Wow. Just…wow. I feel like I bore witness to and took part
in something amazing. Never mind the fact that I am shivering from cold and
hangover as I write this.
I spent about 20 hours with choir people on Sunday—an
epically long day that was the culmination of everything I had worked towards
in my CIP (Community Involvement Project) since joining the choir in late
September. All the extra catch-up
practices on top of the two regular weekly ones, and the retreat, and the dress
rehearsal, it all led up to this, the year’s biggest event: the Kyodai
Gasshoudan 82nd Teiki Ensoukai (Regular/Scheduled Concert). I feel
like it went really well and I wouldn’t do anything differently!
…Well, the day did start off a little hectic as I was
supposed to wake up around 6:20 to get to the concert hall in Joyo (area south
of Kyoto) by 9, but somehow my alarm didn’t go off and I woke up sleepily and
then had a heart attack when my phone said 8:05. (Even though I had been
thinking, “I am DEFINITELY not going to be late for this!” …Oy vey…) But I got
there around 10:30 and quick-changed into Uber Ugly Costume and joined the
girls still doing warm-ups and ridiculous exercises, just like always.
The rest of the day went according to the meticulous
schedule given out to us. There were some final announcements and a few words
exchanged among the voice parts—I was bad at improvising mine for the altos,
but oh well. My crazy Westernized alto friend who was sick managed to show up
about 45 minutes before the show started at 3, which was a relief since I
wasn’t sure if she was gonna be able to come.
Finally we walked onstage for the Kyodai “E-ru” (jisho.org
says “yell” or “cheerleading shout”), which is the choir’s theme song. I was in
the front row and had just barely learned it, but whatever! I think it was
okay! Maybe. And then the real thing began…
I wish I could say we all looked really snazzy, but I can’t
say that about the girls. The costume is just not flattering…one of my friends
who attended feels the same. It looks like wearing a white trash bag with a cheap
corsage tucked into a long and shapeless black skirt. The guys looked way
hotter than us—black pants with white shirt and blazer and red ties (ow-ow!).
Then there was Miyako, the girls’ conductor, wearing a beautiful crimson A-line
gown that had a couple of shoulder-slip wardrobe malfunctions during the
women’s pieces…scandalous! And the conductor for the mixed pieces, Sally, who
looks like a little girl, was wearing a tiny tux, which was basically the
coolest and cutest thing ever.
No fair. We need to petition for better women’s choir outfits…
No fair. We need to petition for better women’s choir outfits…
Anyway, the girls’ pieces in Japanese—a set called Hikari to Kaze wo Tsurete, “Going with
Light and Wind”—were gorgeous as always. We couldn’t watch the guys’ songs
since we had to do stretches, but we’d seen them at the dress rehearsal before.
My friends, like I, thought their pieces were a little weird—one was about a
small fish and one was about a serious man, walking seriously, crying
seriously…and then killing someone seriously. Japan, man oh man, are you effed up
sometimes.
Finally it was time for the slightly odd mixed pieces in
Hungarian by Kodaly—two short and one really long one. I didn’t remember every
single word, but I faked it well when I didn’t! Yay. And then the magic
happened! I was already trying to be expressive with my face, but by the time
the last one finished, I couldn’t keep the grin from my face and my eyes. As we
continued into the encore (my favorite—it’s got a lovely melody and bittersweet
yet happy romantic lyrics in Japanese), I just kept on beaming brighter than
the stage lights, trying to share my happiness and satisfaction with the
audience.
As soon as it ended, we walked off and then ran from
backstage to the lobby to sing a couple of just-for-fun songs as people came
out: men’s, women’s and mixed. Man, it was weird singing spirituals from the
slave days surrounded by Japanese accents. Oh, and the Lupin the Third theme song with the girls. We sang one more and
then hummed it as the PR boy and girl thanked everyone, then people started getting
tossed in the air. There was so much love! On top of that, I saw my Japanese
teacher saying hi from the audience and thanked her profusely, and then I saw
my KCJS buds and Japanese friend coming through the crowd. I was so darn happy
I just hugged them all—who cares if that’s not how they do things here? They
had to skedaddle, but it was good even just seeing them for a bit.
After that people gathered their things, including goodie
bags filled with dan-pure (dan purezento, or choir present) and rolled out. Those gifts are so
adorable—it’s like secret Santa, except you make cute little notes to people
and put it with a small gift or treat and distribute them to people’s bags. I’ve
gone through most of mine now and it feels like Christmas came early, despite
it having nothing to do with Christmas—so much love! I got stuff from people
who I haven’t even talked to and people whose names I can’t match with faces.
Now I feel sort of bad I only had time to make little ones for the altos, but
that’s still a lot—19 people! Now imagine making stuff for 80!
So we all took the train up to the location of the
reception, a large floor of an izakaya
with dinner tables and couches and whatnot. Now this was not quite the
afterparty I was expecting—it was more like a wedding reception than a wild
party like I’m used to. Well, at least I got to sit with a couple of other new
recruits, including a fellow alto who likes manga and is really good at drawing
but is going to be a nurse. We had some nice good dorky chats. New otaku friend
ftw!
Anyway, at this reception, there was alcohol and food, but
it was mostly about toasts, congratulations, and present-bestowing at the front
of the room. Fairly early on, one announcement from the women’s conductor
turned into the men’s conductor proposing to her. Once I figured out what was
going on, I was like, “Whoa, they were dating? Wait, what the crap? That’s
adorable! But wait, what?? How old are they?” Apparently they’re around
twenty-one. Dang!
So things went on like that, and I had lots of umeshu (plum liquor, good stuff) trying
to get up the courage to talk to a certain person beyond the awkward
interactions we were already having. I wanted to see how the rest of the night
would play out, so I go, screw the last bus, I’m sticking around after the
reception! Which I would learn was both a good and awful idea.
While the workers were cleaning up the space, people poured
beer on two of the tenors while they stood in boxes, though I’m not really sure
why. That’s probably the most frat-like thing in Japan I’ve seen. Appropriate,
since one of the guys getting beer-ified seems like he could be in a frat. Then
people sang more together, and then paused on a certain note as the former
conductor called up their successor, hugged them and said things we couldn’t
hear, and literally handed off the baton. People were crying, and I was
actually pretty moved too. So that happened for men’s, women’s and mixed
pieces, and then the PR pair called up their successors. It was so surreal,
watching the end of an era.
Afterwards, we went outside until the real afterparty (nijikai) began at 1AM, and braved the
cold while we went around the circle and shared some more words with each
other. Even a few alumni were there and got all nostalgic! Mine was better this
time and I thanked people for taking me in despite being an exchange student,
and the fact that I was able to sing in the whole concert was thanks to them,
among other things.
Then it was time for the nijikai,
which was painfully expensive, but still pretty fun, and a bit more like the
party I had expected. Still didn’t get to talk with that one person, but I had
some fun times, and when Frat Guy started chilling at our table (these ones
were low Japanese-style) I told him how I missed American college parties and
how I think he’d probably enjoy them (trololol). We also talked about J-rock
some, and a couple of other random dudes around me started chatting as well—it
was weird being the center of attention, since I sometimes feel a little left
out in choir. After drinking and eating still more, we headed outside at 3 and
went to the Kamo River to sing until buses and trains started up. I probably
should have taken a taxi home here, but I didn’t want it to end, and after all
a cab would be pretty expensive…
We sang some stuff from the book of optional songs,
conducted by the new peeps, with people occasionally chilling on the side or
going to the convenience store. Eventually the trains started running so people rolled out, as it was really cold, but a couple of nice people stayed with me
as I waited for the bus (in the warm train station—hehe I’m smart!) Originally
I was going to go straight to campus and survive class, but I changed my mind
on the bus and decided to stop at home first. Then my body decided that I was
not making it anywhere and that I’d better stay and collapse.
So other than the fact that I’m sort of dead, along with my cell phone (seriously what is wrong), I’m still feeling the afterglow of choir-ness! I won’t see them much until later in January, besides the Christmas party in two weeks, but I feel a much stronger bond with them now. But damn, I am never staying out all night in the cold again. Not even the liquid jacket helped me there… There was also no liquid courage, but maybe being in Japan sucks that out of you and makes you repressed? OTL
Well, enough vague references for now, I have to go freak out about schoolwork—it’s the last official week of class! (Help. Please. Anyone.)
[*Update: that cell phone battery thing did not get better and resulted in me having to go through the hellish prepaid-phone-buying-process over again. uugh.]
