Countdowns!

First paid gig in Sweden: 4 days
- subbing in Neo for Daniel because he’ll be in Indiana for PASIC (I told him to say “Hi” to America for me)

First recording session: 13 days
- 2 days of studio recording in the Acusticum…Hittade, New piece (I should probably give it a title at some point), and some improve

Trip to Stockholm: 15 days
- “New Moon” premiere!!, lessons with Anders, hanging out with Tove, Emma, Anne, and whoever else is around town

Trip to Paris: 20 days
- Thanksgiving with some amazing friends…Kana, Morgann (both from OSU), and the Eastman percussion studio!!!! Shopping, sight-seeing, lots of marimba, helping with the Zildjian booth, clinics and concerts :)

American Themed party: 29 days

- I’m going to throw a party at the Ankars club house…we’ll play some American drinking games, sing The Star Spangled Banner…and I’m going to make everyone speak English!

Flying back to Ohio: 34 days
- yay! Home!

Playing the Ziek percussion concerto with Lakota West: 39 days
- It’s going to be wild to be on that stage again. I can’t wait to play for my family, they haven’t seen me play in such a long time!

Christmas!!: 50days
- I love this time of year so much!

Trip to NYC: 55 days
- Going to go for New Year’s to visit Marilyn and everyone else I know living in the city! Could it be my future home?!

Back to Sweden: 67 days
- I’ll be in cold, dark Piteå for almost 6 months straight (until June! I hope I can make it! Haha)

Percussion in Piteå Concert Series, II: 100 days
- Planning the next concert: February 3, 2010 at 7pm :)

Although I am having a really amazing experience, I still get homesick and a bit lonely in the evenings. It’s nice to see what lies ahead...it helps me gain perspective and remind myself how lucky I am to be doing all of these amazing things!

It snowed today for the first time (during the day)! Not enough to cover too much, but I was still excited! Plus, I got to wear my cool/dorky hat!

this picture of Kåren was taken at 2:30pm (today 11/5...wrong date) See...it's DARK! we need snow :)

Funny story of the day:  At the Redcross store today (I’ve worn holes in 2 out of my 3 pairs of pants…needless to say, the $4 pair I bought today better last awhile!), a woman approached Lou, Anna, and I with a huge smile on her face. She goes “are you speaking English!?” She was American!! Her name is Carrie and she moved here with her Swedish husband 2 years ago. She was super bubbly and outgoing! She has two kids (8 and 10), and said loves living here. We exchanged numbers, and I will probably call at some point. Afterwards Anna, Lou, and I had fika and they laughed because evidentally Carrie and I acted exactly the same socially...talking a mile a minute, wide eyes, and really excited! See people…it’s not just me! :)