Cultural Give & Take Part Two: The Give

We played in an cover band. There I said it. About 2 months ago we were asked by our Japanese instructors to put together a band for the Yamasaki International Festival. At first I wanted nothing to do with it, but Colleen was eager to get behind the drums again, so after eventually compromising my way out of guitar duties, I was handed the bass and joined in. After less than a dozen pracices, a lot of shouting, and debates about the music that lasted right up until Saturday night, we finally slopped and simplified our way through three songs on Sunday afternoon. All said, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

And after we played, this local dance troupe came up and just schooled us. They were amazing, like a Japanese version of "You Got Served" or something.



The festival wasn't all performances, though. There was a kids section, a room to dress up in traditional Japanese kimonos, a raffle/auction, and (the main attraction) about a dozen booths serving various international foods (Indian, Korean, Jamaican, Australian and such). The American booth had two dishes: Colleen's (internet-found) tuna casserole recipe and pumpkin pie made by Wisconsinite Marie and her crew. We spent a good chunk of Saturday afternoon in an industrial kitchen cranking out 150 servings of each and sold out of both. But pretty much everything sold out, so that isn't a huge accomplishment or anything.

Tonight: my first lesson as a private English tutor. I tried repeatedly to warn this lady I am no teacher, but she was adamant. We'll see how it turns out.