April 27, 2005 at 2:32 PM

Ever have one of those mornings where you wake up and despite knowing you have a allowed yourself just the right amount of time to get ready, you want to stay in bed just 5 more minutes and quite possibly have even done that? This morning was one of those mornings for me. I probably wouldn't be writing this right now had my alarm clock been correct. I woke up, with 40 minutes to get ready. That included time to shower, eat pack my stuff for school and teaching for the day. So after 5 minutes of trying to wake myself up from underneath those ever so warm covers I decided I needed to just force myself to get up and get on with it. So I did. I showered, got dressed, packed everything I needed for the day, only to walk into the kitchen to discover the kitchen micorwave and stove to say 6:40 instead of what should have been 7:40. WHAT?!?! So somehow I managed to muck my clock up last night in my late night, half awakedness state and here I am, with a hot mug of tea writing this because I still have one hour before I have to leave and I'm not likely to be too popular if I practice and let the family join in on my early morning after they too had a very late night.

Now onto the day ahead. Today should be exciting! I hope. I have school at 8:30, which I get to leave early for a massage. A very much needed one after the last week of playing all day long and doing concerts with the symphony (Beethoven 3 is not a sit back and enjoy the show during the rests piece). After my massage I am teaching in my spare from school and intend to do some solo practicing myself. Then I get to go back to school for last block today before embarking on an afternoon of teaching and practicing! I am looking forward to teaching today. I had to cancel most of my students last week due to the symphony tour, which I always enjoy doing, but I also really love teaching so missing a week is sometimes kind of saddening for me. On the other hand it can also be a much needed break and change of pace. I guess having to take time off before burning out is far better then trying to deal with burning out when it happens.

At the beginning of the symphony tour, the first day in, in fact, I recieved a letter from the Canadian music festival known as Domaine Forget in St. Irènèe, Quebec. I auditioned for their strings program. It's a huge international festival that runs from June into September. I've been accepted for the 4 week strings program which I'm extremely excited about attending! This will by far be the longest summer program I have participated in as of yet, and it will be my first experience with not having family around while I'm in a foreign place to me. So it should prove to be a summer of some new and exciting experiences!

St. Irènèe is right on the coastline of the St. Lawrence Seaway, and apparently whale watching is a popular thing to do there. Whether I'll have the time (or spending money) to do that one day, I don't know but just the nature of the setting should prove to be inspiring! It's a small city so you don't have the smog problems the same as cities like Toronto or Vancouver. The first challenge to overcome in this summer escapade of mine will be trying to figure out what to pack to last me for 4 weeks. Hmm..... One thing I'm going to do is put together a small photo album that doesn't take up too much space with pictures of my friends and family and the scenery back at home to have for my own personal viewing and then if my roommates want to see where I am from I can show them too. Now my only real problem remaining is I don't speak a word of French. A good friend has gotten me to sign up for a "travel French" course on the essentials when travelling in a French speaking place, so we'll see what happens! This summer should be both an awesome learning and cultural experience.

Au revoir pour le moment !

From Emily Liz
Posted on April 27, 2005 at 4:35 PM

Congratulations, Kelsey. We're rooting for you all the way.

From Pauline Lerner
Posted on April 27, 2005 at 6:10 PM

Congratulations, Kelsey. I hope you enjoy it thoroughly.

From Kelsey Z.
Posted on April 28, 2005 at 2:10 AM

Thanks you guys!

From Gabriel Wong
Posted on June 1, 2005 at 2:52 AM

Hey Kelsey.

Congratulations! I'm glad to hear you'll be going to Domaine Forget this summer. I've had many friends go in past summers, and they've all returned with great stories of fun and music.

Best of luck this summer!

Gabriel

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April 27, 2005 at 2:32 PM

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