Nagashima Cultural Festival
Not too long ago did Nagashima city celebrate its yearly cultural festival. Everything from hula dancing and folk singing to traditional flower arrangement and Japanese drumming took place at this event. Since Curtis and I were also asked to participate we decided to sing Amazing Grace. To practice we went to the Karaoke Box on the other side of the island and sang the song over and over until we were absolutely sick of it.
Because we were asked to prepare a short introduction for the announcer to read as we went on stage, we wrote something along the lines of how we were happy to be a part of Nagashima’s cultural festival and how we hoped that we could share with everyone a little piece of our own culture. Sounds good, right?
However, instead of reading what we had prepared, the announcer thought it would be more entertaining to make up his own introduction. It went something like, “Spencer and Curtis love Nagashima shochu and they gulp it straight from the bottle every single day! Now please put your hands together and give them a big round of applause!” Everyone had a good laugh except Curtis who whispered to me on stage before singing, “Wait, did you write that? We didn’t write that. Who wrote that?”
On the second day of the festival Curtis and I woke up at 5:30 am because we had volunteered to make rice balls that were to be sold at lunch that afternoon. Making the first 500 rice balls was actually kind of fun, but by the time we made over 1,400 rice balls I swore I never wanted to eat, see, or smell rice again for the rest of my life. I didn’t really mean it though as that evening Curtis and I went out for sushi.
About mid-afternoon as we were busily making onigiri (rice balls) we were asked to sing Amazing Grace for a second time. 
Because the acts planned for that day were moving along faster than anticipated they needed something to kill some time. With rice stuck to our fingers and all over our clothes we rushed onto stage. After being interviewed about how we felt about Nagashima we serenaded the audience yet again. Once everyone clapped and cheered us off stage we were back to work making onigiri for the afternoon lunch rush.
Spending time with others in the community is always a good time. Because all of Nagashima seemed to somehow be involved with the town cultural festival it was a good opportunity to meet new faces and make new friends. Curtis and I have already decided to perform again next year, perhaps it will be something in Japanese. Good times!
