On Tuesday, July 5th, there was the Yosakoi Concert at Peace Plaza. It was my first major event since I started my internship at NJAHS. We had a script planned out and rehearsed before the show. I worked with the interns and special guest Francis Wong, Weslie Ueunten, and Yasushi Iwabuchi. Before setting up, we had to set the stage and clean up. The Peace Plaza was such a mess. Luis, also an intern for NJAHS, cleaned up with me. After we were done, the trash smelled like cigarettes. It was worth cleaning because the plaza looked so nice after. When everything was set up and rehearsal was finish, it was time for the concert. But lunch first!

The audience gathered around the stage and sat patiently for the show to begin. We started off with an introduction of the interns and I. I made my introduction short and quick because I was nervous of public speaking and I never talked in front of an audience before. Then Ken and Alison took the stage. They talked about the history of Japan and also taught the audience some Japanese words. The crowd seemed a little tired, but when the guest performers played their music, everybody started dancing. The audience got up on their feet and danced to the music. They even got up on stage and danced in front of everybody. Everybody was so hyper, so we concluded the concert with a dance. We taught the audience the Yosakoi dance and it ended with fun and excitement. The concert went well overall, but it was tough being on stage and practicing. I learned some history about Japan, and learned some Japanese words too. It was educational and fun!

- Alvin Tan , intern