Japan Exchange, outgoing, post #7

Hi,

       It's already quite late and I can hardly keep my eyes open, but I wanted to tell you about one thing that happened today.  

       Friday and Saturday were the two days of the school festival, for which the preparations were extensive and very time consuming.  The culminating event took place this afternoon in the big all-purpose auditorium-basketball-court.  After the calligraphy performance and the dance group and the brass band and the play and the karaoke contest and the class videos, the principal, Mr. Chiba, suddenly took the stage.  He had told us that he liked to play the harmonica, but I was completely unprepared for what happened next.  He played the guitar while simultaneously blowing the harmonica.  And then he sang "Sweet Home Chicago" and "Blowing in the Wind."  In addition, he played and sang them pretty darned well.

         I'm not sure that the Japanese kids knew the songs, but our Chicago-area OPRF kids certainly did.  They cheered and stamped and yelled their approval.  I found myself feebly reiterating, "OMG, OMG, OMG," realizing that he was sharing his enthusiasm for American music and honoring us.  How surprising!  How touching!  How wonderful!

          More details soon...

CRK