Licensing

The results

After months of preparation with John Allan and hours of practice, the day of my first solo competition arrived. Although I was nervous, I remebered every detail and played with confidence. To my surprise, I managed to place first!

Anyone who knows me knows that I do not hesitate to wear my band t-shirt, sporting the text, "Pasadena Scottish Pipes & Drums". I wear the shirt to display an aspect of my personality and my identity and am proud to do so. In a sense, I DO feel as if I need to prove to others that I am not just "some Asian guy" and I do it by dedicating myself to the pipes and showing others and myself that I can succeed. If success is synonymous with assimilation, than I suppose, at least for me, that somewhere in the Japanese-American psyche is the remnants of the arduous process of assimilation after World War II.

Although there may not be a concise answer, it is certain that there is something that links the Scottish culture and arts with the Japanese-American.