Blog=Friends?

Earlier this week, I got a really nice email from a girl names Louise. She is an au pair from England that just moved to Piteå. Somehow she came across this blog, and was writing to see if I wanted to get together sometime. Who would have thought that this blog would help my social life?!

We met today for some coffee at the Galleria (the shops in the center of town). As we were in line to order, and chatting, a girl sitting at a nearby table approached us to see where we were from and why we were here. Surprisingly, she is a French horn player at school! The three of us sat together, and played the ‘getting to know you' game.

Louise is taking care for a small child for the year. The mom is from the same town that Louise is from in England, and wants her daughter to grow up bilingual. She is actually a vocal teacher at school, so Louise has met a few of the students through her. Talk about brave, Louise is just 21, found out about this job and just moved! Plus, she knows even more about the town and where to go than I do! I was then happy to learn that she is also taking the Swedish language course at school. We will struggle through it together!

The girl that joined us is named Emma. She is a third year music major. She gave us a little more insight on the town and on the school. It was really great to connect with another musician. She may have even gotten me a gig in Luleå in their orchestra. :)

After the lovely, and much needed, coffee (last night was another long and fun evening!) I headed back to school to meet with Rasmus and Lindie to talk about the lighting for the recital. It was really exciting to see the hall and hear their ideas! It’s going to be a great collaboration.

I’ve spent the majority of the afternoon and evening on my best companion…this computer. After failing miserably trying to figure out how to use Sibelius (music notaion software) on my own, Kyle came to the rescue. We had an instructional Skyping session where I literally pointed my webcam at my screen and he took me step by step through the program. It was pathetic on my part, but it would have taken me weeks to figure out all the secrets! Thanks Kyle, you saved me a lot of headaches!

This is going to be a very exciting week as the recital approaches! I actually enjoy this kind of stress, and it’s going to be really fun to see all the elements come together.

Oh yeah…random shout out to Marilyn (even though she rarely reads this). She just got her first big paying gig as a free lance oboist in New York City! Woohoo! My friends rock!