“quick” rundown

Quick is in quotes because although I intend this to be a short entry…we all know that that is an unlikely goal! I’m just tired, and don’t have anything too monumental to share, but it was a busy day…so here it goes!

Once again, I tried to wake up really early, but 8am was early enough. I had a rehearsal at 10am that I needed to be ready for. The music is easy, but we have to move all the equipment across the school…gotta love being a percussionist. Instead of Petter, the normal conductor, his student was conducting (who has run rehearsals a few times before, I can’t remember his name!). I think he does a really good job, and he was being evaluated by Petter today, so I think he was extra nervous. As he was leaving he randomly gave me a hug and thanked me after the rehearsal, which was really nice and made me feel like my snare drum playing was extra special today!

When hauling equipment back to the perussion room, I ran into Marita in the hallway, the lovely, stylish woman who runs the Accelerator program. She helped me get my feet wet when planning the recital in October. They are having an ‘open house’ type of event next week for prospective students and she asked me to play for them. I think I can whip something up on the marimba! Very cool…

Then, I ran to another rehearsal room with a djembe and tar to play for a dance class. I was only going to make it for the last 20 minutes, but the teacher really wanted me to play today…so I ran! Her name is Maria (like so many other people here!), and she wants me to play for her classes regularly! Woohoo!

Finally had a chance to breathe, did a little practicing, and was hungry for lunch. I decided to come home to make a salad because I didn’t feel like spending money. I ended up getting a lot of work done all afternoon. Mainly, I finished my proposal to do some outreach in the high schools when I go home in December. I sent out 4 emails and asked my old band director to give me some more names of directors that I can contact. It took a long time to edit my resume, get the contact info together, cover letter, and actual outline of what I can offer…but, I’m really glad I finally got it done today.

Took a nap :)

The best part of the day was Skyping with Marilyn (best friend from Eastman, moved to NYC). We talked for over an hour, about everything. I love the people I’ve met here in Sweden, but still miss being around people that know me really, really well…I’m visiting her from Dec. 30-Jan. 11 in NYC, which will without a doubt be a really good time!

I was also really excited to get a phone call from Tove, Anders' daughter. I'm going to stay with them when I go down to Stockholm on Nov. 20 (which is so nice), and she got me a ticket to see the premiere of  "New Moon" (next movie in the Twilight series)!! I know I sound like a 15 year old girl, but I can' wait!

The late afternoon/evening was spent doing homework for Swedish class, attending the Norrbotten Neo concert (contemporary music ensemble that Daniel plays for), then going to Swedish class. Neo is a great group and it was nice to enjoy a good concert…I’ve been missing Eastman ensembles a lot lately…

Now, I’m sitting in my apartment…bored. There are things I could be doing…like putting my new piece into Sibelius, but I’m not in the mood. I got enough done today…so I’ve just been playing spider solitaire on my computer instead. LAME!!!

That’s the “quick” rundown of my day :)

P.S. for dinner I had some toast with caviar from a tube on it. Don’t knock it until you try it! So yummy!