Sedentary Times in Strasbourg

Bonjour! J’espere que ce post trouve tout le monde heureux… Je suis desole. Tout le monde ne comprends pas français. I mean, sorry. Not everybody understands French. Don’t worry, I’ll keep posting in English. :)

I’ll begin with this past weekend, and go from there. Last weekend (the 10th/11th) was a lesson weekend, so no big trips last weekend. I was slightly annoyed when my timpani professor wasn’t there for my lesson Saturday, but I found out Monday that he just forgot to tell me he wasn’t going to be there. However, since I didn’t have my lesson, I had more time to get ready for Karlsruhe, where I saw the opera The Magic Flute by Mozart. One of the classes at the SU Center is Opera in Society, and of the 7 music students, I’m the only one not in the class. However, they had an extra ticket, so I went. We had the afternoon to ourselves in Karlsruhe, and I went to the Badisches Landesmuseum with some friends. The museum focuses on the history of the Baden area of Germany, and was actually pretty interesting. One of the highlights is to climb the tower of the castle (the museum is in the castle), which I successfully did, though slowly (slightly complicated by my acrophobia). It did provide a pretty awesome view of the city, though. Another funny bit about Karlsruhe… There was some fair going on in the center platz, with dancers, bratwurst, and all sorts of fair-type things. Most of the costumes for the female dancers were German versions of cowgirl costumes, and at one point I heard “Deep in the Heart of Texas” over the speakers. That was pretty much the last song I expected to hear in a small German city. After our hearty and scrumptious German dinner, it was off to the opera. The production was very interesting. The Karlsruhe theatre is a very modern looking theatre, and the production was also in modern presentation. The three genies, for instance, (they always appear when the main characters are in times of trouble and need a little assistance before doing something stupid), were three boys wearing baggy sweatshirts, cargo pants, and baseball caps. Interesting. Good performance, maybe not the best opera company or opera orchestra (my ears wanted to run for hiding at one point because one of the timpanist’s drums was out of tune), but an enjoyable nonetheless. After the opera, we just came back to Strasbourg, and I went straight home as it was already midnight.

Last Sunday, I also went to church for the first time since I’ve been here (as it was only the 2nd Sunday I’ve been in Strasbourg thus far), which felt good. Also, the service was in English – a definite plus, at least in understanding what was going on. And, mostly, it’s the most welcoming congregation I’ve met in a VERY long time, which was really awesome. Before the service, I was speaking with the priest, and when I told him I was a percussionist, he immediately said, “Oh, it should be interesting to see what we can do with you.” And then, a Canadian man invited me to lunch with him and his girlfriend, which was nice, if slightly awkward since I barely knew either of them. Sunday afternoon, I watched some rugby with Lionel, and didn’t really understand anything. For dinner, Dr. Nick (the music professor from Syracuse who’s basically in charge of the music program this semester and teaches my theory course) invited all the music students over for home-cooked crepes. And though it was POURING Sunday night, the crepes were more than worth it. :)

This past week was another hard week. I had my second lesson with my mallet professor (Monsieur Sejourne), and again, I had a lot of trouble keeping up with his tempo and his exercises. My lesson culminated with a lecture saying that I’m not necessarily a bad percussionist, I’m just lacking in technique and I’m probably not holding my mallets correctly. Hmph. Which brings me back to the title of this post – sedentary. Because I desperately need to practice so as (hopefully) not to embarrass myself next week, my last lesson before the Conservatoire goes on vacation, I’m staying in Strasbourg for the weekend and PRACTICING. I’m determined to have a little fun, though – today there’s an organ concert that looks interesting, Saturday an orchestra concert at the Conservatoire, and Sunday I might go to the Planetarium, just for grins. And, of course, midterms are coming up in about two weeks, and that requires some preparation. Analysis of the French media for Communications, some fun ear training things and begin analyzing a piece for theory (still don’t have my piece – percussion repertoire doesn’t lend itself easily to this particular assignment), not sure yet what exactly for French, and a presentation after Spring Break for music history.

But, once all that is completed, Beth and her friends are coming to Strasbourg for a few days, and then I’m off to Italy for Spring Break! Don’t have my specific plans yet, as I’m still waiting for one friend to get back to me if I can visit her or not, but I’m flying in and out of Florence and am definitely going to Milan as well. And, the best part (at least for today), is it’s sunny outside. That doesn’t happen very much in Strasbourg (in wintertime anyways), and I have just returned from about an hour and a half in the park close to my house, albeit doing homework, but still soaking up the sunshine. :)