No Boys in Brass Band

So, I was studying Japanese today - because I had nothing else to do - no classes or anything... I study out of a book that I get from the JET program. It covers a lot of ground really quickly. So, I'm past the point of "Hi, my name is...". While reading a sample dialogue (in Japanese), my principal comes up to me, sees what I'm reading, and decides that he's going to give me a Japanese lesson. So, he reads the first sentence of the dialogue and has me repeat after him, which I do with no problem (like that helps me with the meaning...). But then he decides to take it back a step - by teaching me the alphabet. I learned the alphabet before I came to Japan. It was the one thing I knew. But, he writes it all down and has me repeat after him - like reading along with the ABC's. We do this several times. Thanks for the Japanese lesson...

Also today, the new 7th graders went around to all the different club activities so they could decide which one they wanted to choose. I was hanging out in the band room, trying to recruit kids. It was really funny. The kids come in, they walk over to one of the 8th or 9th graders, who hands them an instrument and gives them brief instructions on how to play it. Then they kids blow away until they make a sound. My job was to make brass band look cool (its a sad state of affairs when I, of all people, am the authority on what is cool). I really want some boys to join. There hasn't been a male member of the Nakatomi Junior High School Brass Band in over 5 years.

Tomorrow, we'll give a little performance to further persuade the new kids. Before the performance we all stand up and give a little speech about how great band is. The speech ends with the whole band saying something like "lets enjoy brass band together" in unison. We were rehearsing this. After everyone yelled this phrase, they sort of just stood there awkwardly. I jokingly suggested that all give a thumbs up at the end. Unfortunately my suggestion was regarded as a good idea. It looks really nerdy. I don't think any boys are going to be joining brass band this year...