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! :)

“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!

You’ve got mail

No, not just an email or Facebook message….real, tangible, left by the postman…MAIL!

Despite the awful, gloomy, dark weather I was excited to walk into town again this morning. I was going to go to the post office to pick up the camera that Cathy sent me to use as a replacement until December. I received the package slip in my mailbox yesterday, and I literally did a little happy dance when I found it…you know the one! I’m so thankful for Cathy’s kindness! (Cathy and I reconnected on Facebook. I went to high school with her son. We were both band nerds…once a loving band mom, always a loving band mom! I will owe her a huge hug when I go home in December! Thanks Cathy!)

As I walked past our wall of mailboxes to head out the door, something drew me to check mine again. I rarely get anything besides my rent bill, but I always check it anyway…hoping that something exciting lay beyond the little metal door. This morning, to my surprise and delight…a large white envelope inhabited MY mailbox! Begin happy dance number two…

In the envelope there was a small book called Einstein’s Dreams. It was mailed directly from the vendor, so there was no note or return address. Who could this be from?! The surprise and thoughtfulness of this friend was enough to put a little more bounce in my step for the rest of the day. My friends rock.

At the post office I gave the package slip to the woman, and asked for the package IN SWEDISH. I must have sounded pretty convincing because she started to talk really fast and I had to interrupt her and ask her to speak English…but I was still proud of myself for trying! I also went to the library to pick up some fun books to read, as well as some children’s books in Swedish (to help me learn). The librarian laughed at me.

As I walked around town, I said “Hej” or smiled at the people I walked past. Out of about 18 people (I counted)…6 returned the gesture, 1 grunted, and the others looked baffled. Lighten up, Piteå :)

All day I tried to figure out who sent me the book (that I began to read while I ate lunch). When I was taking a break from practicing at school, I was on gmail chat talking to Erin. And, she revealed herself. A few weeks ago I must have complained that I didn’t have any good books to read, so she sent me one. SHE IS THE BEST!!! We went to Eastman together, and were interns at the Arts and Cultural Council. She lives in Montana now, and works for the Zootown Arts Council. Thanks, Erin…I think that sending real mail is one of the most thoughtful gestures there is. Although I appreciate this high-tech world, there is something extra special about snail mail.

So, now I have a camera to document each day again and a book to entertain me in the evenings…not to mention warm and fuzzy feeling that I am cared for...thanks again Cathy and Erin!  :)

Phone calls

My to-do list is really long for this week. What’s unfortunate is that I don’t have any outside deadlines bearing down on any of the tasks…everything needs to be self propelled. When I began my day, I did feel motivated (unlike over the weekend!); I just couldn’t decide what to do first! Luckily, I received two impeccably timed phone calls that helped me make some decisions!


The major activities that were to consume my day were a trip into town, a long session in the practice room, and some intimate planning and brainstorming time with my laptop. I just needed to decide what to do first: go to town, go to school, or stay at my apartment.

Around 9:30am, I decided that staying in my apartment would be a bad idea, because I needed to get outside and get my body moving. So, I headed out the door without knowing if I was going to go to school or into town. I figured I would just start walking and get somewhere…eventually.

Then, Lou called! She was going into town to do her family’s weekly shopping at the ICA and said that she could drive me home if I wanted to do my grocery shopping too (isn’t she the best!?) Decision made! I passed by school and headed into town. I made a quick stop by the Medborgarskolan to visit Sven-Åke and to see if any students have signed up for my classes. Then, I went to the electronics store to buy a webcam (I miss seeing my parents when we Skype!), and made it to ICA just in time to meet Lou and get my groceries.

I picked up all my normal items…milk, OJ, bread, musli, lots of fruit and veggies, along with some couscous and curry sauce for something different. It was nice to chat with Lou and see Lisa (haven’t see her in awhile, and she’s still cute as can be!)! I’m convinced I will able to say my name by the time I leave!

Lou drove me home, and I decided to try and install my webcam. The guys at the electronics store promised it was a plug-in and use kind of thing…but nothing is ever easy when it comes to me and electronics. I ended up fighting with my computer for a really long time. I finally got it figured out, but was frustrated and tired…thinking about taking a nap…unmotivated to go to school…and then…

Anders called! He and his family are back from Tokyo and it sounds like they had a great time. I can’t wait to hear about it in person. He was just touching base, and we talked about the trip to Stockholm and Paris that is happening at the end of the month. Chatting with him gave me the energy to close my computer and head off to school.

I got a lot done in the practice room; I’m starting to memorize the concerto for December and worked on some technique stuff. Daniel and I chatted, I’m sub-ing for him in Neo next week, and I’m actually really excited about it. A paying gig! Wooho! I needed to do some composing, but by 6:30 I was hungry. And, hunger trumps the need to compose :)

I made a very yummy dinner…chicken, veggies, couscous in Montgomery Inn BBQ sauce! A little taste of home is always a good thing! I’ve spent the rest of the evening working at my computer. I’m helping a friend with some English grammar in writing, trying to plan some outreach ideas I have for high schools when I’m home in December (although I should have contacted them a long time ago, so we’ll see what happens), and writing random emails along with this silly blog. hehe :)

to-do or not to-do

I made a really long to-do list this morning. Out of 30 things to accomplish, I only got about 5 of them done. I spent most of the day randomly rearranging my apartment...a task not included on the to-do list.

When having the post-Halloween breakfast with Lou and Anna on Saturday morning, we decided that my little kitchen was too cramped, and that the shelving unit (my apartment was completely furnished) didn’t need to be there. So, I moved it into the main room, and moved my couch from one wall to the other along with a few other minor changes. It looks a lot different! I’ll have Lou and Anna over again, and I’m sure they’ll have an opinion! I do love my blue and green color scheme, and am still amazed that all the hand-me-downs and thrift store purchases match perfectly!

The items on the to-do list that I did achieve were minimal: emails, practicing, Swedish class homework, and a lot of Facebook browsing (not on the list…but a daily occurrence). Everyone has so many new pictures posted, it was inevitable that I was going to waste some time seeing how everyone’s Halloween weekend turned out. Looks like most of my friends had a good time!

Now, my hefty weekend to-do list will triple in length and become my first week of November to-do list. Lovely…

On a happy note, I’m starting to count down to a lot of exciting events: recording, traveling to Paris, going home, playing with Lakota West, and going to NYC for New Year’s. It’s going to be a great couple months, I just have to stay focused and motivated, and earn all of this fun!