Living in America 7

Satonobo's Life in America, Part 7
How are you all? It's already March. It's been six months since I last wrote a blog about my life in America. Readingmy last blog after six months, I realized that I have had many experiences in those six months and that I am able to calmly watch over my own struggles from six months ago. This winter marks the second week of elementary school life in America, and I am blessed with reliable parents, so I am much less confused about basic daily life.
Personally, I am taking a communication class at Bellevue College this winter semester, following on from last fall. This semester, my classmates' English levels are all different, and the theme is human rights, so I have little prior knowledge and am struggling. (Interest is interesting, isn't it?) I felt like I had made progress in the fall in terms of my language skills, but this semester I felt frustrated again and in a slump, but even so, I still feel a little bit of progress from time to time, and I'm somehow managing to do my best because I'm being confronted with what I need to improve.
　This term's class is coincidentally similar to the Kogin Circle in terms of the difference in experience levels of the participants, and I have learned a lot from the way my teachers and classmates have treated me, even outside of language. Everyone has a different "difficulty level," and the zero position (current location) on that scale is different for each person. As we grow, the zero position changes, and thanks to that, we are always able to move forward, but I believe that in order to move that zero position forward, we need to take active action ourselves. Some people are encouraged by seeing others working on something that they feel is more difficult than themselves, while others may feel intimidated. If you feel intimidated, I hope you can reorganize your mindset, your way of thinking, and your way of thinking to turn it into encouragement. This is something I learned in the fall semester class, and I think that being intimidated is a completely natural reaction, so I think it would be great if you could use the courage that exists inside of you to push yourself up at that time.
The reason we set the time limit for this circle to December is because having an end makes you feel like you can do your best. Some people will finish feeling like they've completely given it their all, while others, like me, will move forward with a little reflection and passion, thinking, "Ah, I wish I could have done it like this. If I have another chance, I'll try doing it like this next time!" I hope that both types of people will have a time where they think, "I'm glad I participated!"

◆Current status of the circle
I got carried away and started the Kogin Circle Train on February 1st without thinking much about it, but I was blessed with attractive passengers and I, the driver, was able to hold the master controller with peace of mind. The last stop is December Station, and we will stop at various stations along the way to get various information and head to the last stop, so please ride with peace of mind. I am now running with peace of mind, with all the reliable members on board.
Currently, we have a total of about 75 members, and about 60 members have completed self-introductions. Some people actively participate despite not being able to see each other, some people participate by sending me messages or emails, and some people just wait to see how things go, but I am truly grateful for the interest and participation. Thank you. I am also truly grateful to the members who are participating from outside Japan. (I never thought we would become an international circle.) Regardless of nationality or race, I hope to use this opportunity to share the charm of Kogin embroidery with many Kogin friends. I would be happy if we could learn as much about the charm of Kogin embroidery as there are members by December.

◆The future of the circle We will continue to share questions from members, and in the future we plan to share photos of members' work in progress in posts (please send us messages or emails anytime!), and also to carry out activities to support beginner members (we are currently thinking about what to do and are looking for ideas!). The class I am currently taking will end in mid-March, so we will be increasing the circle participation rate from the end of March, so we ask for your continued support.

◆About Satonobou's Future Activities This year, we will participate in the Japan Fair held in Bellevue. This time, it will be held on July 12th and 13th. Using the experience from last year, we would like more people to experience Kogin embroidery this year, so we will work hard to create larger Kogin that can be touched, including the work currently in progress. (We will give back the experience gained from the production process to circle members and everyone who reads this blog through this blog). Last year, we learned that the respect for traditions here is surprisingly large compared to our experience in Japan, so this time we would like to take it a step further and talk to many customers.
After that, I plan to return to Japan at the end of July. As with last summer, the kits will be available for sale for a limited time, so I hope you will look forward to them. I also plan to prepare new book cover kits. The Goldfish Nebuta kits are available at koginbank's online shop, so you can enjoy them before the Nebuta season arrives.

◆Finally, what I've realized through my recent work : As always, even though I don't have time to hold a kogin cloth, I think about kogin embroidery every day, but thanks to the work I've been working on recently, I've come to think that I don't need to look for coolness in the kogin I'm embroidering. Of course, there are many cool kogin embroidery works, and I think cool kogin embroidery is wonderful and attracts people. But that's different from this. Maybe the rawness and down-to-earthness of kogin embroidery comes from kogin embroidery that doesn't try too hard and goes with the flow! I was able to realize something positive. Even if I make a mistake in the stitching, I can feel a lively human being there, and even if I have to make a series of adjustments, I can feel a straightforward steadiness there, even if it's not sophisticated, and I think there is a different kind of charm to the beautiful and neat kogin embroidery. And that's about it. I hope there are members in the kogin circle who can empathize with that. However, this is entirely my own idea, so it's not a question of whether it's right or wrong, but rather a question of sensibility. (laughs)
I feel like today's blog was just a way to organize my thoughts, but anyway, I'm really glad that I started the circle, and I'm grateful to all the members. I'll do my best as a driver so that as many members as possible can feel glad to have joined the circle and can feel at ease sharing anything, such as the cool and uncool parts of my work, the things I'm struggling with, what I like about Kogin embroidery, and interesting realizations, and so that we can welcome December. Thank you for your continued support in March.

▶️Materials Research Blog
▶️Shop (We plan to add more PDF designs in the future)
▶︎Goldfish Nebuta Kit Design and Instruction Data Sales
(We have added a design sample to the work examples)
・Minne sales page for Kind-faced Goldfish Nebuta
・Minne sales page for Brave-faced Goldfish Nebuta
▶︎Goldfish Nebuta Kit (Full Set) koginbank Online Shop
▶️Instagram (We share the simplicity and fun of Kogin embroidery through videos, etc.)
 
Satonobou