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.
Thursday/Friday – Day 133/134
December 12, 2012
The stress levels keep going up and up and up!
Thursday was the next major assessment in store for me with a ten minute singing test of the music I had learn for choral society. This consisted of about two hundred pages of music; Haydn’s Thereisenmasse and Vivaldi’s Magnificat, both substantial and fairly beautiful works. Thus, I spent much of today with earphones in one ear, the other listening attentively to my own pitching and music in hand, repeating certain passages over and over.
Other than that, I worked on tidbits here and there in prep for submission of a few larger project over the next week.
A highlight of Thursday evening occurred at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where small groups consisting of PGC members went around the wards to bring ‘holiday cheer’ to those who might otherwise be lacking it. And, though our singing may not have been our best and we were carrying our binders with us, people’s faces really did light up and they clamoured to hear us, some even getting out of their beds to sing and dance along.
Following that, from 7PM to 10PM was a dress rehearsal with the full orchestra for the next day’s choral society concert.
Friday was my final lecture in algorithms and final singing lesson. The singing lesson went excellently and I felt that looking over the semester I had made real progress which was a great feeling.
Friday night was shul at Shira Chadasha in Hillel. The minyan was lovely as always but still missing something compared to home. Hineni shout out to all of you. Afterwards I quickly scrambled for dinner with Aviva and Michal and a few others before heading out with Adriel Koschitzky, an orthodox soloist, to the choral society performance.
The performance I believe sounded pretty great, however I was way too nervous and started feeling sick partway through, partially due to the fact that I was struggling to hear anything other than my own voice, which made pitching somewhat difficult. However, it went well and ended well.
After the show finished I walked back with Aviva who had come to see the performance, Stephanie Li, and a friend of hers. Up to my room, I managed only a few steps before collapsing on my bed.
Sunday/Monday – Day 129/130
December 6, 2012
Before I proceed with today’s post, I have to make a little advertisement for the campaign to save The Butterfly Club, the dearest performance venue to me in Melbourne. It’s a small cabaret outfit with retro style that supports upcoming actors and has kickstarted the careers of the likes of Sammy J and Tim Minchin. Take a look here and here to see what I’m on about, and, if you’re reading this from Melbourne, check out the place and if you like it, please help save it!
Sunday I woke up sick. No surprises there. With finals coming up though, there was no time to dawdle, it was straight to work! The majority of the day was spent split between my various subjects as they all had bits and pieces that needed doing. Probably the one I most enjoyed was starting my final project for my algorithms class.
Monday began another ramp up in load, as my various exams and homeworks drew closer. Nothing special here, just another day packed with work. However, in the evening PGC began the process for trialling directors for the upcoming spring show, with the club. Rehearsal was thus more lively than normal and we engaged in theatre sports and dance alongside our staple singing.
Following that was a usual choral society rehearsal, that ran, as usual, too late and as usual, left me a little drained. However I didn’t let it get to me as I had been graciously allotted by a Miss Stephanie Li, one half hour of her time, in which we were to play and sing through some of my sheet music. Half an hour quickly turned into an hour and a half and, were it not for work and sheer exhaustion, it likely would’ve turned into much longer.