Why Did I Have to Come to This Again?

On Tuesday (24th) it was time for them to change the sheets and clean again. I got up and took my computer up to the second floor while they did what they had to do. I came back down after a little while and ate some breakfast. After a little while Michael came and knocked on my door. He said he had missed a phone call and was wondering if it was from me. I told him no and said that maybe he should ask at the front desk.

I then got ready for the day and when I popped out of my room at one point I ran into Casey. She gave me some lipstick and mascara that she had that was never used. I think the colors will actually look nice on me so I was happy to take them off her hands. Since we didn’t have a lesson until that night I watched some TV while I relaxed.

About an hour before I was going to leave to go to Ono Casey knocked on my door. She wanted to know if I could hear her. Now with construction going on across the street and the gardeners blowing leaves or something outside I could barely hear my TV much less her next door. However, when the noise quieted down outside I could easily hear the drone. I went over to let her know and then a little later I left. I knocked on her door to let her know I was going but she didn’t seem to be coming at that point so I left without her.

As it turns out I ended up being 45 minutes early and only Todd and 2 or 3 other people were there. Since I had nothing else to do I watched Todd heat up the coals for the shos to use. (The shos have to be heated before and after use or they can break.) Casey arrived next and while she was settling in I noticed that I too had missed calls on my phone.

I asked Todd if he did and sure enough it was from the same number but Casey didn’t have a missed call. Michael finally arrived and I asked what number the call was from but he hadn’t charged his phone so he hadn’t brought it with him. While we were waiting for class to start I relocated to sit with the other ryuteki players. This old guy was busy running around and I had no idea what he was doing. As it turns out I think he was taking attendance and he made a big production when the our teachers arrived so he was really getting annoying.

Class ended up starting a little late because our teachers didn’t get there until about 10 minutes after it was scheduled to start. Then the first song we played I not had never heard before but I didn’t have the music for it. Then the second song I tried playing because one of the other players was nice enough to make a copy for me. The song was very difficult though and I didn’t understand the timing. I was getting annoyed.

After we were done working on that, about 45 minutes later, we took a small break. The guy next to me told me the next part required me to have a different smaller flute which I don’t have. So that meant I couldn’t even try playing. I was really getting annoyed now because this class was really becoming a waste of time for me. I could have done other things during the day or just had a day off to myself.

While I was sitting around doing nothing the guy next to me explained that the next two songs that were going to be played the shos didn’t play. Apparently the music from the first part was Chinese based and the ones about to be played were from Korean. The music from the first part could be played as either just a music piece or as Bugaku, or dance music. The music from the second part was only Bugaku and apparently that is why the shos didn’t play. He also explained that the dance costume for the pieces from China was a red color while the costume for the ones from Korean was blue or green.

While this was very fascinating and I learned something new I was still annoyed. I could have done lots of other things. We packed up and Casey wanted a photo but we just wanted to leave and everyone was clearing out so we left and she went to a pharmacy or something, who knows. We said bye to Todd at the station and Mike and I got on the train home. We talked on the way back and bonded a little bit I think, mostly over Casey being flaky.

When we got back we both got bikes and went to the Saty to pick up some food. We got our food and then came back. After I put my food away I went I got on the internet to check my email. I found out that since the shos sensei was going to be away they had the next day, Wednesday, off as well as the Wednesday of the following week. Meanwhile, I didn’t have such luxuries. I was a bit annoyed about that but whatever, I can deal. As I was coming down I stopped briefly to talk to Casey and let her know in case she didn’t get the email. Then I went to bed.