News back home

Ahhh it's crazy!!! Have you heard? Laurens is gonna be on tv! Yes my town back home in SC is gonna be on one of those shows where they fix up a place on tv and my friend Stephen is helping out. He also met Ralph Stanley as my music buddies the Blue Ridge Rounders opened for Ralph this past weekend. CRAZY! Man I feel like I'm missing so much...who woulda guessed! Anyway you can check some Ralph and Rounders picks out on Stephen's website....http://banjochicken.blogspot.com . Go now!

As for my life...it's kinda the same old....I had an amazingly long trip up north to Murakami this past weekend for Peter ja Pan rehersal....I took 6 trains and 1 bus and it took me 8 hours. The people who didn't call me back and could have given me a ride took only 3 and a half hours. Luckily they let me catch a ride back and split the gas cost and expressway fare, which is just a little over half the price of taking the trains...and a whole lot faster. Everyone in the play had a fun Thanksgiving dinner together and a good practice on Sunday ( I missed the entire practice on Saturday cause of my travel issues). We went out karaoking after as well which was a blast. The dinner, friends and karaoking was just enough to redeem the weekend after 8hours of lonely travel and sleeping on the floor under my coat. Well I hope it goes better on performance day. I will definately drive up whether those other Joetsu folks are with me or not. Luckily the next practice is in the next town over from me so I can sleep in my own bed!! ugghhh I'm an old woman complaining so much.

I went to Japanese class last night, and tonite I'm going to the movies with Victoria! Yay...we're going to go see a new movie by Miyazaki called Howl's Moving Castle. It's a studio Ghibli film like Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke. It will be in Japanese, but what the hey...we might get some of it..plus in the style of all Ghibli films, the artwork is stunning. The reason for going to the movies on Wednesday is it's ladies night and the movie is only about $9, and it's usually about $16.5o per person...takai!
The movie Mr. Incredible...which is The Incredibles in America...will be coming to the theatre here on Dec. 4th so I'm looking forward to it...maybe they'll have that one available in subtitle form too.

This coming saturday I will be getting myself up to Niigata city to give a short talk at the Niigata Women's College...I will be talking about old time music in Appalachian America. I talk for about 15 minutes and then open it up for questions and discussions in English to the students. It's basically a big English practice session and culture exchange, and I'm looking forward to it. We even get paid to do it (though depending on if I split a car ride or drive myself, the cost may use up most of that money!-Zannen ne?)

Every weekend from here on out looks pretty busy through new year's! The weekend after is Joetsu peter pan practice, the weekend after that is an office trip to an onsen with the BOE, and the weekend after that I'll be spending Christmas (maybe in Okinawa with sand between my toes!) with Phil here in Japan. Much of that is in the planning stage...but the first 2days in Tokyo are gonna be awesome.

Now to open it up to some discussion....While in Murakami with a bunch of folks from America, Britain, and South Africa...we entered into the discussion of whether Americans are stuck up or not, because someone is always preaching "Thank God we're Americans or It's good to be an American, or God Bless America" Other country folks wanna know what is so great about America that makes Americans think its better than every other country? Is it just a media brainwashing that makes us think that way...or what? How might we feel to hear other countries leaders and top idols proclaim "Thank god we're Brits!" The idea of the topic also extended to the question...are Americans very global minded? We usually don't even know the politics or political leaders names in the countries just above and below us! Can you name 3 cities in Canada and in Mexico? Why do Americans only learn about America unless you go to college and have a class about another country? I'm embarrassed to meet Canadians who know more about what's going on in the US and other countries than I do about anything in Canada. It seems like the only time we learn anything about another countries politics is if we're blowing it up! Does this seem a little off to you?

Okay let's put a disclaimer in here....I like America and my family and friends who live there. I'll be glad when I go back and have a real friggin hot dog and Dr. Pepper! I miss American Southisms. I miss Old Time music! The only reason I'm worried and asking these questions is (this sounds cheesy) because I care about everyone in America and I don't want everyone to go around wearing blinders and being ignorant about the rest of the world, and becoming a butt of other countries jokes. And of course there are always exceptions to the rules...chances are, if you are reading my website you are a globally minded person...but you know not everyone where you live and work is! Just something to make you think! Let me know how you feel! I'll post it! Is America full of itself?