A Friendly Version of "About Me"

Hi, everyone! It's me, Kate! Your piano teacher. I can be your friend, too!

Aside from the piano, I can sing, write songs, arrange music, and play guitar. I use these skills when I teach music in the classroom. During the day, I work as a music teacher in a school, and after school hours, I teach piano around Tokyo city.

I love classical music, especially Chopin, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, and Scarlatti. I listen to Debussy and Poulenc more often. I am a fan of contemporary works from minimalism to avant-garde music. 

I also like jazz and I am currently learning how to play it. I know how to play chords and improvisation and I love challenging myself with jazz. I want to grow and learn more about improvisation.

I love to travel a lot. I have been to some countries (Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai, Taiwan, Philippines, South Korea, Mongolia, USA, and Vietnam), and I love to travel domestically first. Before leaving my home country Philippines in 2017, I traveled to all the top destinations so I could appreciate the beauty of my country. In Japan, I have been to 33 out of 47 prefectures now, and I aim to visit all of them.

Another perk of being a musician is that you travel to many places and meet a lot of people. You perform in certain venues, get paid, enjoy the trip, and somehow it doesn't feel like work at all.

I love animals! I grew up with a lot of farm animals in our home in Cagayan de Oro. Moving to Japan, it was so hard to live a life away from fur babies. When I got my first apartment in Japan, I made sure it's pet friendly. So, I was able to adopt my black cat, Cafune (ka-fu-neh), in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka. He is a rescued cat from Gifu prefecture. You might see him around during online piano classes because he loves to be on top of the piano and will keep meowing when he hears me play the instrument. The calico cat is Tsukune, a rescued cat from Ibaraki prefecture. We got her here in Tokyo. Together with my husband, we are now a family of four.

I love the beach! I grew up on a coast 10 minutes from our home in Cagayan de Oro. I spent almost all of my childhood going to the beach every week. I went jogging with my family and dogs on the beach side. I miss living in a tropical country. I wish to retire on an island surrounded by white sand and tranquil waters.

I am a huge fan of Hiroshima Toyo Carp baseball team! I watch their games both in Hiroshima and Tokyo. I also like Tokyo Yomiuri Giants. My favorite player is number 33, Kikuchi, from Carp!

I am a very passionate music teacher. I love to make music with my students, though we are out of tune and offbeat at times. Sharing smiles and good memories in music class are things that keep me going and make me do my craft better. It is always because of them that I strive hard. When you are a teacher, you become selfless, and all you want is for your students to grow with you. Yes, with you because in the process, you also learn from them. 

So, there it is! Let's get to know more about each other when we meet in person! I look forward to seeing you.