite the debate over whether or not the Nagoya festival was, in fact, this weekend!

*Coz turns to me*

“Yes."

Yes??? Three solid minutes of magical, breathtaking, heart pounding Japanese and all I get was a "Yes."???? UNLESS...Coz wasn't telling me the whole story.

I was too tired to engage in the amount of conversation it would take to communicate that Chris and I were interested in going, so I resentfully took his "Yes."

Fortunately, he got the pois a reader of minds because at breakfast the next morning he told us that Chris and I would be going with his cousin, Yoshi, to Nagoya to see the festival!

You probably laughed at me and my terrible communication skills…BUT MATT HAINES GETS THING DONE!!

That’s the good news. The bad news…Coz informs us that Yoshi does not speak good English. Oh boy…

Hatchan takes us to Nagoya (a 20 minute drive) and drops us off at the major Tenriki (their religion) Aimachi temple in the area (similar to the Ikeo…except it’s obviously in a more urban setting). Yoshi meets us and, lucky for Chris and I, we were able to communicate. This was made largely in part by Yoshi’s cell phone which was armed with a Japanese-English dictionary for just such an emergency. This is how most of our communicating was done…one word at a time.



Up to that point, this was my favorite day in Japan, though! The parade was awesome and I will upload a bunch of pictures for you all to see (I can only upload 5 per entry, so I’ll have to spread them out over the course of a few entries. Yoshi also took us to Nagoya Castle which is…well an old castle in Nagoya. It’s really nice and seems like one of those “must see” places in Nagoya.

Some things worth mentioning about the parade. In America…drinking is a pretty common thing. I’m not one to get drunk often…a beer every other day is about normal for me. I believe a lot of people drink in Japan, also, but just not the people at Ikeo. We were starting to get a little antsy to try some Japanese alcohol (Coz bought us a beer the second day we were here when he took us out to dinner) but we never really knew who to ask. It turns out we didn’t need to ask anyone, the fact that we were Americans watching a parade in Nagoya made it quite clear that we craving some Japanese alcohol.

About a half hour into the parade, one of the floats’ members ran over to us with a bottle of sake and a cup. He pushed the cup into my hand and then starting pouring the sake into my cup. The only other time I had tried sake was in Indianapolis, Indiana at a P.F. Cheng’s and it kind of grossed me out. Thankfully this sake was oishi (again, delicious) because I don’t know if it would have went over well if refused his good-will. He refilled me and gave Chris some as well.



Moving on…about an hour and fifteen minutes into the parade, an elderly man sees the hilarity of Chris, Yoshi, myself, and Yoshi’s phone trying to communicate. He taps Yoshi on the shoulder and says, “Americans?.” Yoshi tells him that we had come from America for a marching band in Handa City (based on a few words I could hear and his musical instrument gestures). The man stays and talks with us for awhile (he knows a little English, but not much…so we all just do the best we can with small talk…”Yes, we love Japan…I play trombone, he plays baritone…I am a student in America…New York…draw map of New York State in the air with my finger….point to new york city…point to long island…12 hour drive north to south…his amazed reaction…this is the small talk conversation that is becoming a leading part of my repertoire.

So anyway, we are all checking out the parade when we notice that said old man has disappeared. Weird…I figured he would say goodbye, but no big deal. A few minutes later he returns…with a plastic bag. Interesting. He reaches into his bag and pulls out four Japanese beers for each of us! Chris and I exclaim, “Arigato gozaimasu, Domo arigato, arigato gozaimasu, domo arigato!!” and even a “Domo arigato gozaimasu” for good measure! (various versions of the phrase "Thank You" for those of you completely oblivious to Styx, one of the greatest rock bands of all time, famed for giving many thanks to Mr. Roboto)



Next question…can we open a can of beer on the streets without getting arrested in Japan. What an embarrassing way to get deported this would be. We make some gestures…say that it’s not allowed in America (much to his chagrin, I might add) but he assures us that here in Japan (the most wonderful place in the world) public drunkenness is legal (though not necessarily encouraged).

Next we headed over to Nagoya Castle (which I described earlier) and then it was back to Handa City for a rehearsal.

More adventures to come as I continue to catch you up and keep you posted on my more current experiences in Japan. I've posted two more pictures below, but I'll add more in a separate entry.


One of the many groups performing at the parade was this talented army of female unicyclists.



Chris and I posing with, what looked to us like a big red gumby with hair. Yuko later informed us that this actually the Japanese depiction of Satan, himself. Whoooooooopsie.

A Visit to the Town of Tokoname

Last Saturday Coz and his wife, Hatsumi, took us to the nearby city of Takanme for our first Japanese sightseeing experience. Takanme is an old town famous for the production of tiles.

We went to several museums and they treated us for tea and dessert. Corn tea with ice is my newest discovery. Oishi (delicious).

Neither of our hosts speak very good English, so that was a special challenge to the day. Also, Coz is not only the director of the marching band, he also has some sort of huge religious standing. Junt, the drum major, said that he is comparable to The Pope. I don’t know how many of my Christian friends have been driven around by the Pope…so maybe this is some sort of slight exaggeration. Maybe not? We’re not sure…so we’re also not exactly sure how to act around him. We know we’re supposed to bow to him the first time we see him everyday…but we generally just bow to him every time to be safe.

Anyways, here are some pictures! More sightseeing adventures to follow shortly.


A gigantic doorway at the entrance of the museum. That's me down there...and I'm considered tall in Japan (well...at least above average).



Coz, Chris, and one of the oldest and most famous kilns in Tokoname.



Some of the statues made in the kilns...along with me charming Hatsumi with my stupid, American antics.



A sample of some of the tiles in one of the museums. The green grouping, while not the most complicated, was my favorite. A little too much yen for my blood, though.



An example of some Japanese toilets. Fortunately, I've been able to enjoy the Western version anytime the need has presented itself.

OK OK OK OK

Listen...I've been busy. I'm sorry. I've let you down and I wish I could promise it won't happen again, but I'd be lying right to your face. Matt Haines never tells a lie.

You have to understand though...Chris Gow and I are being completely overloaded with information. All at once we're memorizing...

1.) Music

2.) Drill

3.) The Japanese Language

Add to that meeting lots of people, sightseeing, and working around the Ikeo (the name of the complex we're staying at) and there hasn't been much time for blogging.

Allow me to try to catch you up with what has been going on...


Life Around Ikeo

The Ikeo exists as part of a series of churches in the Tenri religion. The director of Aimachi Band is "Coz" (this is the nickname he told us to call him). His father founded a series of churches...one of them being Ikeo in Handa City. Ikeo itself is in an area best described as being between a rurual and suburban area. However, downtown Handa City (bigger buildings than any downtown area on Long Island) is about a 20 minute run away.

Ikeo is kind of like a college campus. There are dorm houses (we live in one of them), a Tenri church, a cafeteria, a pool, lots of gardens, and a HUGE gym/music building where the band rehearses. While there's a lot here, it's all pretty close together. From our dorm house, it doesn't take more than three minutes to get anywhere else on the campus.

There are a wide variety of people living at Ikeo. Most of them seem to have some connection to Aimachi band. Some are members, some are family of members...but I think some are just members of the church. All of the Japanese people on Ikeo have some sort of job (I only know of one or two people who live at Ikeo but work off the campus). Each day you can walk around and find people cooking, gardening, washing windows, sweeping, making uniforms or props, etc. I believe some people pay to stay at Ikeo, but not everyone.

As far as foreigners go...there are two Americans (Chris and I) as well as five guys from Thailand. We are guests so we do not pay and do not have a specific job. Chris and I felt kind of bad just hanging out while everyone else was working, so we help out each day by helping to make the uniforms (Aimachi has new uniforms every year).

It all seems like a pretty relaxing lifestyle! Meals are the same time each day and prepared by people staying at Ikeo. Breakfast is at 8AM and usually consists of salad, cereal, white rice, bread, butter, and jelly. Lunch is at noon and Dinner is at 7PM. Meals always include white rice (sometimes fried as well). There will usually be some sort of soup with noodles...chicken, beef, an omelette type creation, sushimi, cooked fish, LOTS of vegetables etc etc etc. Japan is probably actually going to add years onto my life since I've eaten more vegetables in the last week than the rest of my life combined. I've loved everything except for the sushimi (it was tolerable...but I think I need to try it a few more times before I get used to it). Dessert is usually some sort of fruit (rough for me, I know) but last night they brought in a bunch of danish type things.


A lot of them stay up pretty late also! It's not uncommon for Chris and I to be up at 2AM watching Japanese gameshows with a 45 year old and a 9 year old (I was in bed by like 9PM when I was 9!). Chris and I will usually try to learn Japanese at night. We both have this program called Rosetta Stone that you use on your computer. There are several languages on mine, so we've been helping a few of the Japanese members with their english at night also. They are MUUUUUCCCHHH better at english than we are at Japanese. For example, I'm struggling with lesson one...Hatchan (a colorguard member who marched Santa Clara Vanguard) is able to make her way through like Unit 15, Lesson 5 without much trouble.


Aimachi Band

THEY ARE REALLY GOOD!!! Like REALLLLLLLY good!! Like...if they had 135 members...they would be WAY up there at DCI. There colorguard is AMAZING! This is still very early season for them and they are incredible...I think they might be the best colorguard I've ever been in a group with (I think...not positive...but either way they are great).

The drumline placed third last year at WGI in Dayton! Also incredible.

It's a Cavalier-style marching technique, so that's taking some getting used to! :) Pretty much everything I learned at The Cadets...this is the exact opposite. Chris and I have been spending a lot of time memorizing music. During the day we'll go into the gym and learn drill dots on our own.

Rehearsal is almost everynight from 8:30 (actually gets started at around 9) until 11. One of the instructors usually says "Ok Matt and Chris...today we will go very slowly through Movement 3 so you can learn wihth us." We respond "Hai!" (which means yes). Apparentely slow is a relative term. They FLY us through the drill and we pretty much hang on for our dear lives until after rehearsal when we can go back through it slowly on our own in an attempt to register what we just did!

As far as difficulty...it's easier than a Cadet show...but the first movement in this year's show is VERY challenging. Fast tempo, big stepsize...and the worst part is I have to do it with a trombone (much more awkward than a baritone...though much lighter :) ).

Chris has it made. There is this 12 year old boy named Yutaka that was marching Chris' spot before Chris got here (just so he can get ready for when he actually marches in the group). So now Chris has a personal tech. It's a REALLY funny thing to watch this 12 year old (very short) boy chasing Chris around the floor, telling him where to go. I wish I could have gotten some pictures of that for anyone who has marched with Chris at Cadets or was taught by Chris at Capital. I, unfortunately, wasn't so lucky. Nobody marched my spot so I'm left to fend for myself.

During rehearsal almost all of the instruction is in Japanese. Someone in the trombone section will usually translate for me, though I am starting to pick up on some of the phrases myself. They also communicate with us through hand signals, singing, or even the occasional english phrase.

For now I need to go. Chris and I have to finish making cushions for the uniform helmets, ride bikes into town and buy a cake for Yuko (Cadets 2005 mello...today is her birthday), play trombone, run, add music to drill, go to rehearsal, learn english...and then FINISH CATCHING YOU UP WITH SOME MORE BLOGGING.

I've got a bunch of pictures to add and some sightseeing stories. The director has been incredibly generous, so we've done a good amount of sightseeing so far.

OK...talk to you later!

Ohayo gozaimasu

That means good morning! Chris and I used the phrase successfully several times already today. We're about to go for a run/exploration of the surrounding area...but I wanted to post some pictures from last night so I could keep updated!

Here's the first sign I saw when I got off the plane in Nagoya...who knows what would have happned with that conveyor belt walkway had pictures not been included. I might have just fed my pant legs right into it.



His is a view of my bed from the doorway. Chris is also staying in here, but we have three beds between the two of us so don't get worried.



Chris, Hatchan, and myself. Check out that chopstick technique and the sweet bibs. If Americans got bibs like that at meals, my mom would have saved many a shirt.



Here are Umeo and Kio about to start cooking our currently raw cow stomach.



Takeshi (Mr. T, Cadet mello 2002, he "pities the fool") and myself in my room. He is living two floors below Chris and I in the same house.

So sleepy

Alright, so it's 1:30 AM in Handa City. That puts us at 12:30 PM in New York. I slept 6 hours from New York to San Francisco...and maybe another hour or so from San Francisco to Nagoya. I didn't sleep at all the night before...so 8 hours in two days means that I should feel like I'm about to crash. And I do.

The food thing was even weirder. I had NO idea what meals I was eating anymore. It feels like I've had about 15 meals in the last two days...and all of them have been dinners. They fed us one small meal from New York to San Francisco...and two big ones (plus a few snacks) from San Francisco to Nagoya...none of them were breakfast-oriented.

Then, when I landed in Nagoya, I was picked up by Michi, Hatchan, Kio, and Umeo. Immediately time for dinner...again. :) After looking around the airport for a bit, they took Chris and I to a Korean restaurant where they give you the meat raw for you to cook yourself on an oven on the table. We had squid, scallops, pork, chicken, and a few types of beef (one type being from the stomach...better than I thought it would be). The most challenging part of this was the use of chopsticks. I've tried before and sucked at it EVERY SINGLE TIME. Michi tried to give me a fork but I told him, "I will learn to use chopsticks...or I will starve to death!! I'm not using a fork or spoon while I"m here!"

They all declared that Chris Gow was the greatest American chopstick wielder they'd ever crossed paths with. I asked if I was the worst. They laughed and looked at eachother nervously for a moment. Michi encouraged me, "Some Cavaliers just used fork."

This reminds of the scene in Elf when Buddy (will Ferrell) calls himself a "cotton-picking ninny muggins."

"OH NO!" they elves jump to his defense, "You're not a cotton picking ninny muggins. We all have different talents, Buddy."

"Well...the thing is...it seems like you all have the SAME talents."

"Remember the time we needed to switch the battiers in the fire alarm? You were the ONLY one that was tall enough. AND, you'll have to check them again in another six months! Triple A's, Buddy!"

After dinner it was time to go to rehearsal. First custom faux pas was when I almost walked outside with my rehearsal sneaker on. Major no no. You can only use those rehearsals sneakers on the actual marching floor. Not even in other rehearsal spaces. I'll have to buy another pair of sneakers for running, but no problem.

At rehearsal I met up with two ex-Cadets. Takeshi (who I marched with 2002 when he was affectionately known by some as Mr. T and forced to say phrases like "Cut the jibba-jabba" and "I pity da' fooooool.") and Kaori (Cadets 2005 and 2006). They showed Chris and I around the rehearsal facility and introduced us to important people. (I'm completely oversaturated on names I can't spell, by the way). The rehearsal facility is HUGGGGGGGGGEEEEEE...I'll take some pictures soon. Incredible...every drum corps should get one. Nine medium-sized practice areas and one giant indoor marching room where the actual "field" is. And that's all I saw today...who knows what else is here.

Rehearsal itself was fun! Exciting music arranged by the multi-talented (and avid Matt Haines blog reader/editor) Gordon Henderson. The head horn instructor does know some english, so he made sure to say the important stuff in both languages. I was worried about not understanding instructions as far as where to start and stop, but Hiro (the guy I was sharing a stand with) pointed it all out for me.

A few funny things happened during rehearsal.

1.) They introduced Chris and I in front of the entire brass line. I think Uichi (our contact to the group through email these last few weeks) was giving our bios to them. At one point he started flapping his arms like a drum major would conduct and they all went "waahhhhhoooohhhhhhh" so I think they were impressed by my amazingness.

2.) One of the times the head horn instructor was giving some information in english to Chris and I, we both yelled "HAY!" (that's "yes" in Japanese and something the other members had been yelling all night) after he was done speaking. Everyone laughed and seemed to appreciate it. At one point he said, "I'm sorry my english isn't very good." I responded, "I'm sorry my Japanese is much worse." I think he liks us.

WUH OH...I JUST REALIZED THAT MY COMPUTER CHARGER HAS THREE PRONGS. THE ONLY OUTLET IN THIS ROOM HAS TWO PRONGS! MY BATTERY IS ABOUT TO DIE...SO HERE'S WHERE MY BLOG ENDS FOR TODAY. WE HUNG OUT WITH KAORI AND TAKESHI AFTERWARDS...THEY TAUGHT US SOME JAPANESE...SHOWED US AROUND...THE END!

Goodnight!

Some pictures from the flight to San Francisco.

Here are some pictures from the New York to San Francisco portion of my flight. Unfortunately, I didn't get a window seat on the way to Nagoya. Fortunately, I will have one on the way home in January.

I'm not exactly sure what the last pictures are. Looks like a little kid just had at it with some crayons.

Hajime Mashte, Matt odes

Hajime mashte, Matt odes.
(Nice to meet you, I am Matt.)

I have no idea if that's how I should write it (or if there's even a correct way to write Japanese with english language characters)...BUT I have officially spoken my first Japanese phrase! They even clapped for me when I used it for the first time in real context!

Ok, so I landed in Nagoya about an hour and a half ago. I was greeted by four members of the Aimachi band (3 drummers and a colorguard member, all my age and all staying in the same "dorm house" that Chris and I are).

The good news is that they speak great english. Though, they started laughing because they said my english was very fast. I told them that, right now, my Japanese would be "verrrrrry slow." (or completely nonexistent)

The bad news...well there's really none yet. I can't memorize Japanese names very well so I've tried and failed on the four of them about three times so far.

I was offered 200 bucks and a free hotel stay in San Francisco if I gave up my flight until tomorrow. I was thinking about it, but I didn't want to completely inconvenience everyone in Japan. Turns out it's only a 10 minute drive to the airport (and they were picking up Chris and myself separately anyways) so it wouldn't have been an inconvenience at all. Oh well...I guess I didn't really NEED that 200 bucks (I'm lying).

Ok, well I need to figure out this whole different power voltage thing...then I can start posting pictures and such. I've got rehearsal in a few hours...too bad I decided to watch 3 1/2 movies on the plane instead of sleeping. I didn't sleep at all in New York last night, slept the entire way from New York to San Francisco, and then only slept two hours from San Francisco to Nagoya. It's 5AM in New York right now, so it feels kind of normal...though I'm sure when rehearsal is done in about six and a half hours, I'll be feeling not so "normal."

I'll try to post again then, though, so you get the full effect! We're off to get Chris in about 13 minutes, so goodbye for now...have a great day!

America...F#%@ YEAH!

Alright, I'm back and ready to update you on my last few days in the good 'ol
U S of A.

Saturday was actually the first day off I've had since...June 1st. It was awesome and LAZY for the first half of the day. I got up at 10...watched the movie Elf...went for a run...took a shower...played some trombone...and watched Simon Birch. I forgot how much I loved that movie! Actually, the first time I saw it was back in high school on a date. We get to the part where the mom gets hit by the foul ball and I start cracking up in the theater!! It just made me laugh...until I realized she was dead...apparently everyone else realized she was going to die much sooner than I did...

All of the fall foliage shots in the movie made me VERY excited to see what Autumn in Japan is going to look like. I honestly don't know much about the area I'm staying except that it's right next to Mount Fuji. The foliage is GREAT in the Appalachian Mountains, so I can only hope.

Saturday night was much busier! I went to dinner with my family at an Italian Restaurant with INCREDIBLY large portions. The food was great, but they had a recording of Old Blue Eyes playing incredibly loud in the background. I didn't mind...but when your mom and grandma are both unofficially deaf...it gets rough.

Frank Sinatra (at maxed out volume): NEW YORK, NEWWWWW YOOOOORRRRRKKKKKK
Grandma: I used to like listening to him...





Later that night, Alessandra came to say goodbye to me alllll the way from Washington D.C. So I picked her up from the train station and we ventured to Nassau County to go check out a comedy club.



3 1/2 hours of sleep later, I dropped Alessandra back off at the train station and made my way to Huntington High School for some marchin' bannnnnddd. The show was in Arlington (upstate New York) so we had a nice two and a half drive there. Speaking of fall foliage, the drive made me remember Ithaca and how beautiful upstate New York could be in October!



After the show, Joan and Noel took me out to dinner for some more Italian and, after that, I met up with original Best Friends Forever member - Chris Taborsky.



Columbus Day was my second day off since June 1st. I woke up at NOON!! Went for a great hour and 15 minute run, kicked the snot out of Naqi in racquetball, played trombone, got a haircut, and then hung out with Tom and Naqi for a bit.




NOW...I'm packing. I'm doing my best to stay awake tonight so that I can sleep like a baby on the plane. I've equipped myself with Japanese language learning programs (thanks Naqi), a few books (thanks Grandma and Alexis), and a few movies (thanks Mom...though she doesn't know I'm taking them yet) to help me get through the grueling 22 hours of travel!

Alright...the real journey begins in about three hours when I leave for JFK airport. If they have a wireless signal at the San Francisco or Nagoya airports, I'll write a quick post.

Sayoonara! (one word down...the rest of the language to go)