We had the pleasure of getting to see Erika Sekiguchi and Noel Tokutake perform with the Karuizawa Junior Chorus at Ohga Hall during their Christmas concert. They are daughters of our language helpers and avid singers offstage as well. Please enjoy this collection of 6 videos including favorites such as Gloria and Jingle Bells. [link to YouTube playlist]
Our good friend Keiko invited us to join her and her friend from Tokyo, Kaoru, as they sang in the living Christmas tree on display at Karuizawa's famous Megumi Chalet Christian retreat center. Our language helper Midori had given us a copy of the Japanese songs ahead of time which include Gloria, Joy To The World, and Silent Night. It's one thing to practice recitals in front of a small classroom. It's an entirely different thing when you're standing in front of a hundred people who've come to be entertained by your singing in their native language. In spite of the fact that the size of the words was small and I had to skip most of the unfamiliar kanji characters, Weiling and I managed to make it through to the end (though one of my pages was out of order, so you may notice me looking at my neighbor's hymnal to find out what song we're on). I would definitely do it again now that we can practice to the recording. As a special bonus, see if you can find Aaron in the Christmas tree. He doesn't sing, but like a whack-a-mole game, his head can be seen popping up from time to time. Oh, and to be fair, I was asked to read aloud the English words to Silent Night as the choir was practicing singing it in English. So we all got to share in the "pleasure" of singing in different tongues. Watch these videos fullscreen in HD to get the full flavor. [YouTube playlist link]
This is what the road from our house to the LCMJ language school looks like when it snows. The kids were happy to have a half day off of school to play and Julina joined us for Japanese class. I had forgot how much snow can be around Christmas.
Our language teacher Miho Tokutake invited us to join her and her daughter to the Prince Shopping plaza a few miles from our place in Karuizawa. We met at the Starbucks for lunch and then wandered around the upscale shops. It was great weather and there were lots of families playing in the park.
This is Noel, Miho sensei's daughter who is Ellissa's age. Her drawing is being showcased at the shopping plaza and depicts her with her friends singing at church. Click the photo to enlarge.
Here is our local volcano, Asama Yama, with the Karuizawa fire station in front. It's always fun to see it on a clear day. As of this writing, it had most recently erupted in Feb of 2009 sending ash and rock up to 1km away. It is not the lava kind of volcano, so we don't have to worry about our house catching fire, but all the local school children where safety helmets to and from school to protect themselves from flying rocks! Perhaps one day we might climb it, although I'm not that excited about it.
