Singer DRAMA!!!

OK, this just in.......DO NOT accidentally get your arrogant German singer teacher mad!

As a little background FYI, lets just say, the beginning of this semester has been the opposite of smooth! The international office forgot me, therefore I wasn't registered in the school...therefore, therefore,....I didn't have any kind of instrumental lessons (being a music student, these are somewhat essential )

Step 2, I got registered and was excitingly told that I could take piano AND singing lessons! Horray!

Step 3, I contacted, arranged, and had first piano lesson with my teacher and contacted, arranged, and had first talk/set up class with my singing teacher.

Step 4, ....was told that apparently now exchange students can only have lessons in one subject and that piano teacher was full, therefore I couldn't have piano lessons so I had to take singing................oooookkkk.

Step 5, was told that I could no longer take singing lessons with my first singing teacher.

Step 6, ...Now had to get in contact with a new lady and set up lessons with her.

Step 7, ...Contacted second singing teacher who had no idea that I was studying with her, and wondered basically what I was talking about.

Steps 1 through 7 came out to equal a VERY aggravated me. So, after talking with my mom, it was executively decided that I needed to stick up for myself and stop getting thrown around. So I mustered up all my courage and sent an email to the Prof. in charge of me, telling her how it was, that I was real frustrated and I wanted her to get to the bottom of this.

Well, the next day my singing teacher emailed me...said come by and sing for me and we'll arrange lessons. "Excellent!" I thought...wow, I have to do this speaking up thing more often....

So that brings us to today...where I went for my first lessons with Frau Kelling. An extremely skinny lady with pencil thin eyebrows and a real singers attitude (which means you think you are the best in the world)......who now reminds me of Cruella De Vil!

The lesson began with her telling me a couple ....lets say "unpleasant" facts....(and these were all in German so they sound even more intimidating!)

#1. Did I know that I had the President of the University calling her at 10 pm on a Thursday night becasue of the email I had sent?? (believe me, my intetion by telling one Prof. I was frusterated was not to get the president involved!)

#2. Did I know what an amazing and well known teacher she is? and who do I think I am?...followed by her saying that she thought I must be an absolutly brilliant singer in order for me to create such a stir...followed by me saying I've never taken singing lessons IN MY LIFE!

Yes, well, after I had apologized a few thousand times and told her the real story, she decided it was actually time to sing and let me know AGAIN that she thought I must be like some famous singer named "Colours" (that I've never heard of)........

So, I sang "la, la, la" about 4 times and she said I actually had a really lovely voice and now we're meeting twice a week for lessons cause I only have............6 WEEKS LEFT!!!!!!

And that my friends was I feel just the beginning or the drama that revolves in the "Singers" world. I'm hopin' I can make it through!!

LOVE
K

Hitchhikers!?

SO, I have to write about my time in Munich because it has a whole bunch of great stories that come along with it.....but I am going to save that for a day where I have nothing to say....that day is not today :)

Today, I just said bye to 3 friends that came to visit me from Amsterdam!!
Yesterday I got an email saying "Hey Katrina! 2 of us want to come visit you TONIGHT! is that alright?" (these are people that I worked/lived with when I was volunteering at the hostel).... at first I thought "well I havn't even been home for 24 hours...I have school, blah, blah, blah....but I'm really working on not letting opportunities pass through my fingers AND keeping a busy schedual so I talked some sense into my head and said
"Please come! I'd love to see you!....Let me know when your train comes in and I'll pick you up at the station!"

Reply--"Oh, actually we're going to HITCHHIKE!....so hopefully we get there sometime around 8ish?"

Well, to make a long story short,......7 random rides, 6 hours and a couple funny stories later, I picked up my friends Coen (Dutch), Carmi (New Zealander) and Heather (Candian) infront of the Dom (big cathedral) where they were sitting on the ground eating bread and chocolate spread they had brought with them from home. hahhaha It was so great to see them again!

We went back to my place, hung out, I got caught up on everthing that I've missed in the last month etc. It was really cool to have them here, and I think it was interesting for them to see me in a different setting, outside of our usual house.....when you live together with a bunch of people, its easy to forget that they have lives that go on in other parts of the world.

Anyway, this morning I went to class, came back and we made a big breakfast before they headed off to see a bit of Köln and then hitchhike their way back to Amsterdam.....I hope they're doing alright right now!

I don't know about this hitchhiking thing.....obvioulsy its great cause it costs nothing...but you can't really have a "time of arrival" cause you really never know! Don't worry Parentals.....I don't think this one's gunna try it ;)

Today. today, today, today.....

So today,

...has been a pretty regular day I must say :)

Therefore, I figured I would take some time to re-cap the gap........in my blog (blog didn't rhyme)

The gap---began end of Jan. and spanned to almost the end of April. What did I do??

Well, beginning Feb, to mid April was semester break! The school system is just completely different here, including semester beginnings and ends. In September I dreamed that during this 2 month break I would somehow find the perfect travel buddy and I would go snowboarding in the Alps for a week, to Spain for a week etc etc.........this did not exactly happen, but! I still had a blast!

Feb--I was in Köln for most of the time.....I did things including going to some friends houses for weekends, getting extremely sick for 3 days straight--->like didn't leave my bed for 3 days kinda sick.....but the best part by far, was when my friends Cara and Angie came to visit me! We met up in PARIS, toured the city for 4 days and then they came back to Köln with me and experienced Karnival (a giant German costume festival) and other things in the city! It was so great to have them here!

March till mid April--> This time was definilty a highlight of the entire year! I lived in Amsterdam for 6 weeks, volunteering at a Christian Hostel there. I got to live with 30 other volunteers from all over the world! We worked around 6 hours a day 6 days a week in the hostel (either cooking in the cafe, cleaning the kitchen, talking to guests, basically just being around to give the hostel a fun environment). I really liked the work, but I think my favourite part with the living situation....it was almost like living in residence again. There was always someone around to go for a run with, shopping, talk, play music or whatever, plus, the international environment made for alot of hilarious jokes interms of people mis-interpreting things in the language and funny accents etc.

I really like the Dutch people too, and I think I might want to do a work and travel thing in Holland sometime! The language is right inbetween English and German, so I could actually understand people....somtimes :)......it just sounds kinda....different....lol. People say german sounds aggresive or really "throaty"...but these people have not heard Dutch!

Anyway, gotta go.....
till next time!
K

Three days till Munich!!

Hello!
Trying to hold to my promise, here I am again, actually writing 2 days in a row!

I've just been practicing guitar....I think the two "practical" things I've learnt this year, that I will really take with me for the rest of my life will be the language and guitar!

I started last semester with this beginner course, bought a guitar from this girl at school and havn't stopped playing since! I love it! If I go a day without playing her, I actually miss it! (unlike die Klavier)

So, in three days I'm going to Munich!! I can't wait! Part of my goal for the next 2 months is to have something planned for every weekend!! This way, during the week school, practicing and volleyball will keep me busy and weekends will fly by due to the events!

My friend Frida (she's another exchange student from Finnland) and I are leaving Thursday night and hopping in a car with someone who's going to drive us to Munich. They have this thing in Germany called "Mitfahrt"--which means "driving with"--basically there's companies that organize carpooling and we're giving it a shot! Thomas is his name--we've talked about it and decided we'll shorten it to Tom Tom.....its about a 6-7 hour drive so we figure we'll be on a nickname basis by the end. :D

Yes, so, the plan is...get to Munich thursday night, there's this "Frühlings Fest" going on...some German celebration of spring.....(personally I feel these people have festivals for EVERYTHING...ex. lets celebrate Oktober, Spring, Karnival, there's one's called "Strong Beer Fest"....havn't heard of one called "Weak Beer Fest"--but I wouldn't put it past them lol....but even though I chirp, I love it!!)....They have so many cool traditions. I will have to let you know what goes on for this one!

...back to the plan....arrival Thursday, then Friday, SAturday and Sunday = walking tours, sight seeing, shopping, Wießwurst eating before noon apparently....(I was told that when in Munich, you HAVE to go eat a große Wießwurst for breakfast....not sure why..but am determined to do it) and celebrating Spring!

So that is all for now. Talk to you soon!

Love
K

Gettin' back in the game

So, for some reason I have a new desire to write here again.

I thought about it at first, and thought "oh man! then I'll have so much to write and try and re-cap from the last 4 months that I have written nothing...its too much work!"....but I decided just to give a brief summary of my reflections and then just start where I am in the here and now.

I hope to just write about some of the dumb stories that happen during my days..stories that I would normally tell people "at the end of the day" when I go home....you will be my "people at home" :)

So, first of all, I'm still here....still in the land of the Germans....I have 2 months left and I am definitely getting excited to come home!! I can't believe its somehow been almost 8 months that I've been here! That seems so unrealistic to think, but when I look at all the lessons I've learnt, I know it must not have been a dream.

Now, I'm not talking about lessons in school or German etc....although there have been many of those.....the things I've learnt about myself, about culture, people, and what's important in life out-way anything I could learn in school. Even thought now, I'm a little bit wishing for the end to come already, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything!

So, for the little dumb story of the day....
This morning I went to my Piano Improv class, which normally has 5 people in it, and it just so happened that I was the only one there. Therefore, I got to have the little old German piano-man professor all to myself! :).....This guy is an improv genious! I basically spent the class listening to him create peices on the spot as examples to me of what its like to just
"benutze dein Kopft oder das Wetter.....dann du ein Melodie hast!"--"use your head, or the weather and you'll have a melodie!"--ya easier said then done buddy!
Anyway, I enjoyed myself, and wondered at his amazing abilities. I havn't learnt as much jazz piano as I had possibly hoped for this year, when I found out the program existed....but because I traded in my classical piano lessons (hallelujia!) for singing lessons, I'll have more time to spend with improv stuff.

Anyway, that is all for now! but I will be back soon k!
Miss you guys and can not WAIT to see you in 2 months!!!!!!!!!!
Love
K