A bit of catch-up...

Gratitude 15

I am thankful for this lovely study spot in the courtyard, where I retreated to practice conducting and rhythmn on the gorgeous Friday we had this past week. It was perfect. However, the courtyard is surrounded by the Institute windows, so needless to say, passerby-ers stopped in between classes (including Zoltán, my conducting teacher!), and there are now several pictures of me floating around in my ridiculous conducting state. (I am not so good at conducting but am getting much better than before.)

As for the rest of my week of classes:

Thursday was jam-packed as always, with Folk Music, Solfege, more Solfege, Methodology lecture, chamber music with Roland, voice with János, and a Hungarian lesson to top it off. Solfege was okay. Good days and bad days. Klára is great, though, and does whatever she can to help us understand, even with an off day. I think Thursday altogether wasn't exactly the greatest of days for me. Chamber music didn't go as well as it probably should have. The piece Roland gave me to learn...in only a week...is brilliant but far more difficult than first realized. However, he gave me some useful ideas and tips to help me out. I pulled it apart fragment by fragment and have figured it out. It's not totally ready but definitely getting there. As for my lesson with János...oy! That did not go well at all! He is being quite patient with me, but I think that he is getting as frustrated with me as I am. I have seen him three times, and we end up going through the same concepts and ordeals. It's just not getting into my head despite how many times he says it. What is up? What is down? What is push? What is pull? What is being musical? What is being technical? It's so simple yet so confusing! I've been quite frustrated lately and trying not to stress out and overwhelm myself, but classes and lessons starts nearly an entire month beyond my school back home, so I have a lot to do in a shorter amount of time. I can do it, but when I think about it too much, I start to freak out a little. (What? Samantha freak out? No way! haha!) I know it will all come together, and I will "get" the concepts. Semmi baj. No worries. It is frustrating when you are struggling with them, though. After all that, as much as I normally enjoy Hungarian lessons, I was not in the best of moods to be sitting there and just needed to get out of the building for even a few minutes. I took a walk after class, but it was getting dark, and there was no real place to go, so I ended up back at the Institute in less than 15 minutes still irritated.

Friday was a much better day despite my continuing vocal frustrations. The weather was gorgeous! And I had no classes until 2pm. In the morning, Zita took me and a couple others to the bank to open an account, so that we can get our residency permits. (Another long and annoying story for some other boring time!) Then, I went to the supermarket and the open air market, got some food and fresh produce and a lovely bunch of daisies for my room. :) I even went to the copy shop around the corner to get some music copied for accompanists. They were very nice and between my limited Hungarian vocabulary and a few English words inserted, it was a very successful trip. The ladies there were very nice and even do it for you! And for less than it costs to do it yourself at the Institute! I needed one of those Staples "Easy Buttons" after that! haha! After that, I spent the early part of the afternoon under the tree in the courtyard before conducting and choir, both of which went quite well. I had to conduct in class (surprise surprise since Zoltán saw me practicing!), and I did so much better than before. For the first time, too, I felt like it was a real lesson in conducting, similar to voice or piano lessons but to conduct. :) Friday night was just spent lounging around the Institute. Sophie came to say goodbye, as she was returning to England on Saturday. We went over to Teatrum across the street for an Eiskaffee (I'm not sure how it would be written in Hungarian...that is the German word for it), coffee with ice cream in it! Yum! And later, I ended up back at Teatrum with Top and Yolanda, two students, the first from Thailand and the second from Hong Kong. That was fun, too...I ordered a mojito, but Yolanda thought it was called a mosquito. It was cute!

Saturday, we were supposed to go hiking in the Buda hills with Roland and Klára, but the weather did not cooperate, so it was another lazy day. Same with Sunday. I suppose that was good, but I didn't get as much work done as I probably should have. Oh, well. I at least took a walk around lovely Kecskemét. Such a pretty little town. I must get a picture of the brick roads...they will make you laugh/smile...you'll see. I finally booked my holiday at the end of the month! I stressed out over it all weekend, though. Traveling is wonderful but also quite stressful! There are so many amazing places to see but certainly not all can be done in one trip. I eventually decided on two days in Bratislava, two days in Prague, then flying to London from there for a week at Sophie's and back to Budapest/Kecskemét. I think it will be a good holiday. Plus, I have already checked, and in the first two places, I can see operas very inexpensively! And although I am not too keen on hostels, there are some really nice ones in those places, too! :) It was fate. haha! I shall get back to some work/practice now and leave this post with Gratitude 16:

I am thankful for this finom (delicious) treat: Milka, one of the most wonderful Swiss chocolates! (Except it completely spoils my "I'm going to eat healthy!" idea! Oh, well! If I die, at least I'll have eaten scrumptious chocolate! haha! Plus, you can't get this in the States...it's my Europe treat I suppose! Don't worry, Mom...I'll be bringing some home for Christmas...)