Roadtrip USA East Coast Sixth Day (03 May 2024)

A: The theme of the Miku Expo for the 10th anniversary year is titled 'Universal Positivity' and is intended to reflect on the past years up to 2014. And so I find myself once again sitting in a tier above the stage, just like I did in 2018 at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne when I saw Hatsune Miku live for the first time. I attended the concert on that Tuesday, December 4, alone. At that time, it had been only half a year since I started approaching girls on the 'street'. On that warm, sunny winter day, I achieved my first major success in this area by approaching two concert attendees. After a brief introduction, I was able to join them. 6 years later, I am standing in line outside the Walt Disney Theater/Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando. My gaze scans the crowd. Here I notice a cosplayer dressed as Sakura Miku. I find her very attractive. I consider approaching her, but decide against it. I am not familiar with the laws in this country and cannot distinguish what would be considered sexual harassment here. So I mentally return to Cologne: we are standing in line. In front of us are 2 boys and a girl. Somehow we realize that they have just met and we start talking to them. And so it happened that I went to a concert alone and ended up in a group of 6. To this day, we are still in close contact and meet up for concerts.

Under the theme of reflection that is discussed in this Miku Expo year, I also manage to strike up a conversation with an American here. There are still several hours until the concert starts. And so time flew by as we shared almost half of our life stories with each other. We exchange our contact information. So, I was able to fulfill the first part, the turning back, by building relationships with new people. In Cologne, I noticed this power that this event brings at the first concert, and it still fascinates me to this day. Captivated, I watch the show in the arena, just like I did yesterday in the theater. I could feel the energy again, and tears welled up in my eyes. The concert ends as quickly as it started. After the concert on December 4, 2018, I was so stirred up that I didn't need a break to drive back from Cologne to Jena. I drove through the night without getting tired to process what I had experienced. Even on May 3, 2024, after the concert the night before, I am so stirred up that I don't need a break to cover about 70% of the way to Washington DC without getting tired. I could have driven all the way to Washington DC that day. So, Hatsune Miku's Expo 2024, under the project name 'Universal Positivity', starts for me as requested - a reflection on the past.

K-G: We start early at 8:30 am for what is likely the longest tour of this USA trip, from Orlando to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

With just one stop at McDonald's (Andreas) or Subway (me, as apparently there are no meatless burgers in the USA), we arrive at our rustic accommodation in Jonesville, North Carolina after about 10 hours. The accommodation is beautifully cozy, with old furniture, oil lamps, and a wood stove. You can hear the horses stamping next door, and there are said to be coyotes. The hosts are very Christian and nice. A is very tired after the long drive, as he insisted on driving the entire route through 4 states (Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolina) himself.