One of the gems of Wakuwaku is not here this year: Christy and her amazing bassoon duet instrument demonstrations. And yet, because her section mate is still here under a different type of contract, and because her replacement doesn't have the same thirst for arranging crazy, over-the-top bassoon duets, her voice lives on in Wakuwaku. Today's arrangement of the grocery store's theme song was just as amusing, but somehow a little hollow, a little sad.
There are so many traditions that get passed along over the years. Arrangements for Wakuwaku demonstrations, bike routes to HPAC, recommendations for taking taxis, buses, and trains to get to different places for the least money and time, advice on English-speaking doctors, restaurants with English menus. Only being here for three years–and as foreigners, having limited resources to find new information on Japanese-only websites–we find ourselves dependent on what those before us leave behind. And along with the tangible information, there is a trail of practice. It's not just Christy's bassoon demonstrations that live on, it's also her energy that made them; her desire to create and do things for fun, to share with others. There are a lot of ripples from the past that are still here; and so many of which I'm sure I'm unaware. Who was the first to discover the local onsen, or the Indian Restaurant? One day, years from now, people will play the bassoon duet grocery theme song and speak of a Christy only known in name. Something remains, something continues.
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