North America Guitar Tour Until Departure Early March to June 11, 2014 In early March 2014, my old friend U came to visit me with her MacBook Pro that had stopped recognizing the hard disk. I had rescued her several times in the past for similar cases, but she suddenly said, "I don't have money, but I'm sorry for always helping me, so I want to give something back." It was normal for friends to do things for free except for the actual expenses, and even though we've been friends for many years, I was a little prepared for what she would say next, when she asked me a surprising question: "Do you want to go to America?" I replied "Yes", feeling relieved. Then she made an offer I hadn't even expected at all: "I have enough mileage points to go round trip to America, so use them." Usually I would have hesitated due to my tight financial situation, but the month before, I had received some unexpected income, and at that point, I had decided to go, so I gratefully accepted the offer. Then, while I was replacing the hard disk on her PC, she used my MacBook Pro to go to the airline's website and asked, "How long will it take?" I hadn't thought of anything other than going, so I said "Maybe after Golden Week", but she said "If that's the case, the return trip will be during the summer vacation when fares are high, so can we postpone it a little longer?" I didn't have any specific plans, so I replied "Sure," and she asked "What about June 11?" and I immediately said "OK." At that point, I didn't have any plans for June, so any day was fine. Thus, the departure date was decided before the HD was replaced. If I went, I had decided that the starting point would be Seattle, which I could call my second home, where I spent three and a half years as a student, so it was an easy choice. The beginning and end of the itinerary were decided now, but the contents were completely blank at this point. The range you can go will be greatly different depending on whether you travel by car or plane. When I visited Nashville in 2012, I knew that getting in and out of the airport on domestic flights had become much more difficult than it was in the 1970s, so I wanted to drive if possible, so I first looked into the possibility of getting a driver's license there. There were states where I could get my license, but if I couldn't, it would be a disaster. So I look for a driving school in Japan, but it overlapped with spring break, so I was told that if I took the normal course, I would not be able to get it until July. I felt like I'm stuck for the time being. So I used email, YouTube, and Facebook to ask around for people I could meet there. Despite my seemingly reckless offer to "play a performance in return for lodging and food," I received a grateful response one after another saying, "Come to my place!" This meant I definitely needs a car, and I looked for various options, including short-term training camps, but I was having trouble finding a date that suited my schedule. It was then I received a call from Mr. M, a junior from junior high and high school who used to be an instructor at a driving school, saying, "I want to ask you about machine heads for guitars." At this point, it was already just before Golden Week, so I asked him if I could get my license before I leave on June 11. It was the last resort. He arranged a course in as little as 19 days at a driving school in Tsunashima where his junior was an instructor, and I started attending the course the next day. Although I had driving experience in the US when I was young, I had only been behind the wheel a few times in Japan, so I started from scratch. However, when my goal was clear, I used my superhuman strength to the fullest, and passed all six tests, including the final one at Futamatagawa. After I got my license, I immediately applied for and obtained my international driver's license. I hadn't taken a test since my middle school entrance exam, so I had no confidence, but it turns out that if you have a clear goal, you can do it. However, it was painful that almost half of my extra income was gone in those 19 days. I'll have to use this as a story over on stage when I get to US. Now that I have a means of transportation, I was able to confirm the dates specified by the other party and continue to adjust the itinerary until just before departure, filling in the gaps. It had been several years since Mr. U, who allowed me to use my mileage, had come to visit, and it was also the first time I had received a call from Mr. M, who made it possible for me to obtain my driver's license. By making up my mind to "take action," I had a strange feeling that I was drawing others to me, but the real thing is yet to come. *People appearing in this article have been given initials until their identities can be confirmed. |
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