Ah... summer vacation! I only have to go to school a couple of times next week to help the two boys that we chose for the speech contest on their speeches. I'm hoping to have their speeches ready in a week. I'm sure they can do it. And hopefully they can do as well as the girls did last year. The first competition is in September, so we only have a month and a half to get them ready. It's all pretty fun for me, but the kids really have to work hard to memorize that five minute speech. I think I would have trouble memorizing something five minutes and even more trouble with something in a foreign language.
Anyway, my boyfriend's band had a show last Sunday. It was part of a "hard rock" night, and, since they don't usually play hard rock, they did a bunch of cover songs. To add to the mood and fun, they changed the band name a little and wore costumes. They looked ridiculous of course, but they sounded really good. I was especially surprised at how much my boyfriend's voice had improved after taking vocal training lessons. I think being in Nagano for a while has really made him focus more. In addition to his improved vocal tone, the English lyrics were clear and understandable. I guess I take a little credit for that, but he had to practice a lot to memorize them. It was definitely one of the most fun shows that I've ever been to.
The picture is of a small path between houses in Okaya with pretty orange flowers.