Somehow, I survived the Genki dance retreat with my limbs intact and the piano concert with my sanity (relatively) intact.
A behind-the-scenes peek at the costumes and makeup for Genki:
(My zombified clothes for the Thriller dance!)
(Ripping holes in, applying fake blood to, and dragging your clothes through the mud is quite fun. Therapeutic, even. I highly recommend it.)
The zombie look:
If you have a Facebook account, you can check out videos of the dances here (I'm in the Dance Retreat Finale, Zombie views 1 and 2, and the Fox Dance — still in fox makeup in most of them!)
A sign posted at the dance retreat venue, a youth center in the mountains:
(Who's this Chuck guy and what was he smoking?)
And of course, the gorgeous official show poster:
Classes are done for the year (here, the school year starts in April and ends in March — Japanese schoolkids still get a nice, long summer break, but it's just during the school year rather than between school years). Elementary school graduation is tomorrow (I'll be going to Daiichi, my biggest school). The weather has been yo-yoing, but spring is slowly on its way (I hear rumors of cherry blossoms, though I haven't seen any yet). Do you know what spring means? Spring break! I did end up making plans after all, so for spring break Rachel, Martin and I will be going to Sapporo, Hokkaido — where it is, ironically, still very much winter.
Flights, hostel, and snowboarding lessons are booked! Catch you later, Kochi!
Peace,
Britt
