Apr 25, 2016
Apr 19, 2016
Strangest piano lesson so far
I took piano lessons here in Japan for a little over half a year, and quit because we all had to move out from the dorm into our new apartment.
After that I was planning to start again, but I was afraid I would not have enough money to actually pay for the lessons this time since my budget is totally different from when I was living in the dorm.
So I looked into some piano lessons around where I live and found a few but I only ever went to one trial lesson, where the lessons turned out to be totally over priced and not really what I was looking for anyway.
After that I just gave up looking because I thought that it was no use to even go to a trial lesson if I wont actually be able to start taking real lessons after that.
Then after my family left this month I realized that I had been stalling for a whole year with piano lessons and I just felt so sad! I missed a whole year full of opportunities. Maybe if I had just gone to some trial lessons it could've worked out somehow.
So I finally gathered some courage and called the number on the flyer for a piano lesson place I had had hanging on my wall for the whole year! It was a very confusing conversation but finally they told me they had no space left for new students and a space wouldn't open up for like 3 years, and if I had only called like a month earlier things would've been different.
Well, f me, is what I thought. What if this is the case for all of these places?
Anyway, I found 2 more places close by and they had space for more students!
So today I went to one of the 2 places for a trial lesson and it wasn't like any I've ever been to before.
I was thinking I'd be home within the hour because trial lessons are usually a bit shorter, and then you also use some time to go through costs etc.
Here I came in, showed him my old piano learning books and told him what I wanted to learn, we also talked about Sweden etc etc. Then we sat down at the piano for a little bit and the teacher told me a bit about reading sheet music and I got to play a few finger exercises. Then we sat back at the table again and I asked if it was possible to take 2 lessons a month, and the teacher said yes, but that he didn't really have any set price for that and so he asked what price I was looking to pay.
I didn't really know how to answer fairly, since ofc you want things as cheap as possible, so I made him say it. He told me, 5000 a month, which is 2500 a lesson which is the usual price for a lesson (unless it's like at yamaha or something) that is around 40-45 mins. If one hour then 3000 per lesson.
So it's a normal price BUT then he told me one lesson is 1 and a half hours, haha. I thought I had hit the jackpot and I was sold (even though I am not sure I've got the money scored yet..) so I chose a date for a next lesson and thought I could be on my way out but no.
What followed was a long conversation about Sweden, England, flying, cheap meat, family, apartments, school, etc etc. And somewhere in the middle of the conversation we came back to the piano lessons for a short moment and he said that each lesson, you spend some time at the piano, some time maybe getting other things explained to you, and some time just talking and drinking tea and maybe some cookies if there are any.
So now I finally understood why the lessons were so long, it's not just a piano lesson through and through, it is also time for a conversation. So I think if I actually start real lessons there, maybe 40 mins will be the lesson and the rest talking about other things, haha. I am not sure how I feel about that since this "lesson" was like 90% talking about other things. But I will give it a try because he seemed like a really good teacher.
I was finally able to kinda make an excuse, and after about 2 hours, be on my way back home again.
It was definitely an experience, and it was fun and the teacher was very nice, just maybe a little too much talking for my taste, haha.
After that I was planning to start again, but I was afraid I would not have enough money to actually pay for the lessons this time since my budget is totally different from when I was living in the dorm.
So I looked into some piano lessons around where I live and found a few but I only ever went to one trial lesson, where the lessons turned out to be totally over priced and not really what I was looking for anyway.
After that I just gave up looking because I thought that it was no use to even go to a trial lesson if I wont actually be able to start taking real lessons after that.
Then after my family left this month I realized that I had been stalling for a whole year with piano lessons and I just felt so sad! I missed a whole year full of opportunities. Maybe if I had just gone to some trial lessons it could've worked out somehow.
So I finally gathered some courage and called the number on the flyer for a piano lesson place I had had hanging on my wall for the whole year! It was a very confusing conversation but finally they told me they had no space left for new students and a space wouldn't open up for like 3 years, and if I had only called like a month earlier things would've been different.
Well, f me, is what I thought. What if this is the case for all of these places?
Anyway, I found 2 more places close by and they had space for more students!
So today I went to one of the 2 places for a trial lesson and it wasn't like any I've ever been to before.
I was thinking I'd be home within the hour because trial lessons are usually a bit shorter, and then you also use some time to go through costs etc.
Here I came in, showed him my old piano learning books and told him what I wanted to learn, we also talked about Sweden etc etc. Then we sat down at the piano for a little bit and the teacher told me a bit about reading sheet music and I got to play a few finger exercises. Then we sat back at the table again and I asked if it was possible to take 2 lessons a month, and the teacher said yes, but that he didn't really have any set price for that and so he asked what price I was looking to pay.
I didn't really know how to answer fairly, since ofc you want things as cheap as possible, so I made him say it. He told me, 5000 a month, which is 2500 a lesson which is the usual price for a lesson (unless it's like at yamaha or something) that is around 40-45 mins. If one hour then 3000 per lesson.
So it's a normal price BUT then he told me one lesson is 1 and a half hours, haha. I thought I had hit the jackpot and I was sold (even though I am not sure I've got the money scored yet..) so I chose a date for a next lesson and thought I could be on my way out but no.
What followed was a long conversation about Sweden, England, flying, cheap meat, family, apartments, school, etc etc. And somewhere in the middle of the conversation we came back to the piano lessons for a short moment and he said that each lesson, you spend some time at the piano, some time maybe getting other things explained to you, and some time just talking and drinking tea and maybe some cookies if there are any.
So now I finally understood why the lessons were so long, it's not just a piano lesson through and through, it is also time for a conversation. So I think if I actually start real lessons there, maybe 40 mins will be the lesson and the rest talking about other things, haha. I am not sure how I feel about that since this "lesson" was like 90% talking about other things. But I will give it a try because he seemed like a really good teacher.
I was finally able to kinda make an excuse, and after about 2 hours, be on my way back home again.
It was definitely an experience, and it was fun and the teacher was very nice, just maybe a little too much talking for my taste, haha.
Apr 14, 2016
Buying a real sanshin! ...or not!
 | |
| Sanshin |
Sooo, I've been wanting to buy the Okinawan instrument "Sanshin" for quite a while now.
It's like an older, cheaper version of the Shamisen and is traditionally made in snake skin. Of course, if you want to have one in snake skin the price will be double or more, but after seeing a snake skin sanshin in real life I was willing to pay more!
So I have been rummaging amazon for them and finally pinned it down to a few good, and cheap ones to choose from - only to find out that I might not even be able to bring it back to Sweden?!
I hadn't even thought about the fact that taking the skin from that snake might be illegal, atleast in the country you want to import it to. But then I read online about why some people were hesitant to buy Sanshin's instead of a Shamisen - because it might not even be allowed to bring it into the country!
That's just perfect, after all my searching and excitement and budgeting for this thing I probably can't even buy it. Though I am hoping, since it's Japan they know what they are doing here and they aren't using these illegal skins. Maybe then it will be allowed to bring into Sweden.
Anyway, if it turned out that they are not really allowed/shouldn't be using these snake skins then of course I shouldn't buy one. But if it is allowed and fine and not harming the snake population, I don't see why not. There are so many instruments using different types of animal skin, if you want a real high end Shamisen you usually buy it in catskin! Is catskin allowed to be brought into Sweden? o.0 (Not that I am planning to buy a Shamisen like that, lol. I could only afford one in plastic if even that).
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| Shamisen (though probly not catskin) |
I sent a message asking about this on a site that knows about this type of stuff, but I am pretty sure they will give me a big fat no.
Buut, I haven't bought it yet so, I should be happy about that! But which one do I get now? The one with fake snakeskin or one with a dragon print or summin? Hmm...
Atleast now I know til next time, if I ever again find a cool instrument with some strange animal skin on it =P
Apr 3, 2016
Whale wathing in Zamami, Okinawa
I haven't updated my blog in forever because I am still traveling every day now that my remaining family members have come to Japan - my mum and my 2 siblings.
They only got to stay in Osaka for 3 days before we took a flight to Okinawa and Zamami island.
At Zamami we swam every day and looked at the fishes, and one day we also went out for some whale watching.
The whales come down to the sea near zamami during the winter months but you can still see them in the beginning of may (they have tours until like the 5th of may or something).
We got really lucky as we got to see a whale jump four times, right next to the boat! Very cool experience!
These photos were taken by the whale watching guide. The under water photo's were taken with a go-pro on a long stick =P
They only got to stay in Osaka for 3 days before we took a flight to Okinawa and Zamami island.
At Zamami we swam every day and looked at the fishes, and one day we also went out for some whale watching.
The whales come down to the sea near zamami during the winter months but you can still see them in the beginning of may (they have tours until like the 5th of may or something).
We got really lucky as we got to see a whale jump four times, right next to the boat! Very cool experience!
These photos were taken by the whale watching guide. The under water photo's were taken with a go-pro on a long stick =P
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