Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday – Day 175/176/177
January 28, 2013
I’m finding a lot of my time now goes towards preparing for my teaching and similar duties. Much of Tuesday was spent working on solving various problems for students, fixing up the homework and holding my office hours. My hours were in fact quite enjoyable and gave me a chance to get to know a few of my fellow TAs a little better (@Dennis, @Harmony, @Pulak). As per usual I had the dreaded physics lecture. Things had ramped up so quickly with me barely noticing that by this time I was flying fast enough that my wings had started smoking. Tuesday night I had barely enough time to eat before heading off to Glee rehearsal where we examined the result of the full club survey. Turns out everyone is pretty happy the way things are.
Wednesday was another chock full day and after staying up so late to work the night before, I only just woke up in time to get ready for my midday class. My classes were not particularly challenging, it was more the workload that was getting to me. The dreaded sleep deprived demon was rising from the Penn purgatorial pits, and was quickly consuming my remaining wits. After class I had a quick chance for a break, before heading back into rehearsal (as always) and then to more office hours!
Thursday challenged me again in terms of time management but I found a little more freedom with only one class in the morning. Most of my afternoon was spent arranging various things, starting to get my room together and running about from place to place. I had a meeting with the graduate chair to discuss future options for study in the field of computer science, particularly looking at Penn as an option. It seems I may have some large decisions in my future. Thursday night I spent in ‘shop hours’, assisting in the construction of the Spring Show set by painting for a few hours and chatting to Jon Ferrari, a Glee oldman who was one of the few I had yet to interview. Finally, my school week came to an end, as Friday I was to have no classes.
Wednesday/Thursday – Day 157/158
January 6, 2013
Today It was back to Penn! I packed my two suitcases and my backpack as efficiently as possible and then it was off to Penn Station NYC, to catch the Bolt Bus ‘home’. On arriving, my first order of business was to get back to campus, which involved schlepping all my luggage down into the subway and then up and out again at the other side. By the time I got out in University City, I was nearly exhausted.
Next, I needed to find somewhere to put my stuff so I headed to the University City Apartments housing office, from whom I would be renting this semester, to arrange to sign the lease and pay my deposit and rent. This turned out to be much more difficult than expected as they didn’t take credit and I was expected to have a very large amount of funds available immediately. This required me to leave my stuff in there care for twenty minutes while I searched for a PNC Bank branch. Getting there I bought a check and returned to the office to fill it out. Next, I schlepped my stuff up about ten blocks to my new apartment, repacked what I needed for a few days into my backpack, and went to rehearsal.
Unfortunately, the next few days of writing there really won’t be much to report. This is due to 10AM to 10PM rehearsals every day for the PGC spring show, so I’ll be keeping it brief.
This rehearsal however I quite enjoyed as it was a good time to see everyone again after break and catch up over a little singing and dancing.
That night I slept on Steph Garace’s couch, as Martin, the individual from whom I was assuming the lease, hadn’t moved out of my apartment yet.
The next day the marathon began, and needless to say it was none to pleasant. Not enough time for meals, frenzied interviews with oldmen and far far too much dancing for my tastes. As most of the songs for the show were as yet unarranged, most of the time was spent staging and learning a few of the big show numbers.
Finally I got to bed around 1AM after getting back to Steph’s at around 11. I could see this was going to be a long process.
The Visa – Sunday/Monday – Day 150/151
December 26, 2012
Today was not pleasant at all. At 5AM I woke up with a jolt. *CRACK* *SMASH*, my head rolled backwards and my stomach dropped as the sound of splintering wood hit my hears temporarily disorienting me. The bed frame was in pieces on the floor and I was sure the landlord would not be happy.
Most of the day was spent in the house waiting for the landlord to show up as he said he would and soon I was out on the street, $150 USD out of pocket.
That’s all I’ll say about Sunday.
Monday morning I was up in the freezing Montreal cold at 5AM to get to rural Canada to the US Consulate Passport Processing Center. A train to the end of the line, bus and cab later I was outside the doors at a godforsaken hour knocking madly, giving those inside no peace till after around ten minutes they opened the door to ask me what I wanted. I explained my situation and after a number of tense minutes of bargaining they agreed to give me my passport back, complete with new F1 visa inside.
From there it was a race back to the bus station… could I make it by 9AM when the bus was leaving? Back with a cab, a bus, a tense train ride and a sprint through a kilometer long corridor to make it to the bus station at 8:55.
Much of the day from that point was spent on a bus, except for a brief and delightful coffee break midway at which point I purchased a pain au chocolat and a plain bagel that were devoured with a deep intensity.
Arriving in NYC at ~5:30PM I raced to the Bloomberg Building where a bunch of Glee Alums where rehearsing for singing carols at Rockefeller Plaza in the office of one Mark Glassman. Mark himself is particularly notable for two reasons, the first of these being his youthful demeanour and spirited manner, but next and more importantly he has been the playwright for the Glee Spring Show for twelve years! He is reaching C Erik. Nordgren levels of commitment! Getting inside involved a complex process including taking a surreptitious photo of me when I was least expecting it with a camera embedded in the wall.
The internals of the Bloomberg building were fantastic, ornate, yet somehow still office-like. A big highlight of the visit inside was the snack kitchen, accessible in a central location to all employees. Inside were mounds of free foods of all descriptions and even on Christmas Eve it was fully stocked. Snack we did. Next we rehearsed for a while and I as a newman was mentored a little by some of the older alums. Also very thoroughly convinced to join Voice of Gotham if ever I was in town for long enough.
From there we went to Rockefeller Plaza itself and sung to the crowd in pouring rain mixed with ice and snow for a good half hour. During this period our music soaked together making page turns impossible and my fingers froze solid! A highlight of the night was taking the Baritone solo in Winter Song, as I was the only Baritone around!
Freezing cold, I made my way back to my cousin’s once-removed and settled into the warmth for a nights sleep in a bed!