Sarah and Takuya Tour, Summer 2013

I'm taking some days off work for the next few weeks, but that doesn't mean I've been lounging about.  Much to the contrary - music has been filling most of my days.

On Saturday, Takuya and I played at the Bare Bear Beer Festival, hosted by Hokkaido International School.  It was a three-day beer fest, used as a charity event to raise money for scholarships for HIS students (like Ethan).  It was fun, and we had a really good time.  Also, I had a watermelon wheat beer that was so good!

The day after the Beer Festival, we played at a street festival in the Shiroishi neighborhood.  A guy who often comes to our Mellow shows got us this gig, and wanted us to wear yukata (summer kimono), as many people do for festivals.  So my Japanese teacher was kind enough to let me borrow a yukata and put it on me, since it can be a bit difficult.

I mean, look at that bow.  That ain't easy to do!

It was especially fun walking around and getting on the subway in yukata, as I felt like I was even more noticeable than I usually am.  Little girls kept looking at me like I was a princess.

Anyway, we played two times that day, and I was a little nervous about it since we were the only group singing English songs, and these people had no idea who we were.  When we play at bars, the people who come are there to see us.  So this was a little nerve-racking.  But a few friends came out and I felt less nervous!  And singing outside is always an adventure!

then of course on Friday we had our usual Mellow Live.  Honestly, I didn't think anyone was really gonna come - lots of people are on vacation, and others have left Japan and I don't know many of the newbies yet.  But sure enough, lots of people came and it was such a wonderful night.  It's funny - one month the audience is nothing but Japanese, and the next month it'll be nothing but foreigners.  This month, it was lots of ALT's and some English-speaking friends, so that meant I did most of the talking.

I know I say this every time, but it just makes me so happy that people still come out and want to hear us sing.  What started on a whim two years ago is still going strong, thanks to the support of all our wonderful friends.  Life doesn't get much better!