Keep Your Eye on the Pie

A.E.I.O.U! (And sometimes Y)

2012-02-12T10:33:00.000-08:00

Just so you know, that means “Austria shall rule the world”. Just sayin’. Anyways, it was a great week! Without further ado let’s move right into the categories that we all know and love. I may or may not be running out of creative titles.

Die Kommunikation

Well, this week I think I reached a critical point that occurs when going to foreign countries. I feel so, SO very frustrated at my inability to communicate. I hate that moment when someone asks me something and I just stare back blankly at them. It is humiliating! Even though I know how to say I don’t speak German, or to ask them if they speak English, I just feel so embarrassed at my lack of knowledge. Especially since virtually everyone here is bi- (or tri!) lingual, I just feel like a dumb American who expects everyone to learn my language. It is seriously like drinking from a clear spring when someone walks past me speaking English. Aren’t we this way with things that are familiar to us? We take comfort in familiarity. This frustration is reminding me of how grateful I am for music, and my ability to communicate with absolutely anyone this way. It’s truly a blessing. It also makes me wonder if Heavenly Father ever feels this frustration with us; with the inability to communicate with people who cannot (or will not) understand or listen. I need to be sharpening my communication skills in just about every way, be it with the Spirit, as a musician with the audience, with friends and family, and with all these beautiful people whose language I don’t speak. Anyways, those are just some recent thoughts on that.

We are getting better and better in our German class, but the more I learn the more I realize I don’t know. I think I have numbers down, though! J Currently the favorite phrase is “Ja, natürlich!” which we say to everything, and it also happens to be the brand of our favorite yogurt (one of our staple foods). I reached a milestone this week, too! On several occasions I said something to someone in German, they replied with a question in German, and I answered in German (and actually understood the question!!) I was thrilled about this. But we won’t talk about the fact that I usually only understood what their question was because they were using hand signals. And my answer was usually either “nien” or “ja!”…BUT in church today I managed to hold actual conversations in German with people on several occasions. I picked up way more words in church than the last time we were in our ward, and on the whole felt much better about things. In Sunday school the teacher asked us (in German) if we spoke German, to which I replied “Nein!” She looked a little puzzled and said (in German), “Oh, but you speak a little bit, right?” To which I replied “Nein!” She and the rest of the class laughed (because I had just understood her and replied in German haha) and then she got us an interpreter, which was super nice. But every time she addressed me she spoke German, and I could understand her and reply! It was a happy and one-time thing…J

Die Singen

This category is just singing because there weren’t a lot of concerts this week so we just went to Faust, a French opera at the Staatsoper. It was a fantastic opera—at least the music was! Let’s just say that something possessed me to accidently get the wrong stehplatz level (the VERY top) and we were so baffled once we got up there and there were so many people rushing about putting their scarves on the railing, that we got the absolute worst spots in the whole house. To say the least we could see less than half of the stage (the right side) and I didn’t believe it was possible but almost the entire opera was cast on the left side. So we read what they were singing, listened to the amazing music, and tried (somewhat unsuccessfully) to understand what was happening. It was a beautiful opera, and very well performed! Here is the picture of our lovely view, and us bemoaning our fate. What can I say, I was born with a great lower lip.

Also in the category of singing is my own singing! This week I decided to go back to my old choir (the one that I loved, everyone was really friendly, we all have to take our shoes off, and they invited me to go get drinks afterwards). Well, I showed up at the school after 40-minute travel time in a total blizzard, and found the building completely dark. Since I was only 15 minutes early, I smelled a fish (as I mentioned, there is no Mormon-Standard-Time here. Everyone is super early to everything). So luckily I brought the phone number for the director (miraculously, more like), and called him up. He said that he had tried to contact the school to tell me, but that rehearsal had been moved out into the boonies somewhere 45 minutes away. So, as he passed the phone off to someone who spoke better English, I sprinted through the snow back to the U-Bahn station while jotting down on soggy paper the street names and directions to the new place, all of which started with an H and had 15 letters in them. Praying that I would find the place in the dark, I took the station and had my first experience with a train. When I arrived at where the stop should be, I wondered what I was getting on, where I was going, and if I was doing any of it right. I wasn’t sure if I had to pay an extension, so to be safe I bought a ticket (I ended up not needing to…L) and waited for the train. Once I sat down I decided to try to figure out where I was, and where I was going. I got out my trustworthy map and turned the page to where I was, only to find that I was off the map. Wow. Now I felt truly panic-stricken and felt like bursting into laughter at the same time. For all I knew, I was on a train leaving Vienna. Which is totally against all rules. Well, I followed the directions given to me (which I completely misheard) by following street names and stations that sounded even remotely like what I had written down (which can I just say, is very dangerous and risky in Vienna because all the streets have the same name with one letter changed). I ran through the snow battling my now 16-day headache, and the urge to cry and laugh at the same time. By miracles and mercies alone, I made it to the rehearsal 30 minutes late! The choir members are so nice, and even took me to the U-Bahn station to get home. I still love the choir—they are amazing. We even added “Lollipop, lollipop” to the repertoire! It’s awesome. It’s really fun because they help me with the translations and pronunciations of the songs, and I help them with meanings and pronunciations of the ones in English. It’s great fun. I look forward to it every week.

Die Abenteuer

Lots of adventures this week. In class we toured St. Stephan’s in greater depth, and learned lots of cool things about its interior. We also went back to the Kuntshistorisches Museum where we saw lots of very famous and beautiful paintings. I nearly died because I saw a lot of paintings that I had to write papers on for tests in Music Civ last year, and that was really neat for me to see the originals.

(Julia loves taking pictures in front of pictures, mimicking them)

Also this week we toured the Imperial Treasury, a vast collection of treasures from the Habsburg family. Everything was so cool! Lots of precious jewels and stones, and amazing dresses and robes. I wouldn’t mind being royal for a day. But just a day.

They also had a little display with things they claim came from Christ’s time. They have a piece of Christ’s manger, a piece of the tablecloth from the last supper (pictured below), one of John the Baptist’s teeth, etc. It’s really cool if it’s real…! J

After this we went to the Butterfly House by the Imperial Orangery. We all had to admit that we were a little disappointed…we paid more than we thought it was worth. Maybe we just didn’t know where to look but to us, it seemed like a very small room with like one kind of butterfly in it (granted, they were huge and cool-looking, but not worth £4,50). But it felt like we walked right into a tropical rainforest, so that was a nice reprieve from the ice blast! J

On Wednesday our group took a day-trip to Eisenstadt, about an hour out of Vienna, to visit the palace Esterhazy. This is where Haydn worked for most of his career, so it was basically a Haydn day.

It was really neat to see Haydn’s stomping grounds, and imagine him living in this palace, walking around the beautiful gardens while composing. I admit I had to hum a bit of my Haydn Sonata while walking around the frozen ponds and Orangeries.

We got a tour of the rather interesting Haydn museum with absolutely HORRIBLE carpet and wallpaper. Sis Chris would’ve been horrified. I was horrified, and I don’t know anything about design. But apparently the wallpaper is supposed to be an example of what they might have had in Haydn’s time. Wow, their lives must’ve been boring to require such visual stimuli.

We also saw the little palace harpsichord, which excited me greatly as you can see. We also saw the only remaining original music written in Haydn’s hand!

I love Haydn!

Anyhow, after the palace we went to Haydn’s burial place: a church. It was possibly the coolest church I have ever been in. Here’s a picture from the outside, which was super cool, but the inside was even better. It had all these stations where scenes from Christ’s life were depicted in life-size sculptures, of sorts. You had to ascend and descend stairs that symbolized the walk to Golgotha, and there were little crevices with the scenes in them. It was very neat, and actually very touching. I really liked it.

Our tour guide taught us a lot of things about Haydn’s life, and you know—I really like Haydn. He is one of the only “normal” composers who lived a relatively normal life. He was happy, well-off, well-married, well-employed, lived a long life, composed great music, and was appreciated even while he was alive. Just overall a great guy! We learned that after he was buried some student doctors robbed his grave and took his head to study it! When the police caught them, they were tricky and gave back someone else’s head. That was discovered too, but then the music museum somehow inherited the head and had it on display for some time. Haydn was without his head for about 200 years!! They had a grand ceremony when they finally buried him with his head. His resting place is very peaceful and nice.

Whew. Hang in there everyone. So, Kristen and I did another walking tour, which covered a lot of ground. Part of it was visiting the Imperial Crypt where all of the Habsburg family is buried. These had some ENORMOUS coffins that were really neat, and Kristen got to visit the grave of her beloved Princess Sisi.

We also saw one of Chopin’s old homes, and were nearly carried away by our first experience with a HUGE city protest. We weren’t sure exactly what they were protesting, but got a flier to ask Ingrid. They were marching to the palace holding signs and chanting, handing out fliers, blowing whistles, yelling, and wearing super, SUPER creepy masks.

Today we had the pleasure of riding up out of the main part of the city, into the Wienerwald (Vienna Woods). It is beautiful up there! It reminded me exactly of walking in Provo Canyon by Sundance. It looked like a lot of people go there to sled, and we saw the coolest sledding hills I have ever seen. So fun. We’re going to see if Ingrid has sleds…

We went to this little ring of trees called Himmel, where if you’re there at the right time (we were), classical music plays out of little speakers while you walk around looking at the trees. Each tree belongs to a certain couple of weeks in the year and is kind of like a horoscope. There is a little plaque telling about each tree and describing the characteristics of the person that was born in those two weeks. You can see me with my tree J

Das Wetter

You are, of course, all wondering about the weather. It is still pretty cold but it snowed this week! So warmth is flooding in. There were several times that I was absolutely determined not to be cold, so I wore 5-6 layers (Grey and Abs, I am NOT exaggerating). I couldn’t raise my arms above my head, but I was pretty warm! On such occasions Kristen said that if I got cold, she’d pay me. Let’s just say she owes me some money. J

Die Vorrichtungen

There are some very nifty appliances that I couldn’t resist sharing. For posterity sake I just have to show this picture of our laundry drying (they don't have dryers here). I have to say that I am a fan of this system. Our clothes smell WAY better when they air dry, and there is a certain fresh quality to them! I do have to worry, however, about waiting almost a whole day before I can wear what I wash.

Also, Ingrid has this super nifty pot-thing that boils water within SECONDS. We live off that thing. Also she has a very slick bread-slicer that slices bread, cheese, you name it (you can adjust the width) at the touch of a button. Mom, I would say that both of these tools would be worthy investments. J

Die Fressen

Ah, and now für das Essen! Mmm. So first things first, Kristen and I finally went back to the first bakery in Vienna, Grimm’s (or Grimmauld place, Brothers Grimm, or whatever I feel like calling it). When we went in to get warm once I spotted a pastry that I couldn’t forget until it was safely in my stomach. This yummy Krapfen is like a doughnut cut in half (like a roll), and stuffed with lemon-infused European whipped cream. Then the whole thing is glazed. Oh it was so good.

At Eisenstadt I got a HUGE schnitzel that was quite tasty. We also got hot crepes filled with warm nutella to top it off.

Our usual habit of going into every bakery and chocolate shop that we see has increased tenfold with the freezing weather. We go in to get warm and just drool over the delicacies they are selling. The one you see below was in a chocolate shop called “Mostly Mozart” and it’s exceedingly touristy. They had M&M Mozart and Strauss figures playing the piano and violin! Also, those enormous Toblerone bars you see there cost about £89,-. Yeah. We could hardly lift them.

This weird picture of me chomping on chocolate with a crazed look in my eye depicts our adventure sweet of the week. SO GOOD. It didn’t even last us through one day. They’re biscuit-type cookies, coated with coconut-flavored chocolate.

I was just looking for a picture of our bread of the week, but realized that we ate the whole thing so fast that we didn't even get a picture! We thought it was pretzel bread, but it is sweet and has raisins in it. It is especially divine with butter and jam. We were happy to rid ourselves of our bread of the week for last week…it had a lot of Rosemary in it, and was not our favorite choice. Instead I will show our experimental food for the week—a fruit called a Pomelo. I think they have these in the States too, but I’ve never had it before. We did not expect what we found inside! It’s like an enormous grapefruit, but not as sour. Really yummy!

Oh and also for dinner this week Ingrid made yummy noodle soup, then a delicious rice-pork-pickle mixture. Mmm. She even let us eat some leftovers the next day! Also she played classical music during dinner. It was just too marvelous. We have figured out some sort of system where we have a few staple foods that we just sort of cycle through for dinner. Luckily neither of us gets sick of them! We switch off between rice, potatoes, pasta, and soup. It’s so amazing—each of these costs less than a euro! For lunch, we always eat Ja, Natürlich!” yogurt (lots of yummy flavors including chocolate, mango-orange, apple, vanilla bean…etc), plus bread, cheese, and apples. It works out quite nicely. Except when we get Rosemary bread. Now while reading these food blogs every week, you are probably asking yourself how many hundreds of pounds I have gained. That is for me and my happy stomach to know. J You’re only in Vienna once, right? Probably…

Yep, life is pretty good here in the ole Wien. I am so grateful to be here, and am learning so much. A.E.I.O.U!

Entschuldigung, sprechen Sie Spangleutsch?

2012-02-05T10:19:00.000-08:00

Well folks, who can believe it’s already been another week!? Contrary to last week, this one flew by on the wings of cherubim. I was shocked and pleased to see how many people actually made it through my blog last week, so there is hope that someone might make it through this one! I better just plunge right in to the weekly report, then. Just be warned: words do not properly express my experiences here. Neither do pictures. I will try, but if you find that I am saying “words can’t express” a lot, just know that it’s true. And I tried to find another expression for that, but my thesaurus was not fruitful. Like I said, words can’t express.

Die Sprache

Oh, adventures never cease with this tricky language. You would think it would be relatively straight-forward; rules for what’s masculine and what’s feminine, rules for conjugations, pluralizations, etc. Nope. I was sure that my German teacher misunderstood me when I tried to ask what the rules were for masculine/feminine and she said there weren’t any. So I asked Ingrid how you know, and she also said, “you don’t!” She was further helpful by saying “oh, you just—well die Klavier, it just doesn’t sound right!” Oh, ok. I’ll go by how it sounds then. Bah.

I still find myself trying to speak an odd mixture of Spanish, German, and English (hence the title of this blog post), and am beginning to think I will never fully speak any of the three! J I love my German class and teacher, though. She is so funny. It is really neat to take German from a native speaker; we really teach each other! She asks us for help with English and with American culture—it is really very neat. And she LOVES us. She thinks we are the funniest things—which just makes her even funnier. Every time we make a mistake, she says “oh it is so beautiful! This mistake, it is so beautiful!” Actually, everything we do is beautiful. “Last night I correct your beautiful homeworks! Oh this that you say is so funny, it’s so beautiful!” She’s great.

Anyways, we had some more mishaps with language this week that I would be amiss if I did not recount. Kristen and I went out on some pretty flimsy limbs this week, being brave and attempting to speak to people in German. It has not gone over super well. For one thing, when people are trying to talk to us in German (usually when we’re buying something), we want to get rid of them as soon as possible so they’ll stop speaking to us, so we just say “ja, ja, ja” to whatever they seem to be asking. This is probably not the best tactic. Well, I was debating about sharing this story in the food section or the language section, and since there is a lot more to say in the food section (obviously), then I’ll do it here. Kristen and I decided it was time to go to an actual restaurant in Vienna, so we saved up our money, energy, and courage and went to a little pizzeria that some of our groupies recommended. We walked in and sat right down, not feeling at all courageous about how to do this in German. We looked at the menu, which wasn’t very helpful seeing as it was all in Italian with a German translation. So both of us just ordered what we thought sounded good, based on what we assumed to be key words: “Parmaschinken”, and “Pizzabrott”. Our hope was to receive a pizza with parmesan chicken, chicken parmesana, or some other delicious variety of chicken, and delicious breadsticks that we had heard so much about. Well, we had one triumph, and that was to manage to understand that the waitress was asking us if we wanted anything to drink, to which we managed to convey that we didn’t. When they came over to take our order, it was decided who would order what, and Kristen got the job of the harder word to pronounce. I successfully ordered mine, and then it was Kristen’s turn. She and the lady pointed several times at the one she wanted, and then the waitress began to ask Kristen a series of questions to which we both just blinked and said “ja, ja…” Kristen picked up the words “mozzarella” and “zucchini” in whatever she was saying, and said “ja!”. We did what it took to get rid of the waitress, and when she finally left we breathed a sigh of relief and began to wonder what we had just ordered. I personally couldn’t think of any breadsticks that included mozzarella and zucchini. Well, what you see below is what arrived. Now at this point in the story it is important for me to bring up a detail from my trip to Germany 4 years ago. On day one in Germany, with Abi’s help I ordered a pizza hoping it would be parmesan chicken, only to find that it was absolutely covered in slices of raw-looking meat, which absolutely reeked, was disgusting, and made the car smell all week. I remembered that this meat was “schinken”, so when I came to Vienna I told everyone to steer clear of anything called schinken. But I began to notice that things called schinken looked perfectly normal, so I assumed I must have been wrong. Thus, I ordered the parmaschinken. Anyways, what arrived in front of me was an enormous pizza, covered in thin slices of raw meat, chunks of mozzarella, and a garden-full of weeds. What arrived in front of Kristen was an enormous plate of two huge pizza crusts, sandwiching mozzarella and chunks of zucchini. It was then that I recalled that I had made the exact same mistake in Germany—it was not schinken to steer clear of, but Parmaschinken! Ah. After Kristen and I had a moment of hushed laughter, we tried to eat what was before us. I simply could not bring myself to eat more than a few bites, and began looking around for the nearest exit in case I couldn’t keep it down. I didn’t want to be rude, so Kristen went into superhero-mode and managed to eat almost all of both dishes. I am still proud of her. What she couldn’t eat she brought in a little napkin to My Fair Lady and scarfed it down as we rushed up the red-velvet staircases to our seats. Oh, it was a moment of joy and laughter for some of us. Others of us are still waiting on the passage of time to find it truly humorous.

Die Konzerte

This category is in close competition with Food for what I have the most to say about, without having the words to say it. I guess the place to start would be with our first concert this week. We went to a cello quartet concert at Porgy and Bess, with Kristen’s teacher in it. It was fantastic, and so fun! They did things that I had no idea a cello could do. It was also just a local concert, so it was a close, small group of people and not touristy at all. So fun!

The next concert of sorts was one of the weirdest I have ever experienced. It was Le Concours, an experimental ballet, and was what I would describe as West-Side Story meets Swan Lake gone wrong, plus Agatha Christie, and all in German. It was SO weird, and we didn’t understand the story at all. The dancers were really talented, but it was just so weird. On the plus side, though, the fates seem to be with us because we paid for stehplatz, but almost no one was there, so the ushers let us all sit down! Glorious. In the picture, notice us waiting with our scarves at the Stehplatz, resting our legs before the show. Also, notice the people who totally cheated below us with their scarves. Yeah. Annoying.

The next day we went to My Fair Lady (after cramming raw-meat pizza down Kristen’s throat) and were thrilled that the same thing with the Stehplatz happened! This was a very nice musical, and would’ve been super cool if I spoke any German. It was still great though! The acting was good and the singing was pretty good. It was hilarious to hear all the songs we know so well sung in German, and came home singing “Oh wouldn’t it be Wunderschön? Wunderschön! Wunderschön!” Oh, and one thing we were extremely proud of. We were getting sick and tired of paying to check our coats at the Volksoper every time, since I really wouldn’t mind just keeping it on! But they make you check it. So we put our collective foot down, and decided to try to rig the system…and it worked! For this musical we decided to brave the sub-zero weather, and just layer up in sweaters and long johns so we wouldn’t have to check our coats. It was a beautiful system and they didn’t make us check anything! Never again are we checking coats. Note the lovely picture below—me showing off my layers before leaving. Oh, you can’t even see everything I have on under there…

This morning we made our way through the Russian wind to a little Jesuit church where we attended a mass written by Haydn! It was great, though I wondered how the musicians were feeling seeing as I could see my breath in that church. The musicians were from the St. Augustine choir and orchestra, and sounded great. It must be amazing to play in churches with such fantastic acoustics.

Now the best for last; the miracle concert. This is mostly the one I can’t really describe. All I can say is that Kristen and I both agreed that this is the best concert we have ever been to. And if you think about it, that is really saying a lot. Anyways, it was a miracle because we feel like we were led to it, and we almost didn’t go. We were on a self-guided walking tour, and had gotten totally lost several times, were absolutely frozen to death, and were ready to call it a day (we were only halfway through the tour and it had been three hours), when we stumbled upon a church called Annakirche (in honor of St. Anne, the mother of Mary). All during our walking tours, we had tried to get in all the churches we visited so we could see inside but also so we could experience 15-degree weather instead of 3-degree. We were not able to get in any of them because it was a Saturday afternoon, and as we know everything (everything) closes down on Saturday afternoons. Well, as I said we stumbled upon this little church, and to our delight found it open. We went in, relieved and nearly-dead. The man at the door greeted us with “Grüss Gott! Deutsch? Englisch?” Which delighted us more than we can say. We eked out, “ENGLISH!” and he proceeded to tell us about a “Vivaldi Exclusive” concert they were having at the church in the evening, performing the Four Seasons by members of the Vienna Phil and Symphony. We took the pamphlet, and continued walking around the church thinking that it would sure be cool to go to that concert, but we’d have to empty our bank accounts first. We left, thinking, “oh that’s too bad. But it’s probably not worth it. Even with the 10-euro discount because we’re students.” Well, suffice it to say we didn’t get too far outside the church before we turned to each other, wondering if we would regret not going. It occurred to us that we would regret it, and rehearsing what our mothers said about not passing up such opportunities on a matter of money, promptly turned around and bought the tickets right that minute. We felt super good about our purchase, and returned that evening for the concert. Let me just say that when the concert ended (a dreaded moment indeed), Kristen and I could do nothing but sit there, gaping at each other, unable to move. It was the most glorious thing I have ever heard. The musicians were so, so good, and so free. I could feel so strongly the love that they have for music and for what they do. It was so…tangible. And the beautiful music and gorgeous venue, plus my love for music and all the experiences I’ve been having…it was just too much for my tender mortal heart. I felt completely overwhelmed, even to tears, and had to scrape my remains off the bench to tear myself away from the church at the end. The Spirit was just so incredibly strong—I have never felt anything like I did in that performance. Oh, it was so good. Kristen and I could not get over it, and we dragged ourselves home, hardly knowing what to say or how to say it. We felt so blessed to be there, and so glad that we didn’t miss that opportunity! We surely felt led to that church at that time. The picture below shows the church where the concert was, although of course it doesn’t do it justice.

Die Ausflugsfahrt

This week we did lots of cool things with our European Fine Arts class, and on our self-guided walking tours. We got to see some Roman Ruins, watch the Anker clock in action, tour the Staatsoper and Staatsoper Museum, go to Schumann’s house, see the Jewish Memorial, tour lots of churches, go to the Kuntshistoriches Museum (one of the most famous in the world), visit the Johann Strauss Stadtpark, and ride up and down the glass elevator outside Mozart’s house where he died. To name a few. Enjoy some pictures.

View from Mozart's death-house--and the top of the 7-story glass elevator. This is overlooking the "Street with no cars" as we call it, or the Kartnerstrasse

The K Klan--Kriesler and Kristen

Bemoaning our fate at not getting into any churches

Strauss!

Kuntshistorisches Museum

Schumann's house

Posing with Wagner at the Staatsoper

Anker Clock

Jewish Memorial

Die Kultur

Couple things about the culture and people that we have observed here.

1. We noticed that people don’t really have much of a personal bubble here.

2. People really don’t move out of the way when walking down the street and you’re about to either run smack into them or else the wall of the building next to you. They usually leave you with the option to run into the building.

3. Staring is not rude. Oftentimes on the U-Bahn I will notice someone staring intently at me from one foot away, so I kind of glance at them, and they don’t break their gaze. It’s kind of awkward and I honestly usually question if I have jam smeared on my face or something.

4. It. Is. Freezing. I honestly think I can say that I have never been colder in my entire life. I think the difference here is that we are walking around in this humid, windy, 4-degree weather (literally, or buchstablich) for several hours a day. Yesterday while we walked around lost on our walking tour, we discussed what our dying wishes would be should we suddenly find ourselves frozen to death. Kristen does not want to be cremated, and if someone goes to the trouble to make a statue of me, I don’t want a long column with just my head on top. You can guess what we might have been looking at while discussing our final requests. It is cold. Ingrid told us that the wind comes down from Russia. I totally believe it. The people here say that it has never been so cold in Vienna (naturally) for such an extended period of time. In fact, today while I was shivering in the mass in church and thinking that I would be much warmer and more comfortable in a freezer, I tried to think of times in my life that I’ve been colder. I could not think of any times, even when I recalled jumping out of a hot tub and rolling around in the snow in my swimsuit on a dare from the kids. Yes, it is cold. But it’s supposedly going to get warmer next week (maybe 6 degrees…? We can always hope for the best).

5. Every ten seconds, an ambulance drives by with its siren on. You would honestly think the city was in constant uproar. I have never seen any sort of emergency issue, though…

6. People really appreciate music here like I’ve never seen anywhere else. The audiences in the concerts we’ve been to are stellar—they behave well and they really seem to appreciate and love what they’re experiencing. Music is so appreciated here, I just LOVE it!

Die Festgelage

Ahh, food. You know you’re still reading because of this section. Besides the incident with the pizza, and another incident where Kristen thought she was getting a container of much-desired dried apricots that turned out to be a huge thing of gross Marillemarmelade (see picture below), it was a great week for food! J I enjoyed trying more delicious pastries and Krapfen, usually nutella-filled. Our meal with Ingrid is, as usual, something to discuss. MMM!!! She made pumpkin soup, which warmed our chilled innards, then fed us cheese-filled sausage wrapped in bacon, served atop mashed potatoes with brussel sprouts. AHH it was so good! For dessert, she brought out applesauce that was just unlike any applesauce I’ve had anywhere. SO good. I decided that the food here is just so…flavorful, and succulent, and DELICIOUS. Mmm.

This picture depicts the one sweet thing Ingrid has in her house (that she has offered us), but that neither of us really like. We know we are in death’s grasps, either starving for a snack or a sweet, when we succumb to Rose-flavored Turkish Delight. There are a lot of rose-flavored foods here.

This week for our treat at the grocery store (we try a new one every time we go shopping), we got these Belgium Waffle cookie things, and almost died when we ate them. What truly caused our deaths was putting nutella on said waffles. Oh my word. We also tried these cookies called Doppel, or something, that are kind of like cracker-cookies with fudge in between them. Oh man.

The two food highlights of the week, however, were Gilato and Truffles. First the Gilato—we had heard that this place (Zanoni & Zanoni) was good, but we didn’t even know what ice cream was until we went here. AHHHH. So many different kinds of flavors, and so amazingly good. You can tell by my poor writing, use of all-caps, and italicizing everything, that I really can’t describe the deliciousness. I got, of course, nutella-flavored ice cream that just tasted like Heaven in a scoop.

The truffle place was a gem like the little Annakirche, and we also discovered it in a hidden-away alley while trying to get warm on the walking tour. We decided to just “go in and look”, and defrost a bit. Well, Kristen convinced me to buy something lest I regret it later, so I asked the lady there if she spoke English and if she could tell me all the flavors of truffles. I got three truffles: peppermint, eggnog, and caramel. OH. MY. HEAVENS. TO. BETSY. There is nothing to say that will describe that heavenly taste. Kristen tried to capture my apparently hilarious rapture by snapping shots of me eating the chocolate. It was just too yummy.

Well folks, that’s all for now—hope you enjoyed. Bear in mind that I am constantly putting more pictures on facebook than I have on here, so hopefully you can go enjoy those, too. Adios, Auf Wiedersehen, Bussi, Ciao, Tschüss.

Ich bin nicht Österreicherin

2012-01-29T10:53:00.000-08:00

Ahh what a great week. And again, way too much to report. I was thinking what the best way to report all this would be, and I think I have come up with a so-so solution. We’ll see how it goes. Categories! For each category I’ll post something funny that happened, something cool we did, my favorite/least favorite, some goal I have, or other some-such random tid-bit. Also, don't mock my German efforts. I know there is a lot wrong here, but at least I’m trying, ja??

Deutsch

Ok, so to start, we have SO many funny stories about when our feeble attempts to speak German didn’t quite work out for us. One big accomplishment of the week, though, is that I managed—on several occasions!—to order something in German, and have them do what I actually wanted and respond in German! Granted, I usually didn’t know what they were muttering in German, but I knew I didn’t have to respond except with “uh…ja…danke schön…tcheusse…” So, progress! J I will say that I have gotten to be pro at asking people, “Entschuldigung—sprechen Sie Englisch?” Often they reply, “I will try”, or “Eh, a little” and then proceed speak in perfect English. However, at the post office, I was not so fortunate. The lady looked like she wanted to eat me when I asked her, and her answer was a simple shrug of the shoulders, with a totally straight face. I wasn’t sure what to take that for, so I just started speaking English…I keep on mixing Spanish into the German, especially when I don’t know a filler word. For example, I often will say something like, “Quiero brott, bitte.” Or “Ich nicht tengo ein glass.” Yeah, I know now what people mean when they say they mix up their languages. Leen, I don’t know how you do it. You and your German, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Hebrew, Icelandic, Gaelic, etc.

Anyways, moving on, a hilarious thing happened this week. Kristen might murder me for sharing this, but hey—it was hilar. So we were having our weekly dinner with Ingrid (more on that later—holy smokes. Divine.) and we were happily practicing our German on her. Which I can tell she thoroughly enjoys. Usually these practices go something like this: we say, “Hey Ingrid, what does this mean? How do you say this? What is this word in German?” and then she tells us—it’s naturally some 30-letter long word with 8 syllables, and we try to say it. After failing (I swear my throat was not built to construct some of these words. I don’t know how they produce half of these sounds), she says, “no, not like that! Like this!” then repeats the word the wrong way and the right way (they sound exactly the same). Then we forget the word entirely and have to ask her at least 5 more times. Anyways, we were eating with her and asking her how to say “hot” and “cold”. When she told us that “hot” is “heiss”, we set out to use it immediately. Kristen, full of hope and excitement, announced “Ich bin Heiss!” to which Ingrid looked horrified and said, “NO! no, no no!” For those of you who know what this means, you are probably laughing your faces off. To those who don’t, you soon will be. Ingrid said, “No! That means I need a man…immediately!!” We could hardly stop laughing, and wondering how on earth that could mean that, and who would ever want to say that!

So, on to the favorite word or phrase of the week. Kristen and I have moved on (only slightly) from “Ein stük, bitte”. Our new favorite phrase is the title of this blog, and we say it at every possible opportunity. It is usually followed by “Du bist nicht Österreicherin. Ich bin Österreicherin! Du bist Amerikanerin.” We swiftly accomplished our goal of saying “Schlauchanshluss” and have moved on to the new goal: Fünfundfünfzig. Oh yes, we love long words here. Just look at that tongue-twister! Wow.

One last language thing (whoa, sorry this is going to be a very long blog). Ingrid is HILARIOUS. She says the funniest things, and I think it’s mostly because of her word choice and the accent in which she says these things. It’s very cute. First of all, we finally figured out why she kept saying that she broke her ankle, when we know she hurt her pinky bone. We looked up the translation in her German-English dictionary, and in German the word for “ankle” and the word for “knuckle” is the same thing! Wow! I guess that’s kind of how we have a lot of the same words in English that don’t actually mean the same thing. I am so glad I’m not learning English right now. That would truly be disastrous if it was my second language. Anyhow, Ingrid was showing us how to use the washing machine, and whenever she shows us how to use something she is very thorough. She showed us how to adjust the temperature and the cycle on the machine, and explained what all the words and knobs mean. Then she turned to us and said in a serious voice, “If you turn this knob too hot, then—then you cook it!” It was all I could do to not burst into laughter right then, but when I was on the subway later and remembered, Kristen is my witness that I literally had tears streaming down my face I was laughing so hard. Maybe you just had to be there…

Die Musik

Oh my goodness gracious. What a week for music! This week we went to The Barber of Seville at the Staatsoper (the one across the street from our school), Die Zauberflöte (Magic Flute) at the Volksoper, and Catholic Mass at the Hofburg Palace Chapel with Vienna Boys and orchestra performing. A bit about each, if I can contain myself.

The Barber of Seville was amazing! It was our first time so it was fun to experience the whole Stehplatz deal. For those of you who don’t know, the way it works is that you go super early (like 2-3 hours early) and stand in line. Or sit and read your book and talk to your friends in line. Then, like 30 minutes or so before the performance, they let you buy a Stehplatz ticket (for 3—THREE—euro) and then you walk through the amazing operahouse to wait in another line. Once they give you the green light to go in, you run to a standing room place on the balcony and tie a scarf where you want to stand, to reserve your spot. These spots are sacred, and nobody moves your scarf once you put it there. Nobody. Anyways, we didn’t really have to fight off a large crowd or anything so we just sort of meandered in there and tied our scarves where we wanted. Then we had to wait a while longer before the opera started, so we walked around taking pictures. Once the opera starts, you stand there and watch it, and there’s a little screen for the translation (you can pick German or English, so if you don’t speak either one of those, that stinks for you. Unless you speak Italian, in which case you are in a better place than the rest of us). The opera was amazing! Their voices were so strong—they could carry over the full orchestra! From where we were standing we could see down into the pit orchestra, so that was really cool. I could see the harpsichord player super well. It was Kristen’s first opera, and my first to not have mom there, whispering in my ear what was going on! J So I was very proud when I understood what was going on. I actually understood the Latin better than I do German…ha! People are a lot better at clearing out of a place here than they are in the States. Actually, at intermission within SECONDS the entire place is totally empty. I don’t know where they go and what they do at intermission, but we were pretty much the only ones that stuck around! Anyways, I loved the opera (although my legs got rather tired from standing up so long) and I can’t wait to go back there to see more!

The Magic Flute was fantastic. It was at the Volksoper, which is “The People’s Opera”, so every production they do there is in German. For instance, next week we are going to My Fair Lady there, and it will be in German. It’s more of a local, smallish opera. We went hoping to get Stehplatz for 2 euro, and I bought my ticket and then Kristen went up to the window to get her ticket, and they told her that it was all sold out. I literally bought the last ticket! Oh boy. We sat around deliberating about what to do for a while, saying that that would happen to us. When we pretty much had made up our minds what to do, we saw a lady selling two of her own tickets. We went up to her, asked if she spreched English, and how much she wanted for her tickets. We saw on her ticket that it was a 72 euro ticket, so we immediately said never mind, and were about to head on our way when she asked how much we could pay. She said 50? 30? We felt pathetic to say that we still couldn’t pay that much, and we tried to explain that we are students, hoping only to pay for Stehplatz. She told us to wait and if she couldn’t sell them, she’d give them to us. About 2.2 seconds later, she turned back around and said, “I make my decision. I give you the ticket.” We were rather dumbstruck—she wouldn’t let us pay her for them. Then she saw my ticket and said “oh here, take this one too!” so I gave my ticket to some other poor stander by who didn’t get there early enough, either. When Kristen and I finished getting over our awe at this woman’s kindness (TWO 72-euro tickets for free??) we left to find our seats. We entered to discover that our seats were on the SECOND ROW, DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE STAGE! Oh my goodness! Do you know how cool that was?!!?! We could not get over it, and I don’t think we ever will. We were sitting right in front of the orchestra, and could see down in the pit the whole time. We could see the faces of the singers, and rest our legs besides. Also, it turns out that the lady who gave us the tickets was part of a group from England that sat by us that was on an opera-tour in Vienna. We are learning that it is true what they say—Americans are not exactly appreciated anywhere except in America. But we try to be pleasant so people get a better opinion of us. Everyone is still very nice and cordial. Although one of the ladies in the English group asked where we were from, and when someone told her America, she said “America? That’s allowed…..I guess.” Ha! So anyways they talked to us, and I sat by a musicologist who happened to have just given a lecture about the Magic Flute, so he told us all about it! How cool. Plus we were there on Mozart’s birthday, the composer of t

he opera, listening to it in German, sung by natives, 15 feet away from them. It was just too much, and I admit that I cried through the Overture. The Queen of the Night blew me away. Ahh it was so good! I LOVE MUSIC!

Oh heavens. If you’re still reading, I commend you. You’re a better man than I am. BUT you’re about to read the highlight of my trip this far! This morning we went to Mass. OH. MY. HEAVENS. TO. BETSY. I declared to Kristen as we sprinted (literally) to sacrament meeting afterwards that if I died right NOW, it would actually be just fine. I was in HEAVEN in there. So first we arrived at the palace (which is cool enough by itself) and nearly froze our heads off. It was a little foggy today, and the city was empty. It was beautiful. We were there quite early (because we struggled to understand the website that was in German, explaining when we had to get there) so we just had a photo shoot with the palace sculptures. Then we went and got in line and saw the steady stream of Vienna Boys Choir members arriving. Precious. After I was sure that I had lost all of my toes, both legs, all of my fingers, and my face to frostbite, they let us in to the chapel. It is a small, private chapel for the royalty, but beautiful all the same. We got a good standing room spot (free), and were looking forward to an excellent mass. But then it would seem that our luck has taken a turn for the better. The usher people came up to us and said that four times a year they don’t fill up the chapel, and this happened to be one of those times, so we could all fill up the back three rows of chairs. Whoa! So again, we got to sit for free! Mass began, and we all stood while the priests filed in in their robes and with candles in hand. Again, I had to cry watching them all file in, with beautiful music playing, in this beautiful chapel—I am so fortunate to have this experience! It was my first mass, too. I appreciated it so much more having studied it in music civ. The Vienna Boys Choir, orchestra, and men’s chorus were all up in a loft somewhere, so no one could see them. The idea behind this is that they are voices from above, like angel voices, that you can’t see but can hear. It was so magical! And yes Leen—the priests did some Gregorian Chant that you would’ve greatly appreciated. And the organist was a rock star. SUCH fine playing. We left the mass ready to cry our eyes out with how beautiful it was, and went to our sacrament meeting which was so wonderful to feel the Spirit there, even if we only understood like 5 words (3 of which were in English).

Hofburg palace-- a picture for your enjoyment.

Das Klavier

Ahh, das Klavier. I just need to say right now that I love the piano. I love it. Sometimes, I can hardly get over it. I feel so blessed to know that I am doing the right major and that it is one that I love. This week I got more in the groove of practicing. There is not much time in the day to practice (2 hours MAX), and the piano I practice on drives me to say prayers of gratitude even for E-432. It is missing the top 3 notes, but luckily I haven’t needed them yet! J I am just grateful to have an instrument to practice on. As you can see pictured here, the piano did not quite make it through one of my practice sessions. I can’t say I’ve ever broken a string, but I can say now that I’ve broken a key! Ha. The pianos at my teachers houses, though…ahh. Pure bliss. Quite possibly two of the best pianos I have ever played. I had a lesson on Friday with one teacher, and a lesson on Saturday with another one. I played Mozart for both of them, and got some very useful feedback. One of them said she wanted to show me how they play Mozart in Vienna. It was very cool! She taught me lots of little helpful things and taught me many things about Mozart. This is so great to be able to take from teachers here. They are very nice, and very complimentary. Can’t wait to learn more! It’s amazing, is it not, how universal music is?? My teacher and I communicate much better by playing for each other than we do sitting there trying to explain things to each other. Very cool. And no matter where you are in the world, you still have to shape your phrases! And no matter who you are and what country you’re from and what language you speak, music speaks the same. Music is the same! That is certainly not something you can say about very many things. How cool. I am so glad I get to be a part of this.

One thing is that it is so hard to have time in which to practice here. We are not home often, and when we are it seems to be too early or too late to play. Also, they have some kind of siesta thing here where everything shuts down from 1-3 pm every day, and you can’t practice during that time. As it turns out, that’s the ideal time to practice most days, so we are still figuring out what to do.

I love it, because everyone here thinks that we are so cool when we tell them we are musicians. I’m not used to that! Many people here are musicians of some sort, and if they’re not they at least they are knowledgeable when it comes to musical things, and they respect musicians. Cool, cool. Also, and this one is for Lauren—THEY DO NOT OVERDO THEY’RE STANDING OVATIONS. Ahh, breath of fresh air. In fact, I have yet to attend a concert where a standing ovation was given. And this is world-class music! Also they don’t even overdo the clapping! I.e. clapping in the wrong spot. People are so much more in the know about concerts here, I love it. I’m currently in a choir conducting by someone named Jean-Jacques Rousseau (I know, right??). The people are all very friendly, and we had a blast. Their voices are AMAZING. There is a former Vienna Boys Choir member in the choir, and he was introduced to me and he emailed me info about the VB choir! So cool. I think I actually won’t be going to that choir anymore, but to a different one where I will get to actually sing in Mass!

Die Essen

Oh boy. This is the category you were all waiting for, I know, though I doubt anyone is still reading. This week we ate düner, for Ryan (see picture). It’s extremely tasty, but doesn’t seem to be as popular here as it is in Germany. There are kabob shops all over the place, but they don’t dot the streets like in Germany. Also, we ate the world-famous Sacher Torte (see picture) which was rather divine. It was very rich, and dark-chocolatey. The cream on the side is different than cream in the states—they make their whipped cream without sugar. But it was nice to set off the richness of the cake. Mmm it was good. The BEST thing I have eaten so far is the next picture. Three words: Nutella-filled croissant. Topped with powdered sugar and drizzled with chocolate! One could not ask for more. With every bite I was groaning in delight. The next picture, however, is the grossest thing I have had in Vienna (which is hard to say, because just about everything I have eaten here so far, I adore) is roasted chestnuts. The song makes them sound delightful and pleasant, but I assure you that THEY ARE NOT. Actually, Kristen loves them and so do lots of people, but to me they taste like mushy warm garbanzo beans. Yeah, no. The next picture is of my delicious caramel-nougat mousse cake from the Mozart Café. Kristen and I kindly handed over both arms and legs for our cakes, but it was well worth it for Mozart’s birthday!

Nutella Croissant

Roasted chestnuts

Mozart Cafe cake

Sacher Torte

Düner

Feasting on nutella wafers and chocolate--wishing Milka a happy birthday!

Every day Kristen and I go to bed and dream about the morning when we’ll eat our cornflakes with whole milk. Nope, still not sick of that. Also we successfully downed the entire bottle of apricot jam in one week. I think Ingrid is a little taken aback about how much we are capable of eating in the morning. Right now Kristen and I are enjoying a new variety of bread and cheese (we are experimenting every week). This bread came as a surprise and is filled with walnuts (absolutely divine), and the cheese is some kind of butter-cheese. It’s always an adventure because we can’t understand the labels! J

For our meal with Ingrid this week she made rice, vegetables, this divine noodle soup with mini-meatballs, and super tasty pork with sour cream and cheese cooked on the top. It was so good! I noticed that everything here is like 10 times more flavorful and succulent than it is in the states. So much flavor! And good flavor, too! This week Ingrid said that she “recognizes that we like sweets”, as she gestured towards the totally desolate jar of candy that she finally gave us the green light to devour (we didn’t even ask, don't worry mom). She is not really a sweets person, she told us—so she also gave us some Turkish Delight (not as yummy, but still better than the TD I’ve had in the States). Oh yes, we love our sweets! We have tried lots of things from our two favorite bakeries—Anker and Strüke—and we can’t wait to try more! We decided to try one new candy everytime we go shopping. The other night we had a craving for chocolate, so we ventured out to find something. To our utter dismay, all the bakeries were already closed (everything closes at like 9 a.m. here, pretty much) so we went super far to the grocery store, and bought a thing of chocolate covered, hazelnut-filled wafer things. Oh my. We admit that we ate the entire box on the way home. Yeah.

Trips

Ok, if you’re still reading, you’ve made it to the last category! Wow! Look at you! I’m amazed at you. Honestly. There will hopefully be more pictures and less words in this category. I want to talk briefly about two of our little expeditions this week. First of all, it was Mozart’s Geburstag! So we didn’t have school. How cool is that?? I think they only do that in Vienna. We celebrated by going on a walk to see all his sights—where he lived, composed, was married, died, etc.

Mozart's house--were he composed Marriage of Figaro

After the walk, we ended at the Mozart Café (mentioned above) for the yummy cakes, and then I went to my lesson where I worked on my Mozart Sonata, then Kristen and I went to Die Zauberflöte! Really cool. Also, we went to the Mozart Monument, where you will see in this picture there is a large treble clef in the grass in front of him. We stood in front of his monument and sang happy birthday, accompanied by Julia on her violin. Only music majors would do such things! J

The other main excursion this week was a self-guided walking tour (one of eight that we do for credit). It was supposed to only take an hour or something, but due to getting exceedingly lost and a pit stop at the chocolate shop for some nutella-layered wafers, it took three hours. We of course picked one of the coldest days yet to do this tour—since we have been here Vienna has gone from cold to glacier. Suffice it to say; we were Done with a capital D by the end. However, we got to learn a lot about St. Stephansdome! Also we took a tour of some Roman Ruins, the Jewish Quarter in Vienna, the oldest church in Vienna, and the old headquarters of the Gestapo. Cool stuff! We even saw an old Turkish cannonball from 1638! The picture of the “05” that you see here is a super cool thing that took us forever (I mean forever) to find. It’s on St. Stephansdome and was used during the war to show the secret meeting place for the Austrian resistance. The “05” means “Oe” since, e is the 5^th letter of the alphabet, and it is short for Österreich (Austria), our favorite word! How cool is that!?

05! We literally searched high and low for this, and then it was in an obvious glass case.

St. Stephansdome

The typical picture of us lost--with our novel book of walking tours.

Anyhow, this might be the longest blog I’ve ever written, and the longest blog you’ve ever read. I’m sorry it’s so long, but at least I’ll have it for posterity, eh? Hope you enjoyed some or all of it, and if you enjoyed all of it, I hope you aren’t on your way to get Lasik right now. Farewell, until next week (I hope!). Auf Weidersehen!

Ich Spreche Kien Deutsch

2012-01-22T10:51:00.000-08:00

Holy smokes! This simply will not do to only blog once a week. WAY too much happens in just a few days! I'll post a couple few pictures here and some feeble attempts at explanations...since I'm doing a blitz-blog with so little time for internet access! You can always check my facebook for more pictures and such. When I put them on. You know.

So the first thing to discuss is our divine breakfasts. Every day Ingrid (don't worry mom, she told us to call her Ingrid) feeds us "flakes" mit volmilch undt brott mit butter and apricot jam!! :) It's divine. And we have volmilch because Ingrid says that skim milk tastes "like white water" (There you go, Camille and Amber). Every day we eat here:

Our goal is to be able to say this word by the end of the semester. We pass it every day on the stairs. You try it-- Kristen almost died of laughter when I did.

YES. This brought me so much joy. You can hear the orchestra music pouring out of the bathroom from all the way outside it. What I wouldn't give for a bathroom like this! :)

Exploring...etc

Our first meal successfully purchased in German! Yeah, serious struggles with that.

Fear not, Sister Blair--we are eating! :)

Mom, not 1, not 2, not 3, but FOUR kinds of vegetables on that plate! Not even counting the tomato sauce! They may all be in a mixture, but hey!

So, about these hot dogs from the stand--here they take a loaf of bread (like french bread) and drill a hole down the center. Then they squirt ketchup or mustard or whatever down in the hole, then cram a long hot dog (NOT American hot dog material) or Brottwurst (spelling..horrible) down inside. It is SO good, and mess-free!

Walk to church-- over the Danube

Street where church is--church on the left. Yeah, church is another story. I understood a total of maybe 10 words the entire three hours. But hey, maybe next week it'll be 20??

My corner. Let me just say how much I love European pillows. Mmm.

Shoenbrunn...mmmmmmm. The pictures don't do it justice. Kristen and I literally gasped and stopped dead in our tracks, mouths drooping open when we arrived here (as pictured in the second picture here). It's GORGEOUS.

Our staircase

Homebase!

Our front door!

More to come...see more pictures on facebook.

Couple more tidbits-- we experienced grocery shopping in Vienna! Ha. First of all, struggles with the whole deal about putting a coin in the shopping cart to unlock it. Yeah. Thank heavens someone left their's unlocked or we wouldn't have had a cart... They have lots of meats, cheese, bread, and chocolate and hardly any fruits or veggies. And if they DO have any, they're rotten or from Spain. Or both.

Also, people in Vienna are SO QUIET. I love it. We didn't really notice how quiet they were until we were in the grocery story, literally whispering at our softest volume. It was like the grave in there! NOBODY talks, and there is no music, so it's super quiet. Also, the U-Bahn station (which we're pros at navigating now) is like unto the grave as well. Kristen and I decided that it's not that they talk quietly, it's that they DON'T talk. Yeah. I fit right in here :)

As for the weather, it's pretty cold, but mostly because of the wind. It's been kind of rainy and snowy too, but today was beautiful. I just pull on my 15 layers and I'm just fine! So far we have mostly eaten bread, which is fine by me! All the bread here is delicious. Even the cheap kind. Even the roll from the hot dog stand!

We are anxious to try the chocolate, famous Sacher Torte, more pastries, hot pretzels, roasted chestnuts, more bread and wienerschnitzel, duener, etc etc etc... Just drinking it all in! Also we've made plans to go to the opera this WEDNESDAY--Barber of Saville, and My Fair Lady at the Volksoper next week. Can't wait to report more, if and when I have time and internet! :)

It Awaits

2012-01-17T22:30:00.001-08:00

Bucket List

2012-01-08T18:36:00.000-08:00

So in the last couple years I have been chipping away at an alarming rate at my bucket list. The other day I decided to go find my bucket list to see what was actually on there, besides what I just thought I remembered. And you know what? I couldn't find it ANYWHERE! In fact, I began to have serious doubts that I've ever even made one. So I decided to construct one here. I think it's going to be the sort of thing that I add to over the years...but here's the list of things that I can think of that I have wanted to do at some point before I leave this frail existence, as it were. As you will notice, I have already done many things on this list. One step closer to feeling at peace when I die! :) Oh and this doesn't include the obvious things like temple marriage, children, etc.

1. Ski in the Swiss Alps (which goes without saying that I'm in Switzerland, eating chocolate)

2. Go to Vienna

3. Run a half marathon

4. Do a triathlon

5. Read the whole Bible

6. Do an Olympic Triathlon

7. Go on a study abroad

8. Get a manicure

9. Get a pedicure

10. Learn and play Rach 2 with an orchestra

11. Learn Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2

12. Learn to play the harpsichord

13. Pull an all-nighter

14. Ride a donkey into the Grand Canyon

15. Swim with Sea Turtles and dolphins

16. Go to Hawaii

17. Watch the sunset in a hot air balloon. Or sunrise.

18. Go on a cruise

19. Solo with the Utah Symphony

20. Waterski

21. Go to all 50 states

22. Go to Venice

23. Ski a double-black diamond

24. Snowboard

25. Go on a mission with my husband (when I have one. And we're old.)

26. Graduate from college

27. Break a bone

28. Go to the ER in an ambulance

29. Go to culinary art school

30. Master Nanaimo bars

31. Bike across the country!

Anyways, I'm sure as soon as I publish this I'll think of more, but that's what I've got for now. Bring it on, life!

2011: Passing in Review

2012-01-02T17:48:00.000-08:00

I realized when I really thought about it what a great year it has been! Wow! So many changes and good things for my family. And lots of hard things, too, that turned into good things. I'm excited to see what this year will bring for everyone! I thought it would be good to do a “year in review” thing, just listing some of the highlights of this year for me. Wow, it’s been great. These are some of the best things that happened to me this year, and things that caused me to grow a great deal—they changed my life! Here we go (in no particular order):

Grey’s wedding

BYU symphony concerto concert

Sophomore recital

Summerfest (counselor)

Annie’s birth

My bike accident

Running a half marathon!

Temple trip with Amber and Aileen!!!!!

Decision to go to Vienna

Developing a love for learning

Agathe Christie

The Dick Van Dyke show

Visiting TNCTH in Indiana

Becoming friends with lots of great people

I’m sure there are more! It’s been so great. I can’t wait to see what this next year brings!!

Forever Young

2011-12-25T20:36:00.000-08:00

The other day, when my mom had just finished smearing sunscreen on my face before going sledding, Ryan turned to me and said, laughing, "Lu, do you ever just wonder when you're going to stop being the baby of the family? When you're going to stop being treated like a kid?" I laughed and said, "Yeah, except I don't wonder. Because I know it will never stop." And you know, I think this is something I have just come to sort of accept. Yes, I am the youngest and that is another tale for another day. However I think I am truly young at heart. I have noticed a few incidents the last few days that have caused me to reflect on my truly infantile nature.

For instance, the other day I was bored and spent my time watching episodes of Arthur and the Bernstein Bears online. I naturally assumed this was a perfectly normal thing to do, since these were the shows of my childhood and I only adore them. However when I was talking to Amber later that day, and happened to mention my disappointment that these sweet-awesome TV shows are now less than sweet-awesome, Amber could simply not stop laughing. In response to my confusion she said "Lug, that is probably because now you are older. And they're not cool anymore." I refused to believe that this was so, and said that they probably just got a new producer or something who makes them all lame.

Another occurrence that reminded me that I am simply still a kid, happened in the last few days where in 3 days I drove to or from SLC 6 times. Since I was bored, I played about 5 games of the alphabet game with myself on the way home. For me, this is perfectly normal and a very useful way to pass the time when I am bored in the car and it is dark. Right? Right??

Well you know, if I openly admit to being totally engrossed in watching Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer or The Year Without a Santa Clause with my nieces and nephews, or rolling around in the snow in a bathing suit, or secretly indulging myself in several Boxcar Children books (which have also become lame as of late), then I openly admit to being a kid still. And you know what? That's ok with me.

Boys and Girls: Dating and the Aftermath

2011-12-15T22:54:00.000-08:00

Aileen and I satirize the subtle nuances of the differences in boy/girl relationships. Believe me, this is well worth your time. All 20 minutes of it. The two parts need to be watched in succession, but it was too long to put it all in one video.

Part 1

Part 2

Lessons Learned

2011-12-13T15:45:00.000-08:00

Ok here's the third and final! Probably no one reads these, but hey at least I can have them for posterity AND figure out what I learned! :) This semester was absolutely fantastic. I learned so much, and had so much fun. I feel like I found my niche and truly learned to LOVE learning! It was great.

1. I learned that I love, love learning.

2. Heavenly Father often blesses us JUST because He loves us, and for no other reason.

3. Life ≠ the movies

4. Bodies are capable of much, much more than we give them credit for. I.e. practicing for unusually long hours, recovering super fast from intense injury, to name a few...

5. I feel infinitely better falling into bed after a 16 hr day (9 of which were spent at the piano) than I do falling into bed after a day that I completely wasted.

6. My computer does not play DVD's.

7. You can do your hair really cool with a sock.

8. "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" are the same song, but one is major and the other is minor.

9. It is always better to add/drop a class before the add/drop deadline. It will save you an ulcer.

10. Laughter truly is the best medecine.

11. I truly, honestly cannot afford to compare myself to other people. I can't.

12. I learned how to arrange/improvise, etc

13. I learned how to irish dance!

14. Do not ever try to apply for a visa. Ever.

15. Just because someone is an RM does not make them mature by default.

16. Classical Piano Pandora. Enough said.

17. Time goes by so STINKING fast.

18. I have some pretty amazing friends, family, and teachers.

19. It takes as little as 1 week for one to get totally out of shape.

20. I can't WAIT to go to school year round from here on out, and learn a TON!!!

That's a Wrap

2011-12-12T14:06:00.000-08:00

Well, time sure flies, does it not? Here's post number 2 of the final posts of the semester. Let's see just how accurate my first impressions were! I daresay that oftentimes the Lord has a different plan than we do. You shall see that my semester turned out very, very differently than it started! So read my first impressions blog here, and compare!

Music Civ

Well, I actually feel kind of nostalgic that I withdrew from this class. It was enjoyable while it lasted! I had a great class and loved the teacher. I withdrew so I can take it in Vienna, which was another change to the semester...so I think it was worth it. Plus I'll get to take 305 and 306 with him.

Theory

I actually almost cried the last day of class, and in fact Dr. Durham did cry. This was seriously the best class of my life. I absolutely love Dr. Durham and my class was full of friends who I will miss so much this semester. I learned so much, laughed so much, and had a blast. Boy. I'd better move on before I cry just writing this.

Sight Singing

Well, only one more semester of this lovely class...! It was a good class with fun friends and a funny teacher. Yesterday we went Sight-Singing caroling at her apartment, and THAT was a joy! :)

Dictation

Well after all my worries and fears about this class, I ended up testing out of it so I only went one more time besides the first day when I wrote my first post! haha My teacher seemed alright. I was happy to have another hour in my day to practice. Only one more semester of this, too, unless I test out!

D&C

This was a good class. I liked learning. My teacher was alright, but I had some frustrations with her style. I hardly knew people in my class because we didn't really interact, but I made friends with like 2 people who sat by me. I learned a lot doing my music project for this class!

Keyboard Foundations

I took one look at my first impression of this class, and thought to myself, "Huh. Couldn't have said it better myself!" Oh boy. This class was SO STINKING HARD. I am actually still working on my finals for it. BUT I had some SUPER good friends in this class, and that made it more delightful. I learned a lot, I really did. However it was just so hard. Every day I would leave shaking my head at how ridiculous the assignment he just gave us was. Hardly an exaggeration, a typical assignment was tossed out like this:

Oh, by the way for next class please record all the Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies in all 24 keys, modulating between each one using 4 different variations of French, German, and Italian augmented 6 chords. Then just dress it up a little by using stride accompaniment, arpeggiated accompaniment, 953 clusters, using a variety of sound, color, dynamics, and register. Make every chord deceptive, and add 6 secondary dominants. Also please add an intro and coda using the spelling of your name, a quote from another piece, and modulating 6 times throughout. And for extra credit which you'll never receive, quote a lick from Haydn's favorite piece of Bach's. See you next time.

Only one more semester, only one more semester, only one more...

Keyboard in Ensemble

Yeah, this class was fine. Like I said I only had to go like twice. No prob. It was pretty much just accompanying. I'm all done with this required credit now!

Irish Dancing

This class was a delight! I loved learning a new skill. It turned out that Whitney Wilcox was in fact my partner for one of our dances. :) I think I liked tap dancing better, truth be told--but this was still really fun! I think I'll take a break from the dance classes for a little while...

Elementary Skills and Activities

One could just NOT ask for a cooler class. Holy cow. A total fluke that I added this class, it turned out to be one of the best classes I've ever taken. First of all I had it with Miss Ward (Or Coach Messenger, is it may be), my 7th grade P.E. teacher. She's hilarious and awesome. Oh, and this class is basically Elementary School P.E., a class designed to teach you how to be a P.E. teacher. But we learned how by doing all the activities ourselves. SO FUN. Every day was different; learning soccer, volleyball, basketball, juggling, rhythms, dancing, tennis, football, animal movements, and playing cops and robbers, sharks and minnows, etc. You just couldn't ask for a cooler class. and I made such wonderful friends! Elementary Ed. majors are nice people, you know! :)

Vienna Prep

This last-minute decision to go to Vienna has me absolutely FLOORED with excitement. And the class was awesome. We just sat around talking about Vienna and eating yummy Viennese food that Sister Hinckley made. They said that a big part of our grade will be determining the best pastry shop in Vienna. Yes, I think I can handle 4 more months of this class.

Piano

I feel so incredibly blessed about how wonderful my masterclass is. We are all just the best of friends. This is probably the thing I will miss the most while I'm in Vienna. Some of my closest friends are in this class. It is so great to come together and play for each other and learn from each other. We give each other advice and encouragement and enjoy laughing and learning together. LOVE it!

Sophomore Recital

What a happy event, and an enormous blessing that I could do it! This was one of the most special performances I've ever been a part of, and I felt so blessed. Thanks to all of you for your amazing support and love and prayers. They were greatly felt this semester! I had so much fun, learned so much, and felt so, so happy. I'll get the first impressions of the next semester when I'm in VIENNA!!!

Fall 2011 Quotes!!!!

2011-12-09T09:04:00.000-08:00

I know. I cannot BELIEVE the semester is over. It's been such a great semester. Like, SO great. This shall be manifest in this first post of the end-of-semester-posts I always do, because there are like 4 times as many quotes as usual. It's been so great! Enjoy! And remember--sometimes you just had to be there. And other times you have to just remember musician humor. Here we go! Oh, and Dr. Howard was my Music Civ teacher, Dr. Holden is a piano professor who taught me keyboard foundations and keyboard in ensemble (he is hilarious but doesn't try to be) and Dr. Durham is the famous theory teacher. They are great.

Lucy: Um, my stomach just growled to the tune of 'High on a Mountain Top'.

Dr. Howard: If you want to bring the powerpoints instead of the entire textbook, it might save you a herniated disk or two.

Dr. Howard: If someone pops an attitude with you, you can say, "I'm sorry, are you attitudinizing with me?"

Dr. Howard: She is showing a little bit of an ankle!! Absolutely scandalous. This is the sports illustrated swimsuit edition.

Dr. Holden: You're a bad person, because you're short.

Dr. Holden: Listen to that chord--there's a wasabi bean in there!

Lucy: You can get away with murder, if the harmonies don't change.

Dr. Durham: Lauren! Are these homemade?? You are so domestic! Why aren't these boys in here just fawning over you?!

Random boy in theory: So.....what are you doing tonight?

Sophie: Lug, do you have any burgundy in your wardrobe?

Lucy: Yeah.

Sophie: Who wears that??

Lucy: Burgundy is so...'99.

Lind (to Lug and Leen): I think I've been on more dates than either of you two.

Lucy: Thank you, Lind.

Elsie: My friend looks just like you, but smaller.

Lucy: Like me?

Elsie: Yeah, but smaller. And she has a different face.

Lucy: Oh. Then what part of me looks like her?

Elsie: Your hair. Is your hair brown or black?

Lucy: Brown, it's just really dark.

Elsie: Oh. Well hers is brown too, but really light.

Dr. Holden to Lucy: Anyone who can play the 3rd movement of Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto like a well-oiled machine (and I mean that in the best possible way) should be able to modulate [from C to G].

Freshmen walking in front of me talking to each other:

Girl: You should be a music major!

Boy: Yeah, but then I'd either be homeless or famous.

He's got that right. Or BOTH. Meanwhile, I turn and walk right into the HFAC. :)

Kory K: Work your socks off, play your fingers to the bone, and then--go on dates on the weekend.

Dr. Howard: It's like being beat about the head harmonically!

Jimmy: When you're writing [music] for the king, do whatever you want. When you're writing for the church, follow the rules.

Lucy: I'm a cracked acorn if there aren't any youth groups [at the temple].

Leen, referring to Lucy and her hypothetical husband: I couldn't even live in the same country as you guys. All you would do is practice and clean bathrooms an go to bed early.

Dr. Howard: If you're in your grave and you hear a trombone, just get up! Don't think "no, I'm waiting for the trumpet! That must be some music major practicing in the hallway."...Now wouldn't that be a nice thing to wake up to on resurrection morning? It's like those alarm clocks that just glow instead of BEEP BEEP BEEP!

Dr. Durham: I remember correcting all of your quizzes and just getting emotional! They were just so good. I told you I don't deserve you.

Dr. Durham: And then you'd be on this fermata, mentally, trying to figure out the analysis of the chord!

Dr. Holden: See all those people out there?! They don't care about classical music! Look at 'em! Listening to their [crummy] ipods! They don't care about a piece written by some dead European guy 200 years ago!

Dr. Holden to Arianne: You look like a woman, but play like a man! It's like Arianne and the backup band!

Lucy: Do we have any Vick's VapoRub? Or metholanium?

Lind to Lug: You look like a modern, cubistic piece of art."

Lind to Lug: Lug! You have friends!!

Lucy: I will make sure to bring my significant other. Although I think he'll be there already--at least, I assume your parents have a piano?

Dr. Holden: If you're pregnant with a recital, you can leave class now.

Dr. Durham: Brahms doesn't go up to the mountain top and check in with the theorists and say, "Can I go from a Neapolitan to a I here?" No! He does whatever he wants!

Lucy: What if someone's face really was stuck in the elevator? I would probably just laugh.

Dr. Durham: Embrace the parallel 5ths in the German 6ths!

Class: GASP! But....!

Dr. Durham: I know, but this is the fulfillment of the law. That was the old law, these are the beatitudes! Blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are the-

Lucy: Parallel 5ths.

Lucy: Leen, what do you mean we don't have friends? We sit around stalking people on facebook together!...If you don't do anything fun, you have to sit around looking at pictures of people that do.

Lucy: If I lived in California and you said you talked about the weather on your date, Id' say, "Oh, it was a pretty bad date, then?" but living in Utah if you talked about the weather I'd say, "Well when are you settling down? When's the wedding?

Lucy: The only thing Zeus does is try to catch and eat living dead birds.

Dr. Durham: It's just too jarring on the tonal soul!

Lucy: Asking Aileen [is] tantamount to asking google.

Dr. Holden: When you [sing] 'mer'-or 'he dies', I can't tell if you're saying that or, 'oh, I'll take the cashew chicken.'

Lind: I would never lynch you, Lug--day or night...can you write that down so we don't forget?

Lug: Ok, when you come to lynch me in the night, I'll pull out my quote sheet.

Lind: What should I be for Halloween?

Lug: You could be an M&M. Wear a colored t-shirt with a letter, white shirt under, and tighter black pants like Leen's yoga pants.

Lind: Whoa I don't have that many clothes.

Lug: Just wear a swimsuit. You could be a Hawaiian M&M.

Lucy: A journey of a 15 page paper begins with a single nap.

Amber: Seriously, if you're having a bad day or something just go to the presh blog. It makes me feel so cathartic!

Jimmy: What's plural for 'Thou'?

Mark: Thee'all.

Dr. Holden: You'd be a good poker player. And I don't mean that in a good way.

Amber: So pretty much the next thing we have to look forward to is when our husbands die.

Lucy to Amber: Now you look like what's-her-face.

Amber: Medusa?

Lucy: No, Bellatrix.

Aileen: I just got my haircut, so now I don't have a living hair left...it's like Rapunzel shaved her hair after she cut it the first time.

Lucy: Most people say 'do you want to hang out tonight?' I say, 'do you want to rehearse tonight?' Same thing.

Lucy, to herself: That's a very unfortunate sound coming out of your fingers.

Leen, Lug, and Maren devouring the Blairs ice cream while they aren't home.

Leen: Lug, thank heavens it's your free day today.

Maren: Do the Blairs usually make you pay??

Lucy: Well Leen, it's the eve of your mummification.

Leen: That's one way to wish one happy birthday.

kid in theory: Dr. Durham is perfect. He never makes a mistake. The only time he made a mistake was when he thought he made a mistake.

Dr. Holden: It's pathetic that you can make these keyboards make sounds like barking dogs, yet they won't just hold up a score.

Lucy: Wow Lind, offer some instructive citizism.

Dr. Durham: Well, what Debussy did was he Jimmered Romantic music.

Dr. Grierson: What does 'engaged' mean? Besides having a ring on your finger and walking around going 'wow!'

Dr. Holden: They said if I played at their banquet they'd feed me dinner. Which was great because I was foraging for berries and roots in the woods at that point.

Lucy: I just don't have the driving need to have human interaction with myself.

Chris: Dr. Durham do you listen to pop music?

Dr. Durham: You guys always ask me these personal questions...

Lucy: Oh shoot, I wrote 'as' on my assignment but I don't remember where I was going with that, so I might have to erase it!

Leen: Oh NO!

Lucy: I know, that would undo my last 20 minutes of work!

End of Semester

2011-11-30T19:04:00.000-08:00

This pie chart says it all.

Music Ode Part II

2011-11-24T09:26:00.000-08:00

I really have been thinking about music a LOT. I am so grateful for it! I've been working on this D&C project and wrote a poem about music (it took me FOREVER! It's so hard to put words to something that there are no words for). I thought I'd just share it here because it also sums up how I feel about music. So consider this an addendum to the last post...Also notice the progression in the poem from "I" to "we". This is what it's like to be a performer!!

Alone with the black and white, I sing.

I finger-paint on silence with a pallet of countless colors

As I sing the words of a heart too full to speak.

This is what pain sounds like.

This is what joy sounds like.

This is the sound of peace, turmoil, love.

A color for each, a sound for each

We understand.

We are lost in the painting

Lifted to that higher world

Where angels sing and cherubim play

Praising the Artist of us all.

Our hearts knit together, our spirits intertwine

We unite as we express the depths of the soul.

And together

We touch Heaven.

"I don't know how you can exist without a piano!"

2011-11-22T16:56:00.000-08:00

Besides being from one of my favorite movies AND being one of my favorite quotes, the title of this blog is one of the truest statements that was ever made! I've been thinking a lot lately about how grateful I am for music in my life. I have had a few times where I was physically not able to play the piano--and it was at these times that I realized how much I depend on that one ability in my life. I LOVE music!!

Yes, this is me--and yes, I am one year old.

Anyways, yesterday I was talking to a fellow piano major about why we do music. Together we struggled to express what we like about it, and we arrived at the conclusion that we don't express things in words very well (imagine that! haha) but we can express almost anything through music. I personally express my deepest emotions when I play the piano--things I would never express in a conversation with someone.

What a sacred opportunity--the chance to touch other people through such a Divine gift to mankind. There is nothing like having people come up to you after a performance, with tears streaming down their face, as they try to describe how the music just changed their lives. All I can do is cry with them, nodding and trying to show them that I understand completely. Music DOES things to people! And it's not me--it's the Spirit! That's the best part!

I think as performers we have the opportunity to act as a channel for the Spirit to touch people. If performer and audience come prepared, something truly miraculous can occur. People will want to change and be better, just because of something they heard. How cool is that?!

Anyways there is a LOT more I could say about this--I have an opinion! :) In fact, I wrote a paper on it and am doing a massive project on it for D&C. But I'll just leave us all with this quote from J. Reuben Clark: “We get nearer to the Lord through music than perhaps through any other thing except prayer”. Amen, and amen.

Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2

2011-11-11T06:25:00.001-08:00

This is well worth your watching. It's hilarious, and TOTALLY represents how I feel about playing this piece. Enjoy!!

Concert Etiquette

2011-11-05T21:08:00.000-07:00

Today I was sitting in a beautiful graduate student recital, and was nearly beside myself with frustration towards the audience. Said frustration has been building up for quite some time now, and I think it just might need a place to be set free. I was surprised how many people actually read and continue to read my accompanist etiquette blog, which was quite the venting session...so I thought I'd give it a go. Humor always cures frustration, right?? Oh and don't worry--I understand. Mistakes are made and emergencies happen and who am I to judge?But that is more the exception to the rule than the rule, I think. Also, I am not perfect in all of these things, either. Just a little something for all of us---including myself--to chew on. Anyways, enjoy.

Ten Rules for Concert Etiquette:

1. Control your belongings.

Seriously? If you insist on holding your phone/pen/programs/children in your lap during the concert, have control over them, and don't drop them on the floor in the quietest part of the piece! And if you brought a dictionary with the sole purpose of dropping it on the floor at the end of Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, have the consideration to at least drop it in a loud part. Yeah.

2. Don't talk.

If you just went on the best date of your life, and you're sure he's your eternal companion, the rest of us don't want to know about it. If you insist on talking loudly about it to your best friend next to you, for pete's sake go to the ice cream parlor! They don't care if you talk there. In fact, they encourage it. It surprises many people when I tell them that I can hear literally everything going on in the audience when I perform. And honestly, I mourn with you that your favorite team is out of the World Series. But that piece of information is most unhelpful when I'm trying to remember the next passage in my Mozart Sonata. Also, when someone is finishing off a sensitive, soft, beautiful piece that is touching on the sublime, don't say loudly "Ahh! Beautiful, beautiful!" to the person across the row while the pianist's fingers are yet lingering on the keys!

3. Don't come late.

We've all been there. The performer is halfway through their first piece, and we are all interrupted by a loudly opening/closing door, blaring lights, the late-comer's confused and dazed looks as they try to find their seats and adjust their pupils to the darkness at the same time, then they squeeze past your knees/backpack/coat/mattress (muttering loudly, "SORRY! 'SCUSE ME! SORRY!") and you are forced to stand, or the performance is totally blocked from view, then once they finally find their seat they just can't seem to get that coat off, can they? Then of course they have to find a mint to eat, tell the person next to them how fortunate they were to find a parking spot even if it was in Milwaukee and how unfortunate it is that they had garlic bread and fried onions for dinner. Yeah, just don't come late. I was especially frustrated by this when I had to plan my program for my recital based on the fact that everyone will miss my first piece. Yeah. Lame.

4. Don't leave early.

Believe it or not, this action does not escape the performer's notice. And even though they know it is a ridiculous thought, it may occur to them that you don't enjoy their music. If you have somewhere to go, sit in the very, VERY back corner seat, and slip out the BACK. Or don't come at all. Yes I know. Sad but true.

5. Just bring your beautiful self.

Concerts are not the time or place for you to eat dinner, do homework, check the score of your favorite football team, text, check your email, update your status on facebook to say "watching the coolest concert ever and loving it!!" or catch up with your long-lost roommates from 20 years ago. If you're going to go to a concert, go to the concert. And just arrive and sit there quietly. Is that too much to ask...?

6. Don't clap between movements.

Please.

7. TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONE.

We are all in the realms above, having been brought there by a performer truly in tune. The heavens seem to have opened up, but then we all come crashing back to earth accompanied by the cell phone version of "Carol of the Bells". Several people look annoyed and try to find the offender, but assume they will quickly turn off their phone. 20 seconds pass and the ring tone is starting over for the third time. By now nearly everyone is searching for the owner of the phone, and the owner (having discovered that it was, indeed their phone ringing) is frantically searching through their bag in every single pocket BUT the one it's in. Finally they find it and take it out of their bag, increasing the volume of the ring ten-fold. Finally the phone stops ringing of it's own accord. Holy COW. Like, turn it off. I cannot even begin to tell you how many performances have been completely ruined by a cell phone going off.

8. Standing ovations...

These don't mean anything anymore. Don't give a standing ovation unless it legitimately deserves one. It's not offensive--but concerts should only be given standing ovations if they absolutely blew the listener away. Make it mean something again in our society.

9. Dress up.

You know, be respectful, and dress appropriately. It may be different for every occasion, but respect the performer and how hard they have worked. Don't show up to an important event in jeans and your grass-stained band hoodie from 10 years ago. I always say, it's better to overdress than underdress!

10. Prepare.

This is an interesting one that I certainly could do better at. I have been to concerts where I just didn't feel prepared to listen. But as an audience we need to prepare to listen to what's coming. It's kind of like preparing for church... the performer has prepared, and if the audience prepares and is ready to listen, some truly remarkable experiences could be had. I guess that's the idea of this whole post. By doing (or not doing) these things, recitals could be a much more enjoyable experience for everyone! And we all could learn so much more from musical experiences not hindered by outside distractions. Let us not get in the way of the music, yeah?

There, I'm done. I feel better already. Just had to say that to someone.

"It's just one of those days"

2011-11-01T17:02:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, on days like today, you just need the following things:

Did I do all of these things instead of practicing, going to yoga, doing homework, or doing anything productive? You better believe it. In that order.

You're Always After Me Lucky Charms!

2011-10-19T19:07:00.000-07:00

I know you have all been waiting with bated breath to see what I've learned in Irish dancing. Well, here's your chance! This is one of 3 tests we've had so far...And I'd say for beginners it's not too bad, eh?! Even if I did end on the wrong foot somehow...Also the girl to my right is my partner for the 2-hand dances. And for the record, yes she is a 3rd-year law student. I just can't shake these guys from my path! :)

Vacancy Scholarship Contest

2011-10-14T15:01:00.000-07:00

Do you have an ever-mounting pillar of laundry?

Do you feel like you're walking from the USA to Canada when you walk to school?

Do you have trouble finding a place to keep your prized-possession bikes?

WE UNDERSTAND.

This is why we're letting you know about

Summerwood Condominiums,

conveniently located and fully furnished!

Summerwood is conveniently located in Orem, right near a UVU shuttle and UTA bus stop! Your walk from the USA to Canada will be shortened by DAYS!

Also, we provide washers and dryers in every unit, bike storage areas for those of you who prefer to ride your own set of wheels to Canada!

As if this weren't enough, here are some of the other niceties that Summerwood can provide:

Training for that Ironman is way easier with a furnished fitness room!

Always dreamed of living under a vaulted ceiling?

Third-floor units have ceilings almost as beautiful as this cathedral's!

Who says swimming is a summer sport? Enjoy Summerwood's hot tub

YEAR-ROUND!

And don't these young adults just look so happy to be living in such a wonderful place? Come meet neat people and have a blast in Summerwood's Condominiums!

It's just like home!

For more information, visit http://www.vacancy.com/utah/orem-apartments/summerwood/

Entry by: Lucy Williams