Hello. It has been a while since we created this blog. We are still kind of struggling how we manage both this blog and our website at Wix at the same time. Well, I think we just write it here and copy/paste there?
Mike and I both had very busy December, fortunately. Then, January and February are very slow. Which is good, (at least for me) I can focus on practicing, and also a LOT of doctor appointments...
It is good to have time to think what I really wanna do while I am in Japan. Towards the end of the year of 2019, I started thinking about joining some volunteer groups/ projects. After being away for 10 years, I am grown enough now to finally start giving back to the community a little. haha.
There are a couple of things I am involved at this moment, but one of the biggest ones is ITF(International Trombone Festival)2020Japan! I am so excited to help this amazing event and those people giving all their spare time and efforts voluntarily.
I actually could present at the festival in 2017 in Redland, CA with a group "San Diego Trombone Collective". It was truly wonderful experience to just be there. There are numbers of trombone superstars just walking around (they would even stop doors for you!), and you get to go listen to all of them! It was really like a dream, and I am so happy that my Japanese (and Asian) trombone friends can do that too this year!
Also, I have been always passionate about education/children. Although my teaching certificates in Japan need to be re-activated (Yes, they expired while I was away, not using them.), my heart is always with children. Fortunately, I had great opportunities both in Pittsburgh and San Diego to teach kids a lot. It does not seem like for me to have a chance to teach regularly in here for several reasons, but I recently found a community I might be able to serve.
In addition, I am very happy that our trombone quartet decided to do our next concert with local collage students instead of having some famous player from mainland as a guest. It is always good to work with young people, right? Hopefully, they will like it, too...
It is getting long, so I will write about details next time. Event page of our website is already up, so please find the information there if interested.
Thanks for reading my long post... 疲れたので今日は日本語はなしで。
Good night!
Naoko