University of Aizu Soshosai 2016

Most, if not all, middle schools, high schools, and universities hold a school festival once a year in the fall. They are usually referred to by two different names: 学園祭/gakuensai/school festival and 文化祭/bunkasai/cultural festival. However, some schools give their festivals their own name. Ours was called 蒼翔祭/soshosai. Various student groups and local vendors set up tents and displays all over campus. A main stage was constructed in front of the student hall entrance, again with many performers from on and off campus.

They cut giant banners out in strips...

...and taped them to the sides of the steps.

 








I participated in not one, but two stage events on day one (Saturday). The first event was the wind ensemble, which did a "mini-live" the day before our regular concert in the auditorium. For this event, we got some additional help. The university's wind ensemble has a partnership with the wind ensemble at the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies. Eight of those members travelled to Aizu to participate in both this mini-live and for a few songs during the regular concert the next day. They arrived in the morning as we were setting up for practice. We did a quick practice run of the songs and then went out on stage. It was raining at this point, which was definitely not what Tenki was predicting for the day. As a matter of fact, just as we finished the last song, the rain started to pour harder. 

A tight fit, but we all managed to get on the stage.

After that, everyone was given time to tour the festival. Unfortunately, I did not have that luxury. I had to go straight to the SAISUA tent after the live. SAISUA, or Support Association for International Students of the University of Aizu, was the organization that recently granted me a scholarship. (I should point out for the record that I am not a doctoral student; I am a master's student. UPDATE: It's been fixed.) As part of the terms of accepting the scholarship, I had to assist with the tent during the school festival. They were selling Sri Lankan curry; some of the students serving it were from Sri Lanka. I tried some afterwards, and it tasted way better than the 7-brand stuff I usually eat.

This is one of the ways that SAISUA can afford to give scholarships.

After a few hours at the tent, I headed back to the student hall to setup for the next live. The music group I was with this time was called Sound Baccano. (This was the group that I stayed really late with the past week to practice.) With Kaneta-san as the leader and main organizer, it comprised of some students from both the wind ensemble and the other music groups that usually practice next door. This group played fusion-style J-POP. We got onto the stage while the rain was still coming down, taking refuge along the way from students nearby who held up umbrellas and tarps to keep us dry. They were also there as we got off and moved our equipment.

Kaneta-san got some makeup applied to give himself angry eyebrows.

In both stage events, I got to play a solo. With the wind ensemble, there was an optional ad lib solo for bari sax during the last song that no other part had, so you bet your sweet ass I was going to take that chance. I'm not as good with improv as I used to be in high school, but I still have some of the talent left in me. The solo with Sound Baccano was a written solo, but it was stupid hard, and even with all of the practice effort that I was putting into it, I couldn't get it up to the main tempo. I was a bit nervous when I got on the stage that second time. But then, coming into the first verse of the second song, Kaneta-san's EWI had a malfunction. At that point, I realized that I had wound myself up too much during the festival. I was supposed to be having a good time, and his misstep reminded me that even though the solo may not work out, I was on the stage, with my friends beside me. I ended up messing up the first half of my solo. But I was having fun regardless.

A little drizze isn't gonna stop us from getting our jam on...

After that event, we went right back to practicing in the student hall for the concert the next day. We got out at around 2000 hrs, and I went back to Somei House to reheat some tacos and pass out. While I was getting settled in, I got a message from one of the members. Apparently, there was an afterparty that night at a local izakaya in town. (Another detail lost in translation.) I changed clothes and drove out to meet them.

This was around round two.

By the time I had gotten there, everyone else was already settled in and starting to hit the sauce. I felt a bit awkward at first, especially because I couldn't participate in the passing of the huge shouchuu bottle due to my means of transportation. However, there was some hope left in the evening in the form of the person sitting across the table from me. Her name was Taniguchi-san. She was her wind ensemble's tenor sax player, and I actually remembered her name out of everyone else's because she introduced herself in both Japanese and English. We ended up having a conversation, and we got to learn more about each other. Taniguchi-san was relatively new to music; she had only played the saxophone for about a year. She was an exchange student in Australia for a year in high school. She also wants to go for her doctoral degree someday. At that point, some of the other members started channeling the liquor and interacting with us, and we all ended up having a great time. 

Had a great time and made some new friends, too.

Day two (Sunday) was the regular concert. I was able to walk around the festival and see what was going on, though I wasn't able to do much due to time constraints. I arrived at the auditorium a few hours earlier to help with setup and do one last quick rehearsal. I had to wear my suit for the first two "stages", and then there was a third stage with the people from Kyoto again. Turnout was rather light, but we still played very well. (UPDATE: Here's the link to the wind ensemble's Youtube channel.) We had our group photo taken afterwards, and some of the students from Kyoto wanted their picture taken with me. I suppose that they wanted proof that they actually met someone who is 200 cm tall.

\m/

That's Taniguchi-san on the left. I look like a giant next to everyone in this country.

Metal (groove?) gestures with Ono-san (L) and Kaneta-san (R).

It was getting dark after the concert, so we packed up our things and temporarily disbanded. After a brief but amazing fireworks display on campus, it was time to say goodbye to the wind ensemble members from Kyoto. We all went to the bus terminal in town, where they were going to catch a bus to the depot in Koriyama and connect their way back home. We waved goodbye using the "metal" hand gesture, one of the gestures that we had to do for a song we played at the concert. Then we went to another izakaya for another afterparty.

Safe travels, friends.

I ended up having fun this weekend, which was a good thing given the stressful week that I'd been having. As for the wind ensemble in Kyoto, some of us are going to take our own trip there in March after classes are finished to visit and play with them. I'm excited and can't wait to go.

Everything turned out great in the end.

Today is a day off due to a national holiday, so I get one more day to recuperate before it's back to work and school. Next weekend is the Roadster Tohoku Meeting, which I will be attending. I guess that October will be the month of making new friends for me.

-wp