A Plethora of Firsts

As we finish up the Japan concert tour, I wanted to share some of my firsts.

Japan from the Air

Being in Japan
Or in Asia for that matter. It goes without saying that it's very different from home, but I've enjoyed my time here tremendously.

First Sonos Tour
While some of the crew have toured in Japan six times previously, this is my first. I had no idea what to expect: how grueling would the pace be? Will I keep up?

Same Concert 10 Times
It's very different doing the same show over and over. We started getting the whole setup done in barely any time at all; everyone just knew what needed to be done. Even during the show, the tech all went smoother and we all learned the music better than I thought possible. And now with 10 shows done I think we're finally ready to go on tour ;-) 

Playing a Taiko Drum
While the picture isn't of me, I got to bang around on it too... highly recommended!

First One Wounded
No picture of this one (you're welcome). We hadn't been off the aircraft even for 1 minute and I was already bleeding. I don't even know how it happened... something cut my thumb up though.

Hanging With the Empress
Watched the Kiriku concert with the empress. She was looking over my shoulder the entire time.

Kiriku Concert
A few people had been talking about this great (I was told the best, anywhere) handbell group in Tokyo... and since they were having a concert we should go. To put it mildly, Kiriku surpassed even the high expectations I was given. They were amazing! And getting a standing ovation from the empress... not bad. Later on, I even got to meet and have dinner with the Kiriku folks - not sure you could meet a nicer bunch.

My Lust for Crust
One of the most interesting oddities (to me anyway) in Japan is the distinct lack of crust on their sandwiches.  Often, we would be given a pack of sandwiches to eat whilst rehearsing and preparing for a concert, and always these sandwiches lacked crust.  It wasn't that the Japanese figured a way to bake bread crustless, but it was actively being removed.
Thinking this may have been done specially for us, as we were guests, I went on a hunt around the various cities for crust.  Every sandwich I found also was missing its outermost jacket.
It took nearly 3 weeks, but I finally got a crust-laden sandwich.

International Incident
Leave it to Joe...
I was waiting for the elevator at the Keio Plaza hotel and there was a group of guys there. The eldest (probably around 50) said something to me. I recognized the inflection as a question, but I sure didn't understand, so I did what any good American traveling abroad would do and said "sorry, English."
Next thing I knew the guy was yelling at the top of his lungs "Chi-si! Chi-si!" and pointing at me... obviously very angry... then the 20-ish guy in their group comes up to me and asks where I'm from. "Ummm... California...' I managed to mutter. He said something to his elder and the situation seemed to diffuse.
Let me explain to those of you, like me, don't follow the highly charged and often violent world of professional soccer/football... because, let's face it, we just don't care that much in the States. The Brazilian team Corinthians was playing the English team Chelsea in Japan for some tournament. And the man I met was enough of a fan that he flew halfway around the world to watch a single game. And when I said English, he thought I meant the team...

 

Note to self, check the soccer schedule before traveling abroad.