Yesterday didn’t really feel like a Saturday because I spent more time at school that I usually do on the weekdays! The school was hosting an Open House for perspective students, and there was more activity in the halls than I have seen since I got here. I was asked to play for a few events during the day. The first two mini concerts were held in the small auditorium, called ‘Aula’. Five current students played solos for those interested in the music program. Not many people showed up for our presentations, so it was a low stress situation.
Martina came to hear me play (what a good friend) and afterward I went on a walk around town with her, Sarah, and Sofia. I had been at school since 10am, so I really wanted to get out of the building. It seems that people get together to go on walks a lot here, which is one of things I like about this place! We walked along the water, and through a part of town that I’ve never seen (haha, that’s so sad since it’s so small!)
I had to get back to school to practice, and prepare for another performance at 5pm. I was to play for the cocktail hour (in this case, half an hour) for a dinner in honor of a man who donated money to our media department for documentaries. So, I wheeled a marimba and xylophone into the lobby area of the Acusticum, and played some relaxing music along with one xylophone rag (to get the crowd in a good mood!). It was actually a fun little gig! Plus, I got a free meal out of it…which will suffice for a paycheck in my book any day!
I didn’t really have time to relax or go home because I had to go straight to Kåren…my barlåg (bartending team) was scheduled to work. The night was themed as a ‘Lounge’, and we didn’t expect many people to show up…but we still had to be there early. We were open from 8pm-2am. A total of about 30 people showed up, and everyone just sat around and played board games. Luckily, we didn’t have to do much and got to just hang around with our friends. I played a Swedish board game where you had to try and get your partner to guess the word on the card. Except, I couldn’t read the cards! We had a lot of laughs trying to get each other to say the right thing. Then, the whole group did a few rounds totally in English, and it was hysterical!
We were exhausted when we finally closed at 2 in the morning. The time went by slowly since there wasn't much activity. Thankfully cleaning up didn’t take too long and since it had been snowing all evening the walk home was quite lovely. We ran into Lou and Anna who had gone out in town, which was perfect timing…and they were really entertaining!
Artsy pics by Martina on the walk home at 2:30am...
Running into Anna and Lou
Although today was a bit of a waste, the evening was nice! Anna had Lou and me over for some non-alcoholic glögg and gingerbread cookies. YUM! As always, I don’t know what I would do without my Swedish “mom” and British au pair!
I am so anxious and excited about the next few weeks…recording in 3 days…Stockholm in 5 days...Paris in 10 days…home in 23 days...and so much to do (both work and for fun!) in between. I seriously have no idea where the time is going!
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