Hello guys! I'm gonna do a week in the life kind of post because my life is really fun and I'm so happy right now BUT also super busy, and I can't even remember and keep up with my own thoughts, so I wanna catch them as they happen!
Monday 2/20:
The first full day I spent with our new bird Olive! We just got him on Sunday because husband is starting his new job, and it's my super busy time of year, so Mint needed a friend!
The only plan I had this Monday was HTDC salsa open lesson from 8:15pm, without the social dance this week. On Mondays we have open lessons, so I don't know if it's gonna be a beginner lesson with a trial student, or if it will be just students from the upper salsa class until I get there. If it's just students from one specific class, we can practice that dance. No matter what, I always go though, because I love dancing, and it never hurts to brush up on the basics, plus Taku sometimes throws in fancy stuff for the more experienced follows, and I just love Hiro and Taku and their lessons in general, so I always wanna go!
It ended up being 1 trial student, 1 girl from the upper class, and the 1 girl who joined recently from the restaurant, so 4 follows including me, and Taku, the only teacher that day as a lead, because Hiro was teaching the all-girl dance group at the same time. I was thinking of offering to try to be a lead, right as Taku asked me to try XD I know from swing dance that leading is not as easy as following, especially for me. Salsa as a follow came easily to me, so trying to lead was a real challenge! But, Taku was very patient with me, and even took the extra time and effort to try and explain in English what my hands and feet were supposed to be doing XD
Tuesday 2/21:
My first work day of the week! Morning is kindergarten, then afternoon was the closing ceremony thing for a kid's production class I took over in the middle of the semester. Their performance was earlier this month, and they actually made me so proud I almost cried at one point, as I was watching them on stage. They surprised me and my assistant director (who I also love and have loved for a long time, so working with her made this even better) with flowers! And not just that, one of the students told me that they chose the flower colors specifically to match us, and she explained to me that the red was for my cute red glasses, orange for my (faded pink) hair, and yellow because of my bright personality 😭💕 So, I almost cried again...
Wednesday 2/22:
I had work, then salsa practice! Work was hard, but, fun as usual. Then salsa! So, we practiced the dance lots of times, and then we had just a few minutes left before the next class started, switched partners, and only me and one of the guys were ready to go and dance one last time. I thought we were all gonna give it one last go, but everyone else was kind of just like meh as the music started. So, the music started and we started dancing! Everyone was just watching, so Hiro and Taku were just like keep going, do the whole dance including the acrobatics part at the end (which only me and this partner have already successfully done with the full speed song before) and, wow. We did it!!! The end was perfect! But like, I didn't have time to be nervous about everyone watching before because I didn't know it was gonna be a performance in front of all the people (who also know this dance and have been doing salsa longer than I have), until we were already dancing and no one else was also dancing XD I kept getting distracted by everyone watching, and my stomach started to feel like actually sick while we danced, but I wanted to show off and do well at the same time. We nailed the ending at least XD
After that, we went out to the little place we went last time to drink! I guess we've got a little tradition in the making XD
Thursday 2/23:
This was the happyokai presentation day for Yoyogi's production class with Sky and Kaori and the amazing group of students who I've been with the past 2 years and love. 💕 It was a hectic, busy day, but we all did super well onstage!! I even think I did well 😆 I had a lot of fun doing this old lady makeup! We did Little Red Riding Hood, and I was Grandma. I hadn't done old lady makeup since I learned it in my makeup class in college. I'm glad I could still do it! After it was over, Sky was awesome and let me leave a bit early (skipping part of the cleanup) to go to the Upper salsa class! They started to do the formation, movement, and assigned partners for Yes We Dance because one person is going to be out of the country for most of March, so it was a kind of important class.
Friday 2/24:
First work, then I went to el Cafe Latino for the first time and danced for 4 hours till my feet hurt and I literally couldn’t dance anymore. That’s saying A LOT because I’m always the one after lessons and social dances saying I still wanna dance! There were so many good dancers, at least 2 REALLY great leads who I danced with, and 2 who threw me around violently and tried to break every bone in my body, and then just one creepy dude (There's always one, but other people always have my back and keep me safe 😁). It started with an on 2 salsa lesson with Ryu who I tried a few other lessons with before. Then, it was a sensual bachata lesson, which is always good because I don’t know a lot of sensual bachata moves and tend to get all tangled and confused during bachata social dances. And then, I also finally got to dance a bachata and salsa on1 dance with Ryu! I’ve said it before, but always try dancing with the teachers, and he’s the one teacher I never caught for a dance, and I finally got him this day!
Saturday 2/25:
Work again, then Nakano on 2 salsa! The main teachers were out of town, so one of the other dancers who is always there and does check in and stuff did a little free mini lesson, and it was quite fun and there were balloons involved XD
Sunday 2/26:
The first yearly big work happyokai end-of-the-year show out of 2! All of our classes that have been working on plays this semester have their performances spread across a bunch of different halls around the Kanto area for 2 Sundays. I only had one class performing this week, but that meant I had other duties... Luckily I wasn't leading a hall like I did in previous years, because that's A LOT of work, but I had to emcee the programs that my students weren't in. My class was amazing, they made me so proud! They were 6 and 7 year olds, so that's first year they perform on the big stage, and one of my students is a bit of trouble....but I love him, and I knew he would be great, and so I stood up for him when others said he was a bad kid, and I'm just so proud of how well he did! 🥰
Then, I totally forgot, but Motegi Smith Band also had a live that day! And, I was able to make it in time after work, so I went! It was in Akihabara. Husband and the Moband were in Kyoto and Osaka during this week, so I didn't get to see him much. So, even though I was ready to pass out from tiredness, I decided to go. Also, I hadn't had a chance to see a Moband live in a while, and I really truly love their lives, not just because my husband is their bassist XD I love all of the members, and their music is awesome! And, they improved! Like, they have all improved since I last saw them and it was especially noticeable since I hadn't gotten to see them live in a while. And then the weirdest thing I found out after, someone recognized me that night. A dad of one of my students is the booking person for that live house and recognized me!! Such a small world.
