Gütten tag!

I'm in Germany right now trying to figure out how this keyboard works! The 'y' and 'y' keys are reversed right now. Other than that we're doing alright.

We left Friday night at 730 pm PST and arrived at Heathrow airport for a quick layover. After a two hour chill session, we re-boarded and arrived in Düsseldorf around 730 pm Saturday night Germany time (just add 9 hours to West Coast time). It turns out we're staying in a place called Dörtmund, which is about 30 minutes oustide of Bochum. The cool thing is that Dörtmund has a 1st Division Bundesliga team (that's what they call their main Soccer Division -- think Major league as opposed to minors). The uncool thing is that the team played the day that we arrived.

Anyway, we got to sleep in Sunday morning, then went over to Bochum-Stiepel, which is a Catholic monastery. The order was founded in the early 1900s, but there is a statue of Mary and baby Jesus that is from the 1400s. We sang our first concert there yesterday afternnoon and then had lunch and a tour of the monastery. Today we had a tour of the museum and botanical gardens at Bochum University. We have a concert tonight in the 2,000 seat Audimax theater. Tomorrow is our rest day and then one more concert on Wednesday, before we leave for Leipzig.

The trippiest thing so far is the graffitti found all over the walls. You'd think you were in the States. It's all hiphop style except the words are in German.

Anyway gotta go, the computers cost 2 euro/hour.

Makin' Mine Music (in Germany)

~ No Tations ~

Pre-Vacation Insomnia

For some reason I never seem to get any sleep before a trip or an important event. I crashed at a friend's house last night and then got up at 7 am to go home and attempt to wash clothes and clean up my room a little bit. My dryer at my DC house is broken so I can only wash my clothes. Then I either gotta bum someone's dryer or else go to the laundromat.

So now I'm back at my friend's house chillin' downloading some travel music.

I need to be home packing. But I also gotta study for a test at 10. AND I still have one more voice lesson.

BASHOF

The Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame, aka BASHOF, has once again neglected to elect, by popular vote from the Bay Area sports media, Victoria (Vicky) Manalo Draves into its ranks of gifted athletes. Although most of you who read this [yes, this means all two of you] probably know who she is, let me refresh you. Think back and try to imagine...

LONDON, 1948

An event took place in August which had never been done before. A diver, who happens to be a woman, who happens to be American, who happens to be Filipino, who happens to be from San Francisco, wins the gold medal in both the 3 meter springboard and 10 meter platform diving competitions. Again folks, THIS WAS UNPRECEDENTED at the time. First off, she barely qualifies for the Olympics in the first place [and you can put it on record that I wouldn't count out ethnic discrimination to be one of the factors for her almost NOT making it in] and then is put on as an alternate in an event that is not really hers, the 3 meter springboard. Not only does she pull off an amazing dive [a dive that women did not previously attempt] she wins the dang event. Her specialty is actually the 10 meter platform, which she did end up winning pretty easily a few days later.

Her homecoming was pretty glorious. Time magazine featured her and she came home to SAN FRANCISCO to a parade and everything. In fact for a while after her wins she was one of "America's Darlings". She even went to the Philippines, and though she had never been there, was taken in as if she was a Philippines citizen [Vicky was actually born in SAN FRANCISCO].

Hey sports media -- how much more credentials can one person have? In fact, two of this year's elected [Joe Kapp and Summer Sanders] are NOT from the Bay Area, let alone having been born there or grew up there (as in Vicky Manalo's case). I don't know where Eddie LeBaron was born, but having graduated from Oakdale High School near Modesto, he at least didn't finish his secondary education here (but guess who did?)

I'm calling on you MEDIA PEOPLE -- any of you who vote for the BASHOF -- how the hell can she go wrong with those credentials? It looks like you want champions in there? Well, only Summer and Kristi actually won top prize in things. Kapp led Cal to the Rose Bowl, but they lost. LeBaron did lead UOP to an undefeated season, but they weren't national champions. Vicky Manalo Draves is not only a 2 time, let me repeat it, 2 TIME OLYMPIC CHAMPION, she was born and raised right here in SAN FRANCISCO. How much more BAY AREA can that be?!

Get it right people.

She deserves it.

Things have been getting kinda crazy lately.

Last week it was all of a sudden sprung onto us in Chamber Singers that we needed some kind of physical in order for the school to allow us to travel to Germany. Luckily, the school was able to give us some kind of priority when going into the Health Center. So they made any of us who had to use the school's health center pay $70 for what they call a full physical. So I went in yesterday to make an appointment, but first I had to pay the $70. Now when I think full physical I think totally full - as in 'drop your draws and cough' full. And when the nurse took my blood pressure and then told me to put on some gold polyester nut-huggers I thought, 'Here goes again.'

So when the doctor came in and started asking about my history and stuff. Then she checked my ears, looked down my throat and stuck the stethoscope on my chest and back. After she had me lie down so she can press her hands onto my love handles looking for lumps or something. Lastly, she pressed down on me, outlined my crotch area asking for sensivity.

And then that was it!

$70 for that. She even said, "Gee, it's kinda weird that you have to come in here to pay $70 when we can just ask you these questions."

So there went my food money for Germany! J/K

I'm leaving Friday. Hee hee hee

~No Tations~

P.S. I will post as much as I can from there

I lost a freakin' trombone last night.

I don't know what happened to it. I feel like I'm getting senile. I could have sworn I put in my car last night before a friend and I went to the pub to catch the last bit of the Lakers/Rockets game.

Then when I woke up this morning it wasn't in there. And now I can't remember for 100% sure if I did indeed put in my trunk.

This is the instrument lent to me by SFSU for my brass instruction class. Not only that, but it wasn't just a student one. It's a pretty damn good one, as testified by some friends who are actually trombone majors. What does that mean?

Student instruments: ~$300-500
Professional instruments: ~$1250-1500

I lost up to $1500 last night.

This sucks.

~No Tations~