The Suzuki Chronicles 2: Day 8

All I want to do tonight is continually thank and praise God for the strength He gives when we ask Him. Bethany and I were pretty nervous this morning about giving our presentations, and He had both of them go really well. (We got to go first and second, so they were over with quickly! ;D) 

We all went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. Yummy. :)

Class was very beneficial today. Lots of supplementary materials were discussed, as well as scheduling and pricing of lessons. 

After class was finished, Bethany and I joined a few other Christian girls in singing hymns to our Saviour. :) It was so refreshing after a week of little to no church to worship with other believers, albeit in an unsaved environment. 

Half a day left to go. I have my consultation in the morning and then four hours of class. And then I am coming H.O.M.E.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CANNOT wait. :)

The Suzuki Chronicles 2: Day 7

Only one and a half more days to go. :) Today again was the 2 hours of class and 2 hours of observation in the morning. Finished observing! Yay! Tomorrow is the nerve-wracking bit. I need to present a practice section to the entire class AND make it interactive. Oh dear. :P

This afternoon I went to the chamber concert. Many Suzuki students played in trios and quartets. Great program pieces, too. :)

And now I'm going to take a nap for real. Looking forward to a relaxed Friday night, even though I wish I could see my fiance. :)

The Suzuki Chronicles 2: Day 6

I ended up spending the night at my own house in my very own bed last night because the traffic was so bad. I might've gotten back to the dorm before midnight, but Chris would've gotten home around 1. :P As it was, the poor guy had to drive me back up here at 5:30 this morning. *gag*

So, today was the lightest day so far. I had 2 hours of class and 2 hours of observation in the morning and then was done. I had a scrumptious lunch (mostacchioli w/ sausage, chili, fries, cinnamon apples, choc. pudding, and snickerdoodles). I came back to the dorms and was in the bathroom washing my face when the power went out. I never knew a room could be so pitch black. :P Thankfully it came right back on, but the router was messed up, of course, much to my grief. 

Two phone calls and a thunderstorm later, I was up playing through Book 3 and reading the preface and emailing my teacher without any nap in me whatsoever. :P And now I'm going to dinner. I'm not even hungry. :P

The Suzuki Chronicles 2: Day 5

Today I completed the Suzuki teacher training for Book 2. YAY! Four of our classmates weren't staying on for the next book, so we had to say bye to them this morning. :( We slowly started Book 3. Tonight I need to work like crazy to finish memorizing. AAAAH!

I led in class today. I led Boccherini's Minuet minus the repeats, thank goodness. I think it went okay. Now hopefully I don't have to lead tomorrow!!

I'm done with classes for the day. And my darling is coming to pick me up for church and fireworks tonight, so I had better start cramming my head full of revised music. Ugh. :P 

P.S. - Because I don't want to forget, I'm going to put down the names of all my Bk. 2 and 3 classmates: 

Carrie, Tallia, Caroline, Naomi, Liz, Lisa, Julie, Travis, Drew, Hope, Bethany, Debbie, another Carrie, Meredith, Cindy, George, and Geronimo. (THAT, by the way, is a FUN name.) Oh yes. A lady from Brazil named Tatiana. 

The Suzuki Chronicles 2: Day 4

Just this morning I realized I completely skipped over yesterday on here. Yesterday was my last big full day before Saturday. I completed four more observations and had more class time. 

Last night my beloved fiance came and picked me and Bethany up and we went to Ravinia. (Yes, I realize I should've put 'my fiance came and picked up Bethany and me,' but that made me feel jealous. lol) We sat on the lawn and listened to an hour and a half of unaccompanied Bach for violin played by Midori. Oh it was lovely. Very relaxing, except for the moments of intonation issues where Bethany and I sat straight up and looked at each other like, "Whaaaa?!" :P I was so happy to be outside and calm and have nothing on my mind and be sitting next to the person who has swiftly and completely become my life and love. :)

That was yesterday. Now I'm going to post about today. :P

The Suzuki Chronicles 2: Day 3

Today there were only 2 hours of class time. The rest was observation, which was great because we'll get done sooner if we cram these few days full. I got slightly nervous in class today because we were talking about a really relaxed bow wrist, and the teacher had me play to demonstrate. AAAH! One of those instances where you can't tell if she asked you because you AREN'T doing it or because you ARE. :P (I hope I was....) 

I won't bore you with details about the 5 observations I did today. Most of them were pretty boring, to tell the truth. One of them however was led by Robert Richardson, and oh my word he is a BLAST! He's a younger guy from Manitoba. He kept everyone laughing but working hard. So fun. :)

I decided to opt out of the faculty recital going on right this very minute because I am super tired and still need to do some more memorization. *groan* I seriously should've tried hard to get that all done before I came. :( Oh well. Now I'm waiting for Bethany to get tired so I can play. :P I'm finding I can't memorize well with another solo going on less than 2 ft. from me. :P

What went on with your day today?

The Suzuki Chronicles 2: Day 2

Second day down. Less than a week to go! ;P Today, like yesterday, was very full of class time. We had six hours of class altogether. It did sort of feel like a lot, but again it was full of very good information. 

We completed our first observation today. We watched this adorable 8-yr-old girl receive a lesson from Ann Smelser, our teacher. I noticed several interesting things, but I struggled with the particular observation form I was filling out. I don't know why; it just wasn't as nice as the one I used last year. I think I'll switch tomorrow. 

In class we got to cover the first 3 pieces in Bk. 2. I took lots of notes in my own notebook as well as in the teachers' packet Ann handed to each of us at the start of the course. 

Dinner was fantastic tonight!! Chicken quesadillas, refried beans, broccoli cheddar soup and Goldfish, peaches, chips, and a brownie. Yummy in the tummy. :) I told Bethany I'm glad she's here, but I'm not glad she gets to see how much I eat when all the food options are good. :P

Tonight we went to a concert by the Lincoln Trio. They had a very lively program full of mostly contemporary pieces. It was nice to see my friend's teacher, Desiree Ruhstrat. :)

And now I'm wrapping it up for the day. I am TIRED. Didn't sleep too great last night. I took a pic this morning that I considered sharing with you, and then thought, "What am I THINKING?!" :P Bye.