Toffee Yogurt

This post is solely dedicated to the purpose of giving Lindsay Thurman a shout-out: thanks for suggesting toffee yogurt, Pinds. I ate some at school today--mmmmmm. Add that one to the happy list.

Ok, but while I'm here I may as well tell you about yoga class. The College here offers yoga class once a week in 1 hr 15 min sessions, for the small price of 15 pounds per term. I took some beginning yoga classes at IU, but let me tell you, a 45 minute class is in a different world from a class that lasts twice as long. Our instructor ( a skinny, pure muscle 20-something blonde) made us do a sun salutation series of nine poses five times in a row. After we were all panting and sweating, she showed us the extended series of seventeen poses which we then proceeded to do four times in a row! And all the while she kept coming up behind me, urging me to push my sitting bones higher to stretch the legs and elongate the back. Lady, can't you tell a quivering human when you see one? Finally she grabbed my hips and forced my "sitting bones" up higher and further back. It's a good thing this class is only once a week--I will be sore until then.

That's all for today. Although, I would like to pose the question, why does no one in Britain seem to wear exercise clothes? I walked from my house to the college in yoga pants, and I got strange looks from nearly every passerby. Additionally, I never see people running on the street (unless it's someone in a suit late for the government building).

A Rainy Danish Day

Tonight I got to speak to my good friend Bue! He's living in Copenhagen, studying at the conservatory there. Well, he's doing wonderfully, taking auditions, getting some gigs subbing for really good orchestras..but today it seems he had a near-death experience. He was in the conservatory building, going up the staircase from the basement. The staircase goes up for five flights, and it's open; it's possible to see from top to bottom as you are walking up the stairs. Well, today, as he was on the landing for the ground floor, he heard a yell coming from the fifth floor--a split second later a metal music stand crashed no more than two feet away from him! Now, Bue has been known to take some risks in his life, but what bad karma to have been hit by a music stand while simply trying to practice!

Fortunately, no Danes were harmed in the unfolding of the above story. Only music stands and staircases sustained permanent injuries.

As for me, I am currently living in a monsoon. Yes, Wales is quite drizzly, so I generally carry an umbrella and therefore am never caught completely off-guard. However, tonight as I was walking back home with Gemma after practicing, the drizzle turned into a steady rain, so I got out my umbrella and shared it with Gem. Then the steady rain turned into chilly horizontal rain in a howling wind storm. Predictably, the umbrella was turned inside out, and was therefore no use to us for much of our 20 minute walk.

By the time we got home our entire frontsides were soaked. The good thing about Britain is that whatever happens, there is always hot tea awaiting you when you arrive home. :-)

Tomorrow I have my second clarinet lesson of the term. For the clarinetists out there, I'm playing the Muczynski Time Pieces, and I have to play the first two movements next Friday in masterclass (yikes!). Now that the weather has changed, my reeds will be nice and warped tomorrow, and as there is still no sandpaper to be found in Cardiff, my chances of finding a good reed are slim. But, we will worry about tomorrow's obstacles as they come. For now I am curling up in my Indiana sweatshirt with a cup of hot tea to watch a DVD rerun with Jordan Catalano. *shout-out to my facebook group members, and to my wonderful sis, Linds-Pinds, who agrees with us*

Goodnight, gentle readers.

ps-i thought of something else that makes me happy: student tickets to the Welsh National Opera! We're going to see The Merry Widow on Friday for a mere 5 pounds!

bloody britain

A list of things I find annoying:

1) There is no place to buy reeds in Cardiff.
2) I have to order said reeds online in bulk from a provider in Britian.
3) The postman won't leave them for me; I must sign for them.
4) Postman leaves me a note telling me that said reeds have been taken back to the Delivery Office, with a stamped phone number on the back that is illegible b/c the ink ran out.
5) I have to search for said phone number online.
6) I call said Delivery Office, and they are not open, but the man who answers looks up my package on the computer and says, no, it has not been returned to the delivery office.
7) I have no idea where my reeds are or when they will be delivered.

Yay for Royal Mail.

Now let's turn our attention to the issue of the clothes dryer. No one in Britain seems to have one. We do, however, have a clothesline in the so-called "backyard." I mistakenly dropped a white tank top on my way back into the house after collecting my freshly dried clothing. I did not find white tank top until this evening--in the rain. Yay for odd British idiosyncrasies. Yay for Shelley's clumsiness and inattention to detail.

Things that make me happy :-)

Digestives! mmmmmmmm.......
Shortbread sticks! mmmmmm.....
umm, when i think of something not food-related, i'll post it.

For now, goodnight, gentle readers. May your mail be on time and your clothes always be dry.

Cathays, Cardiff, Wales

Well, I've said goodbye to small-town Kentucky life for a while, and I've been in Wales for almost two full weeks. Seems like a month, at least! Exciting things that have happened since I've been here, including:

--receiving my new glasses in the mail, which I was forced to pay 40 pounds for once they were delivered to the door. Hooray for customs.
--finding out that "pants" is an unacceptable term for what I wear daily to cover my legs. Apparently we wear trousers, and men wear "pants" underneath their trousers; the American equivalent would be boxers. Thank you, British roommates, for setting me straight.
--auditioning for orchestra, which went quite well actually. It seems, however, that my tendency is to play too "refined." Hmmm....
--meeting and adjusting to three new roommates, described below:

1) Gemma. She's 19, about 5'4", and a soprano. I first met Gemma when I got to the train station in Cardiff. She actually reminds me a bit of my old roommate, Michaela *shout-out to my dear M, wherever she may be in the boiling hot city of Austin, Texas--I miss you and your mug-stealing, your dirty dishes piling up along the counter, and your Angelina obsession--those certainly were the days, weren't they* because she dies her hair black, wears mostly black (and has similar mushpuff combat boots), and she drinks black coffee in a British tea hell. In addition, her former boyfriend is in his forties--the similarities are almost too much to take! :-)

2) Helen. She's 22, about 5'8", and a soprano. The only thing I can really say about Helen is that she strikes me as being incredibly English. She does, in fact, come from England; Manchester to be precise. She's blonde, and is totally in love with her boyfriend Edward, to whom she sends "Finding Nemo" plush toys as well as note cards with assorted cartoons and messages such as "Miss you Beary Much" on them. This may sound nauseating, but is actually quite endearing. She enjoys making lists, formulating cleaning schedules, and ironing her jeans. Mostly, she wants everyone to be happy.

3) Sunniva. She's 24, about 6', and a mezzo-soprano. She's also Norwegian. Her default phrase for "Cool," or, "Oh my goodness," is "ooh-la-la!" which she says at least twice in every conversation. She also bakes her own bread and freezes it, as she finds the bread here unacceptable. She wakes up early to go running in the park, then showers and heads to school for exactly two hours of practice, in which she sings for 20 minute intervals with 20 minute breaks in between. She also has a tendency to drop things, such as her cell phone (oops, I mean Mobile), which I have seen hurled across the kitchen. Twice.

What to notice about the above comments--I am living with three--yes, three--singers. It is actually a pretty good arrangement so far. I am teaching them sight-singing and basic theory. :-) They are wonderful students, eager to learn.

I must now go do my reading for class. (But Shelley, you may say, you haven't started class yet; your first day is Monday. Well, one of our professors is so ahead of herself that she sent us reading to do IN ADVANCE.) I guess my English major skills are coming in handily after all--critical essay, boom, I've dissected it in minutes! :-)

Take care, gentle readers. As Wai Lau says, Happy Wales!

Highland Elementary

What is there to do in a town like Glasgow, Ky, you ask? Why, checking out all the new sites that have popped up over the year! In trying to occupy myself with small-town life for the past week, I decided to check out the new addition to Glasgow Independent Schools' education system: Highland Elementary.

Armed with my new digital camera and a make-shift name tag acquired at the school office, I went with the fabulous Sarah Ann Miller, partner in crime, to walk around, take pictures, and drop in on favorite teachers.

The classrooms are spacious. The library is stocked with books and new technology. The gymnasium is HUGE. But the best parts of the school are the Music "Shop", Art "Shop", and Work "Shop", built into a plaza-esque area surrounding the central staircase which winds around to the second floor. Glance up and you'll see light fixtures shaped like clouds. The whole section is reminiscent of a quaint town square--like Glasgow itself.

Ms. Miller and I were filled with delight at the multi-lingual signs by each classroom. Through our minds the phrase kept running, "If only we had this when we were young..." And that's when it hit me: I'm getting old. Ok sure, 22 isn't exactly middle-aged or anything, but still. Imagine my shock when I discovered that one of my best friends from high school is now a teacher at this elementary school! She teaches first grade, and we got to see her in action, sharpening pencils, forcing small children back into their seats. She has joined the adult work force.

I feel stuck between two stages of life. I am still a student, still unemployed, still acquiring loans, still moving around year after year without a permanent place to live. But I'm not a naive 18-year-old fresh out of my parents' house, either.

Sorry about the digression.

Anyway, each time I go back to Glasgow, there are cool new things to go see. The school was just one of them! I guess in a town where the biggest attraction is the new Super Wal-Mart, you have to occupy your time with more creative adventures.

Shout-out to Sarah Miller for kicking it with me in the Gtown. Next update I'll have to cover Civil War Days, in Munfordville, Ky. Let me tell you, Rebel Flag heaven.