Doing these things that I do, part 2

Now I will describe the structure of a taiko practice. My last class on wednesdays ends at 430, so if I catch the appropriate train I can be home as early as 515. Between 620 and 630 I need to leave for taiko practice. I ride my homestay dad's bike, and it's uphill the whole way there, and this bike ride takes me about 25 minutes. The bike is a terrible Japanese bike and of course has no gears, so this is a pretty good warm-up. I arrive at the culture center and help carry drums from the storage room to the practice room upstairs. By seven, most people (out of about 30 in the group) have arrived. 7-740 is 'basic training'; this is my favorite part. Sensei leads with a basic beat and everyone follows. This practice is for rhythms and for taiko form. 740-820 is called 'kiyari' practice. Kiyari is a style of taiko where the drums are placed sideways, and one person plays each end of the drum. This is really hard, but it seems to be one of Uzu's signature pieces, and it's getting easier. I usually don't participate in the 820-900 practice because it is usually much more complicated pieces far beyond my skill set. But I have a lot of fun watching and trying to understand the patterns that hold the rhythms together. 

Last week, in addition to normal practice on Wednesday I also attended a bonus practice on Friday. This practice was almost entirely devoted to the teaching and learning of one of those more complicated pieces. I don't remember what it was called, maybe something about a fisherman and a mountain? Only about half the group showed up, which created a really nice atmosphere for me to learn in. I had an incredible epiphany, that sometimes one arm needs to move way faster than the other arm. 

On Monday, I went on an incredible run around my neighborhood, and finally visited this cemetery on a hill really close to my house at the end of my run. I have been thinking about grave sites since reading about the pattern of Grave Sites (70) in the book A Pattern Language. Sometimes, it's really important to remember all stages of the life cycle. I could see Uji and Kyoto extending far into the distance from the top of the hill. 

Last night, Kendall and I went to a tea ceremony class in an old ryokan (Japanese-style inn). It's really hard for me to describe the circumstances that brought us to the old ryokan, as well as the actual experience of being in the ryokan and the tea ceremony class, so I'm not going to. But it was amazing, and in two weeks we are going to start practicing tea ceremony. 

I am about to go to another taiko practice.