One place in the world with which I am extremely intrigued yet have no desire to actually visit is Japan…. and it comes down to two matters of grave concern: the language and the sushi.   Let’s dispose of that second matter first: I know that one can eat more than sushi there,  but it still feels like the kind of place where the entrees might be things like Sauteed Seahorse Kidneys with Seaweed Risotto . . . or maybe Squid & Sea Slug Chowder with Dried Coral Cracker Crumbs.  As someone whose preferred fish is Fish Sticks, Japan would be a scary place for me to visit.

As for the language,   when I see a photograph of downtown Tokyo and see all of those utterly indecipherable symbols (indecipherable to me, that is-  perfectly decipherable to those who know the language, of course) I get this queasy feeling in my stomach.  I am actually not fluent in any language other than my own,  but when I’m in Germany or Italy or France or Spain I at least have a fighting chance of making out a few words.  And just the fact that the building blocks of the language are familiar friends (the letters of our own alphabet) is enough to make me feel at least somewhat comfortable and even confident.  But Japanese?  It might as well be Klingon.   And that’s enough for me to leave the visits to Japan to other more intrepid folks.

And yet….

Over the last ten days, I’ve been reading increasingly enthusiastic facebook posts by members of Carthage’s wind ensemble,  scarcely able to contain their excitement over their upcoming tour to Japan.  Here and there has been a hint of nervousness, but 99% of their posts have conveyed nothing but sheer delight.

I think a lot of it has to do with Jim Ripley, the director of Instrumental Activities at Carthage, who’s leading the tour and for whom Japan is almost a second artistic home.   I know he has been a regular visitor there since his graduate school days back at Eastman…. and he has forged a very close relationship with Sakuyo University, which is one of the regular hosts of the Carthage band when it visits.   I’ve never accompanied the band to anyplace quite as exotic as Japan,  but I’ve toured with them to Sheboygan and Manitowoc, WI and Clinton, Iowa – which counts for something, doesn’t it?!?  And the truth is that Dr. Ripley has this wonderful way of making his tours fun and relaxed yet artistically superlative…..  and if I were going to take a trip halfway around the world, I can’t think of anyone who would be a better calming agent than Dr. Ripley.  Moreover, he takes plenty of time to make sure the band members are fully prepared for the trip, right down to important Japanese phrases, cultural matters, history, etc.  — because that’s when you can really enjoy yourself and experience a new place in the most potent, penetrating sort of way that stays with you forever and ever and ever.

Something inspired me to spring out of bed this morning at 4:15 so I could drive down to Carthage and wish the band bon voyage (or should I say Sayonara, which I don’t even know how to spell?)   I just had to drink in a little more of that thrilling sense of excitement.   It’s actually something I’ve done before,  with both the choir and bands – that is, getting up at an ungodly hour to see them off – but because these big tours happen every three years,  each time it tends to be an almost entirely new group of students who stare in bewilderment at this bleary-eyed professor who got up before the crack of dawn just to say hi and farewell.  Crazy?

Not exactly.   More like envious of these young people with such a thrilling adventure ahead of them.  And as great as it would have felt to be snuggled under the covers on that cold January morning,  it felt even better to be shaking hands on that bus and wishing I could somehow be a stowaway on this trip of a lifetime. . . even if it meant a couple of meals of Squid and Sea Slug Chowder.

pictured above:   The bus right before it departed the Carthage campus at 4:55 – 5 minutes ahead of schedule.