「University of Michigan」カテゴリーアーカイブ

クリスティーナ・バヌーブ：絵を描くサークル

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CIPのことを初めて考えた時、どうすればいいかわからなかった。もう少し考えた後、私がミシガン大学で参加していたサークルと同じアニメサークルに入るべきだと思った。でも、アニメサークルに連絡したけど、返事をもらえなかった。それで、もう一度考えた。私は子供の頃から美術に興味があった。大学に入ってから、練習時間がなかったけど、何か活動しなければならないとしたら、興味を持っていることの方がいいと思った。それで、先生と友達に相談して絵を描くサークルにメールを送った。

クラマ画会というサークルにメールした。初めて行った時、同志社が始まったばかりで、幹事長の吉森さんだけに会った。吉森さんは早く喋ったけど、何となくクラマの活動と新町キャンパスの学生会館にある部室と会費についての説明がだいたい理解できた。岡山の旅行があったから、次のミーティングに行かなかった。１０月１１日のミーティングに行った。

そのミーティングには５人のメンバーがいて、デッサンをした。つまり、皆一人ずつモデルをして他の皆５分スケッチをしたわけだ。本当にクラマのメンーバはもっといるはずだと思う。毎週別の日にミーティングで別のメンーバに会えるだろう。だから、これからも楽しみだ。会ったメンーバはみんな優しかったしすごく上手だしきっといい経験になると思う。

 

Katrina Vizzini: Kyoto university International eXchange Society (KIXS)

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This semester I continued with my participation in KIXS from last semester. The semester began with many events and dinners and many goodbyes. Many of the international friends that I had made the previous semester were on their way home after the Japanese semester ended. It was really bittersweet as I was just starting to become quite good friends with a few of them and then I had to say goodbye. As they’re all in different countries, I am unsure whether I’ll see them again, but we’ve promised to stay in touch via facebook and other online media.

After the semester ended, not only did most of the international students leave, most of the Japanese students went to study abroad or go traveling during break. I had friends in Malta and California, Australia and England. We stayed in contact via facebook, but as far as meeting face to face and participating in a CIP, it was rather difficult. It was also just difficult outside of requirements, in that for a month and a half, the people I had gotten used to seeing everyday were gone. So for a month and a half I mostly hung out with KCJS friends.

Now that the Japanese semester is finally starting up, most of my Japanese friends are back in town and we’ve gotten to hang out a fair amount. It’s been really interesting to hear about their study abroad experiences and hearing them encounter the same difficulties that most KCJS students encounter. With the semester beginning and the sakura blooming, there look to be quite a few events on the horizon, including a hanami event for new students this weekend.

As far as becoming a member of the group, I feel that I’ve made a few fairly large strides towards that goal. At the beginning of the KCJS semester, a large amount of KCJS students were interested in attending KIXS meetings. This can be rather stressful for my friends at KIXS as they now have a large amount of foreign guests that may or may not understand what they should do. I was able to help show people what to do with their food trays and to try and push people away from the KCJS cluster so that they socialize with the other KIXS members. In addition, at the first nomikai of the year, my friend from KIXS was the only Japanese person there and he seemed to be rather stressed out by the daunting task that usually gets left to Japanese people at nomikais: handling everyone’s orders. I stepped in and took on that role for most of the evening and I think I really helped out. In addition to being able to help out instead of play guest, I’ve also been able to hang out with friends from KIXS just to grab lunch or something small, and through that I really feel like I’ve become more of a normal member. Whether this is simply due to the fact that I’ve been there for a while and am no longer the newest member, or if it’s due to the effort I’ve put in, I can’t tell. But, I know that my success in KIXS has definitely been helped by trying to go to all the meetings and events, and trying my best to help out with things. I can’t wait to meet the new students and make new friends this Saturday!

 

Nathaniel Slottow : Parkour and Taiko

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I think the theme for me this semester has been finding my place and reason for being here in Japan.  We all come here with a willingness to learn language and culture, see new things, visit new places and meet great people.  And of course, everyone has their own share of personal reasons for being here.  An amalgam of forces drew me toward the Japanese language and finally over the Pacific Ocean: my neighbor, Totoro, various media (anime, manga, film, video games), my major of computer engineering, an interest in East-Asian martial arts, Japan’s mysterious appeal from an American point of view, my outsider view of the Asian-American community as I was growing up, and my vague uncertainty of my identity as a half Filipino-American.  Well, I came, I saw, experienced, and eventually sort of lost sight of why I was here at all.

I think that most of us realize at some point that the encounters and sights that make it into photos don’t necessarily capture the meaning of our time here; the thousand words that a photo gets you are probably not enough to describe the experience of daily life over the course of eight months.  Maybe it was thinking about those photo moments, or maybe it was that I noticed that half of us had given up on speaking Japanese to each other, but I realized about six months in that my daily life was lacking societal interaction (not that the thought hadn’t crossed my mind before, but it hit me hard then).  While I would participate in an event with Japanese students or groups every week or so, I began to feel that waiting the week out for those events was proof that even though I’d been here for what seems like a solid amount of time, I was still just an ordinary sightseer.

At about the same time, I think that I gave up on trying to blend in.  If I’m quiet and I don’t do anything strange, to the unknowing eye, I actually fit right in as a nikkeijin, half-Japanese, or sometimes even according to Wada-san a normal Japanese student.  But the problem with fitting in at large on the subway and on the street and at school is that fitting in does not equal societal interaction (I might even venture to say it means the opposite), and fitting in here is not exactly true to my character.  The mix of emotions made me very aware of my identity as an American.  I wandered around Kyoto, chased cats and buses…

Preparing to see off some KCJSers on their way to Tokyo with Yoshi-kun (courtesy of Andrea Mendoza)

Preparing to see off some KCJSers on their way to Tokyo with Yoshi-kun (courtesy of Andrea Mendoza)

…and planked a little bit.

Vending Machines on the Road to Kameoka (courtesy of Yoshitaro Akiyama)

Vending Machines on the Road to Kameoka (courtesy of Yoshitaro Akiyama)

I started practicing parkour in the Gosho, on the street (not in anyone’s way of course), in my head, basically the same way as I would in the US, but with a renewed energy.

Imadegawa Parkour (courtesy of Lindsay Kosasa)

Imadegawa Parkour (courtesy of Lindsay Kosasa)

Kamogawa Parkour (courtesy of Lindsay Kosasa)

Kamogawa Parkour (courtesy of Lindsay Kosasa)

Don’t worry, I’m getting to the CIP part.  Really.

I reminisced about drumline, brainstormed ideas for new pieces for the taiko group, and tried my best to learn as many of the songs as I could for the performance we had last month.

I think those first few days after I gave up on trying to become normal member of Japanese society also made clear how much I love movement, music and the amazingly welcoming groups that make me feel at home doing both here in Japan.  Originally, I treated parkour jams and taiko practices as breaks from everyday life in Japan.  Though this semester, through instead making those activities part of my daily life even when alone, and also through forcing Fukai-sensei to deal with my existential notebook assignments, I think I was able to find my place in this society.  As far as parkour on my own and with the phenomenal Nagare Parkour, that means I became a member of a part of society that is healthy, strong, looking to improve itself, fun-loving, and for some reason doesn’t seem to blend in with the rest of Japan.  In the case of the Kitanotenmangu Kamiwakakai Taiko Club (北野天満宮の神若会), I became a member of a family of families and hard working men and women who love people, music and being and playing together.  While I don’t know at this point whether I have good reason to return to Japan for an extended period of time, I think I can say that I found a place to be in the groups that I sought out from the start.  The goal of the Community Involvement Project (CIP) is to move beyond simply observing society and participate in it.  I became a member of society not as a student, and not as someone who can pass as nikkei, but in the sense that I found two groups to belong to that I really love.

Last semester I wrote that I didn’t feel like a true member of the Kitanotenmangu taiko group.  Well, that changed.  It seems like almost all at once that a couple of the other KCJS students and I started going to dinner along with some members of the group after events sometimes, that it became easier to talk and even joke around a little bit, and that I started to feel like I was not only an exchange student (that was still obvious because we’re not allowed to pay for anything), but a real member of the group.  On top of that, we learned new pieces for the performance we had last month, and one of the members who is a carpenter made bachi (taiko drum sticks) and handed them out to everyone.  In other words, my first pair of bachi were hand made!  The performance turned out to be a lot of fun, even though I was nervous because we sounded really messy at the last practice.  The group is more focused on enjoying being and playing together than on playing perfectly, and I’d take that over a super strict group with a perfect sound any day.

Me!

Me! (courtesy of Trisha Martin)

Fukai-sensei, Nishimata-sensei, Shore-san, and a bunch of other KCJS students came out to cheer us on at the performance (thanks guys!).  The wonderful Nishimata-sensei was kind enough to take some video:

北野天満宮の紙若会：「座論梅」

KCJS Group Photo After the Performance

KCJS Group Photo After the Performance (courtesy of Trisha Martin)

Last semester, I wrote that I felt at home training with Nagare Parkour.  Even so, I managed to learn some more names, meet more people from all over the place, and get more comfortable speaking with everyone.  I also started going out to dinner with a group of members after jams.  I might be seeing a pattern here…  I do feel like I may focus a little more on the activity than on my relationship with the people overall and that could use some work.  But I think that in both parkour and in taiko, I have made real friends that have influenced my life in positive ways.  I think that I have been able to at least share common experience with them if not share some knowledge and I plan to keep in touch.

Anyway, one particular day after a post-parkour-jam dinner, everyone decided that they still wanted to train some more.  So we began to goof around, took some pictures on a red carpet we found, headed to Shinsaibashi and trained until around 10pm, an unprecedented 9 hours of parkour related activity on a school night.  I still had to take the train back to Kyoto so of course I didn’t get any of my schoolwork done (I tend to favor sleep/health over school), but it was worth it.  It also just so happens that that day was a special day on which a YouTube project called “Japan in a Day” was taking place, so naturally we took a video to contribute.  There’s not much actual parkour in the video, but it gives a sense of the flow and atmosphere of the day from the point of view of my friend, Tak:

3.11 Japan in a Day – “Parkour” (courtesy of Takafumi Kojima)

Post-dinner Group Picture (courtesy of Takafumi Kojima)

Post-dinner Group Picture (courtesy of Takafumi Kojima)

Enroute to Shinsaibashi with Nagare Parkour

Enroute to Shinsaibashi with Nagare Parkour (courtesy of Bernardo Mayer)

Jyan Ken Pon

Jyan Ken Pon (courtesy of Bernardo Mayer)

On a more pragmatic note, I think this semester I was able to get more involved in both of my CIP activities not only for the reasons that I mentioned above, but simply because I was more in contact with the members of both groups.  I ended up exchanging Facebook information with a couple of members in the taiko group, and a lot of people in the parkour group.  I guess I was lucky that Facebook is gaining popularity here in Japan.  For someone who was not originally a believer in social networks, I was surprised at how quickly and how much my relationship with some of the taiko members changed (in a good way).  This is probably in part because we started to passively see into each other’s lives without actually speaking directly, and that’s really weird, but I guess it’s the world we live in.  It’s also a topic for a whole different discussion.  Anyway, I also Skype occasionally with a friend from parkour.

If there’s any advice I would give new exchange students (and myself if I were to go back in time), it would be to exchange contact information as soon as possible and to follow up with the people you want to get to know.  If you’re in a group activity with peers or really friendly people that you’d like to get to know, there’s no reason not to be in contact a little bit more informally.  Learning names and participating is one thing, but building a relationship requires contact, especially when everyone is so busy and lives so far apart (ばらばら).

That sounds obvious, right?  Well, I guess the reason I mention it is because there have been plenty of times when I’ve exchanged contact information with Japanese students, acquaintances, etc., and those exchanges turned out to be almost meaningless.  But the Community Involvement Project is one of the few opportunities we are presented with that force us to interact with people who are interested in things that we are, at more than surface-level.  Because KCJS students are part of a program that is socially isolated from the rest of the university, and there are very few Japanese students in the afternoon classes, we have very little genuine interaction with other Japanese students.  Hindsight is 20/20: Now I see that it’s important to take the opportunities that you are given to build real relationships, because no matter how many people you meet, friendships like others you have in the U.S. will not just magically happen if you don’t reach out.

Looking back, I feel that life in Japan would be awfully lonely without a group to belong to.  Life here in between group interactions is a little bit lonely as it is, and I can’t quite put my finger on why.  In any case, although I wish I was able to spend more time with them, I’m glad that I was able to find the two groups that I did.  They gave me a place to be, and eventually became a big part of what it means for me to be in Japan.

I’ll close with another video: Kansai Parkour Family (courtesy of Takafumi Kojima)

(As a disclaimer to this, I would like to state that I am realizing a lot of this right now.  And while I think I have found a place for myself in Japan, I could have done a lot better job actually experiencing being in that place.  Meeting once every two weeks is simply put, not enough.  If that kind of meeting schedule could provoke me to write all this, imagine what would happen if I had reached out and spent more time with everyone.)

Michele McAndrews: Manga/Origami

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In the spring semester I found it rather difficult to find a regular Community Involvement Project, which I think had a lot to due with the timing. Japanese student groups were not meeting much over their spring break before the new school year started in April, but the Japanese teachers were really helpful and usually went out of their way to find something interesting. Throughout these past few months I’ve been going to arts-and-crafts project groups, with a focus on origami.

A few times I participated in going to the KIXS meetings (Kyoto University International Exchange Society) where I would mingle and chat with Japanese students. But as school went on break, less and less people attended. The most fun I had at a KIXS conversation table was when we all went to dinner together. The conversations flowed the best while we were gathered around good food, and there was lots of talk about upcoming plans for the break or graduation.

What ended up becoming my ‘main’ involvement project was attending origami circles. The first time my friends and I dropped in on a Kyoto student group, the atmosphere felt very awkward. The students didn’t have much of a plan and so we each created individual projects without much involvement as a group. Different origami meetings were held at the Kyoto Station, with a much better structure and lots of friendly people. Everyone was sweet and willing to help with any difficulties anyone had with folding.

Though I have to say my favorite group/circle that I’ve attended so far has to be the manga club. I felt like I fit in with the people there and had a lot of interests in common which made us all want to interact with each other. We all got to see one another’s art styles or portfolios, and even got prompted to draw caricatures of each other!

All in all, interacting and having a common interest with these Japanese groups made me feel really happy that I got to be involved. I feel like I accomplished one of the very things I really wanted to do in Japan, without knowing that I really wanted to do it. And through these circles and groups and clubs, I really felt like I made friends and communicated with the Japanese community.

ミッシェル･マクアンドリューズ：折り紙

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京都学生折り紙サークルに行った時本当に楽しいと思った。折り紙をする場所は同志社大学の新町キャンパスの和室だった。部屋は小さかったが、参加している日本人は突然来た私と二人の友達に席を優しくゆずってくれた。 そして、短くて、ちょっと気まずい自己紹介をした後でみんなは紙を折り始めた。日本人は一人ずつ折り紙を作った。ある親切な日本人はJさんと私の折り紙を手伝って、かざぐるまのような物の作り方を教えてくれた。Aさんは他の人と折り紙の本を読んだ。かわいい動物の形をしている折り紙を見て、私も作ってみたかった。花のような折り紙が机の上にあったが、本当は四つの鶴がつながっているものだった。かれんずるという折り紙だった。教えてもらったおかげで私も作れるようになった。

アメリカと違うなと思ったことは、一人ずつ自分のことをしたことだ。アメリカのクラブだったら、おしゃべりをしながら活動をすると思うのに、日本人は恥ずかしがって、私達とあまり話さなかった。それでも行ってとてもよかった。

カタリナ・ヴィッツィーニ：KIXSサークル

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久しぶり！カタリナで、今学期もKIXSというサークルと一緒にたくさん楽しい思い出を作ろうと思う。KIXSは英語で「Kyoto　University　International　eXchange　Society」 というサークルで、日本語で「京都大学国際交流サークル」というサークルだ。 KIXSを通して、色んな国から来た人と会えるから、その人を通して、自分の視野を国際的にすることが出来る。でも、一番いい点は、KIXSでたくさん面白くて、仲がいい友達が作れる。

 

KIXSは普通に毎週の水曜日6時半にルネという京大の食堂に集まって、晩御飯を食べなが、友達としゃべる。KIXSでは、もちろん、ほとんどの時みんなが日本語で話しているけれど、時々英語やら、フランス語やら、スウェーデン語やらで話している。時々本当に面白いが国語の表現が学べる。KIXSは本当に楽しいから、私はたいてい10時までルネにいるけれど、もちろんもっと早く帰ってもいい。

 

今学期、普通のミーティング以外に、春休みの休憩があって、そして、時々特別なイベントもある。最近KIXSはパエリアを食べに行った。春休みの後で、みんなが帰る時、多分お帰りの飲み会があると思う。今学期KIXSで、先学期のKIXSを通して作った友達と一緒に遊ぶ予定がある。楽しみにしている！

ナタニエル・スラトー：和太鼓とパルクール

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去年の九月から、CIPのためにふたつの活動をしている。高校生のときからドラムに興味があるので、太鼓会に入ろうと思った。そして、大学に入ってからパルクールというスポーツに凝っているようになっているから、日本にいる間に続きたいと思ったからパルクールがするグループを探そうと思った。

「神若会」というのは、京都の北野天満宮の太鼓会ということだ。普通の太鼓会と違って、神若会は学生か会社が支えるグループではなくて、神社が支えて社会人で構造されているグループだ。ということで、神若会の練習の仕方や雰囲気は他のグループと違うと思う。性別、立場、年齢、経験を問わず、誰でも参加できる。たくさんの人（もっといい言葉がほしい、家族が三つ参加する）が家族として参加している。練習やイベントは二週間に一回ぐらい北の天満宮にある。太鼓は神社に納められて、練習の際に、みんなが一緒に出したり片付けたりする。みんなは練習に行く前に自分の役割を練習するのが普通だけど、新しい曲があればみんなと一緒に習うこともある。イベントは、交流会や演奏などがある。先学期には、３～４回ぐらいみんなと一緒に演奏できた。今年もお祭りで演奏する予定もできているらしい。

「Nagare Parkour」・「流れパルクール」というのは、関西地方のパルクールというスポーツのチームで、日本のパルクールのコミュニティーを建てるために、二週間に一回ぐらい大きな「ジャム」という会を行っている。大阪城公園や、大阪の鶴見緑地公園など、いろんなところで行っている。こういう「ジャム」というイベントで、「流れ」のメンバーは初心者のためのセミナーをして、パルクールの基本的な動きや一般的な考え方を教える。それから、みんなが３０～５０人ぐらい自由に練習したり、話し合ったり、遊んだりする。ちなみに、今週末も大阪城公園でジャムがあるから、楽しみにしている！


Nathaniel Slottow : Parkour and Taiko

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When I first attended one of Nagare Parkour’s training sessions, from the moment I stepped out of the station and saw everyone gathering in the park, I immediately felt like part of the group. Since the atmosphere was so much like that of my club back in Ann Arbor, I was able to feel at home. I think that friendly and open atmosphere kind of inherent in the attitude of traceurs (practitioners of parkour), as well as my attitude toward parkour. I attented a few jams, or large parkour gatherings. There were so many people that it was hard to memorize anyone’s name. At the second jam, one of the guys shared that sentiment and said something along the lines of, “isn’t it enough [for now] that we remembered each other’s faces?” That made all my nervousness about names vanish. The parkour world is full of some of the strangest and friendliest people in the world. I realized that’s no different here in Japan than anywhere else. Everyone attends to learn, to grow and to enjoy the atmosphere and each other’s company. I’m really glad that I was able to find a group, to continue practicing parkour with while I’m here in Japan.

Recently, I’ve mostly been training apart from the group with a friend that I made at the first jam. That relationship is probably the most equal of the friendships that I’ve made through the community involvement project (CIP). Even though I taught/ran the last couple training sessions we had, I’m learning just as much as I’m teaching. Being able to speak both English and Japanese, or the fact that each of us is learning the other’s language is a huge asset. It makes it a lot easier to share experiences, terminology, and ideas. We’ve even had the chance to chat via Skype a few times with another fellow traceur from Hokkaido.

As for the Kitanotenmangu Taiko Group, I feel like an honorary member. While that’s a good feeling, I think I could describe it as a very “for the time being” kind of feeling. They’ve been so kind to the three of us (I attend Taiko practices with two other KCJS students), so much to the point where I feel that sometimes they are over-accommodating. There are times where the leader will go out of his way to explain things in English without even trying to speak Japanese. There are some points that make it hard to feel like a true member though. The most difficult of those points is the fact that the group meetings are so infrequent that it’s hard to feel like we are really contributing or learning very much. I still have yet to learn everyone’s name. In addition, I actually haven’t learned very much about how to play Taiko, since the practices are for the most part run follow-the-leader style. All that being said, I’m looking forward to next semester. With every practice, we become a little bit more a part of the group. It’s not much, but every practice we help set and put away the drums, and I might go as far as to say that until this week, in that alone did I feel like an active member of the group.

This past weekend, Miao and I went to Kitanotenmangu to cheer on the group at one of their performances for the Fall Festival. We half-jokingly asked (in Japanese of course), “We’re not going to perform, right?” Well, to our surprise, they said, “Of course, we’re going to have you play the songs you memorized.” I think we were both half in despair and half laughing at the hilarity of the situation. Up until that point, we hadn’t even put the proper names together with the pieces which we had haphazardly memorized. I thought it was going to be a disaster. It turned out to be a great time and an experience that I will probably not find anywhere else (except in the next two performances in the coming weeks). They lent us all the performance gear, from happi to hachimaki and even took us up into the main part of the temple for the preperformance prayer. To have us perform the little that we knew somehow demonstrated just how much confidence in us and/or willingness to include us that the group had. And it felt good.

Overall, the CIP aspect of KCJS has been a very good experience so far. Ideally, the groups would meet more frequently, but as it is, I’m still gaining a lot and I think there is potential for me to give back much more in the coming semester.

Katrina Vizzini: Kyoto University International eXchange Society (KIXS)

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When I began looking for a CIP, I really began it halfheartedly. Most of my interests that have the possibility to be a CIP lie in activities that are most often accomplished solitarily, leaving little room for cultural or language exchange. I toyed around with joining an art circle or a piano club, but honestly, I didn’t imagine that those clubs would lead to much socialisation. Thinking about what I do on a normal day to day basis, I realised that I usually just like to be around people, no matter what activity it is that we are doing. Acknowledging this, I joined KIXS over at the University of Kyoto.

As detailed in my previous post, KIXS meets for dinner at Renais (ルネ）, the cafeteria, once a week to eat dinner together and socialise. KIXS couldn’t be a better fit for me. Through KIXS I’ve been able to meet and make friends with people not just from Japan, but from all over the world. I’ve yet to meet everyone yet as KIXS is a rather large circle having over 50 members I believe, but how involved you are is entirely dependent on you. Keeping this in mind, I have tried to help out and be “part of the group” as much as possible. It is a bit difficult, as the circle is based at the University of Kyoto, so there are sometimes that I cannot participate in events, but I try my best to do so anyways. For example, KIXS has sold food at two events since I began attending meetings. At both events, I have helped sell the food, asking passers-by in rather formal speech if they’d like to buy a churro or a moffle (a sweet rice flour waffle). The Japanese people passing by seem to take more notice at this foreigner speaking Japanese to them than they do at the Japanese students dressed up like anime characters or cross dressing. Through this, I got quite a few people to stop and purchase churros and moffles, including completing a to-go order where I got a chance to use even more specialised formal language.

While I can’t say I feel like a “true” member of the group (I still get special foreigner discounts at the party gatherings), I can say that through KIXS I’ve gotten to know a lot of Japanese students and students from other countries pretty well and can definitely see some of these friendships continuing after the semester ends. I feel at ease at KIXS and appreciate the fact that the requirement of the CIP means I was “forced” to put my shy foot forward and get out meeting people. I enjoy hanging out with everyone and sharing our different thoughts, worries, cultures, and of course senses of humour. Can’t wait for the next meeting!

Michele McAndrews: Orchestra

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The first and probably the most prevalent thing I learned from entering the Katano city orchestra was that it was not all that different from any other orchestra. The overall idea of an “orchestra” was not changed in any way. The conductor, Kimura-san, stood on a podium and swung his baton just as any other conductor, and reiterated passages when he wanted something different. It was easy to follow along, especially with seven years experience of playing the viola. Orchestra practices let me relax and recover from culture shock, as if returning to this little bubble where I actually knew how things worked that trancended both Japanese and American culture. Even following along with the conductor didn’t require all that much mastery of the language, since Kimura-san sung passages and made it clear as to what he wanted to change.
There was only one really noticeable culture difference that stuck out to me. The orchestra would stand and bow together at the beginning and end of practice. It was quite a shock to me the first time it happened, as I had not been expecting such a formality. Another tricky thing about practice was getting the measure numbers right. I had to harness my Japanese counting skill and listen closely to know where the orchestra was starting from. And the last thing that kind of bothered me was that I didn’t have an assigned seat. Usually there is a certain placement of orchestra members, and for the sake of a good concert, one is suppose to sit in the same spot for every practice. I never really knew where I was supposed to sit, so that was a little odd to me.
Speaking of the concert, I think the orchestra played their very best. Beethoven’s 9th symphony is no easy feat, but we somehow managed to pull through really spectacularly. I am really happy that I was able to play Beethoven’s 9th.