It’s been more than a week since we returned. I hope everyone is well and looking forward to overcome challenges in the new year. As we reflect on what we have learnt on the trip, I felt an emotional urge to pen my thoughts after managing the exchange all these years.
Meiden.Meridian.Moichido! Part V had been an emotional trip for me. It is probably the last MMM I will manage; but rest assured it will not be the last that our band will see.
MMM started in July 2006 when Meiden first came to MJC via the introduction by Ms Sia and Mr Ong. I was put in-charge of the exchange by the band teacher i/c then. We thought long and hard for a name for the concert and finally decided on “A meiden voyage: A musical journey across the meridian” to incorporate the names of both schools into the concert theme. Times were hard then; the band exco was very new and band members had their own agenda. I still remember consoling the entire exco, who were crying in the band store the night before the concert.
In December 2006, despite organizing an overseas trip in just 4 months, we were in Nagoya for the return leg of the exchange. The key thing that made me insist on the exchange was the need for a programme to bond the members, after seeing how they came as one after the exchange in July. The result proved to be very favourable. The other thing I did not want for our band was to be just an “SYF band” and so this was one of the programmes we pushed so hard for. For the record, I did not have a very enriching band life as a student; hence I do not want our band students to suffer that same fate.
The only thing I could not come to terms with was the programme proposed by the travel agent. I do not want this trip to be “wake up-breakfast-up the bus-arrive-down the bus-hotel-sleep” routine. Other than practicing with the best from Japan, our students should acquire life skills. Hence I made some daring decisions: to stay at a ryokan with shared facilities, taking the public transport and buying their own meals; hoping it will teach members financial and social awareness. This bold move benefitted some, if not most, members in time to come; most notably one of our alumni who backpacked across the entire Japan, all by himself.
Mr Kajiyama and myself thought long and hard at the theme of the exchange. The original name was way too long and we needed something simpler, but with a bang. Up till this very day we are still talking with much fondness how we spent an entire morning on overseas calls to each other, just to talk about the names we had in mind. The moment of eureka came when we both came up with the same name, at the same time. Fate sure has its way with things in life. And “Meiden.Meridian.Moichido!” was born.
2008 was an interesting year. Noticing the potential in the JC1 cohort, we pushed forward with quite a number of programmes. The July of 2008 was insane for the members with a performance or competition every weekend, and I still recall the image of two trumpet girls sleeping while seated, with their heads resting on each other. With an extremely strong exco, I knew the sky would be our limit. MMM part II would only prove to be a blast, with tickets sold out in less than two hours. For the hard work of all the members, we decided to use some of the profits from the concert to treat the entire band to a day in Tokyo Disneyland Resort. MMM part III was something I will never forget. The alumni had a big hand in it and their help was nothing less than divine.
2010 was a huge challenge. “MMM part IV” had an awkward schedule because of the compromises made for other official events. Nonetheless, we worked around it and made the best out of it. Several obstacles came along our way but we managed to circumvent them. There would be times when frustrations got the better of me, but I would always look back on the success of the previous exchanges and pressed on.
During the sectional ice-breaker at every exchange, Mr Kajiyama would look on and comment “This is great, Wong. This is great.” My reply would somehow, always be “Isn’t this what we had been working for?” We would have this conversation every time the two bands meet. We were like broken record players.
The highlight of MMM part V for me would probably be the combined high school concert in Nagoya. “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Armenian Dances” were what we had played for the previous exchanges in Nagoya in 2006 and 2008 respectively. As those songs were being played, I thought I saw the members from the 2006 and 2008 exchange trips, performing on the stage. It was a very emotional recollection for me. Or has fate decided to let me once again recall my wonderful memories on my last overseas trip with our band?
I hope the exchange will go on and on, true to the meaning of “Moichido” which means “one more time”. I am also very, very glad to see alumni members join the teaching profession and returning to manage the band. As much as I could not bear to let go, I have also told the band alumni that I am only managing their band until their return, and I would pass it back to them, for lack of a better term, the rightful owners and pioneers.
Thank you all, for the wonderful trip; we hope everyone had learnt something and more importantly, bonded more closely than ever before, and brace the storm ahead together. We will make it, just because we can, for we are MJCSB!
24th Dec 2010
Wong Chee Choy
Teacher-in-charge
MJCSB
p/s Here's wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and a wonderful year in 2011!
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