This is the lovely front entry.
And this is the view of our house from across the street. I live on the lower floor with my roommates. It's a pretty cool house.
So the good news is I have completed a week and a half of school! Hooray! I'm getting so close to graduating! Heh. This week was a great week. My life is good. A few things I've done since the last time I posted....
-Went to Kimball Farms with some friends last Saturday to have their famous ice cream. Holy cow (I know, I know, I'm so funny). Talk about amazing. I want more. It's supposed to be the best ice cream in New England. If you come visit me, and I have a car by that point, I will take you there. So I guess don't make any travel plans too soon because I don't have a car. But I hope to have one someday.
-Experienced my first Sunday in my new ward last week, second time today. Everyone has been so friendly and there are just so many interesting people in my ward! I love talking to people and hearing about what they are doing with their lives; people here just seem to have so much going on in a way that some people did in provo, but not too many. It's just fascinating. And I am the youngest person in my ward which is quite refreshing. I feel very vivacious if I may say so, and I feel good about that. It's nice to be around such a mature group of people.
-I've had two lessons with my flute teacher and think I'm going to like her. She, amazingly enough, seemed to pick out everything I am really bad at in my first lesson: throat noise, cracking my middle register, and digging into low notes. It kind of bugged me that she did that because I left feeling like a loser, but that's what I want right? I want a teacher who is actively trying to help me solve my problems. She's great. Funny story, I was playing a Piazzolla Tango Etude in my second lesson and she wanted me to be a little more saucy with the slow section... ya know sultry, seductive, all of that stuff that is not really a part of my personality at all. :) So she's like, "I wrote words to this part of the piece and I am going to sing them for you." So she starts singing all about trying to get a man to crawl into her bed. I thought it was hilarious because here I am, this little Mormon girl, being told to play like I want to fornicate. She sang the words, and then said, "Just play it with that in mind, okay?" Definitely does NOT happen at BYU. Pretty classic. I tried to play it as romantical as possible. :) Needless to say, Linda is not Dr. Clayton.
-While I'm on the musical vein, I love the flute players here. There are 20 and lots of them are grad students or DMA students. I think there are just 2 DMA students actually, and I know of at least 9 grad students. So there is only a handful of undergrads. We don't have an organized studio class because there are 6 different teachers that everyone studies with, so one of the DMA students is coordinating a weekly class on Friday nights for us to just get together and play for each other and share ideas and tips. ANYWAY. We had our first gathering this Friday and it was so fantastic. I was feeling kind of bummed about coming to BU because I didn't think it was that great for the flute, but every single person I heard was AWESOME. Seriously really talented. Everyone has been to different summer programs or spent time studying with different flute players, so it was just so awesome to talk to so many people who could share ideas that they've gotten from other players. I'm really excited to be here.
-I got a JOB! It's a graduate assistantship in the school of music working as the "audio archivist" for the recording studio. I feel so professional. So this is a great job. I get paid $350/month and all I have to do is put in 8 hours a week anytime between 5 and 10 PM. Pretty great, right? It's totally flexible and my boss seems really cool. Only problem is I'm not really good with anything electronic, but.... I'll figure it out. I'm going to start looking for another job this week so that I can have two because I am greedy. No, but seriously, living here is not cheap and I would like to be able to get out and do/see some cool things while I'm here. So since my schedule is so ridiculous I am going to try and get a job at a fitness center or a coffee shop, both of which are EVERYWHERE, so hopefully there will be some luck- I want to work the early morning shift. Working at a fitness center would be great, too, because then I could work out for free! Hooray! I'll keep ya posted on that one.
-So people keep asking what I'm liking and disliking about Boston so far and I'll just say that my definite least favorite thing is waiting to go everywhere. Drives me crazy. Public transportation here really isn't that great, especially the B Line that I take every day. It stops like every 10 feet and it is the slowest line. Yay for me. I had my first "runner" experience one morning this week where I sprinted after the T and didn't make it in time. Don't worry, I was really hoping to just stand there and wait for 10 more minutes anyway. And going to church takes about an hour, when the drive would really only be like 15 minutes normally.
-Went to Kimball Farms with some friends last Saturday to have their famous ice cream. Holy cow (I know, I know, I'm so funny). Talk about amazing. I want more. It's supposed to be the best ice cream in New England. If you come visit me, and I have a car by that point, I will take you there. So I guess don't make any travel plans too soon because I don't have a car. But I hope to have one someday.
-Experienced my first Sunday in my new ward last week, second time today. Everyone has been so friendly and there are just so many interesting people in my ward! I love talking to people and hearing about what they are doing with their lives; people here just seem to have so much going on in a way that some people did in provo, but not too many. It's just fascinating. And I am the youngest person in my ward which is quite refreshing. I feel very vivacious if I may say so, and I feel good about that. It's nice to be around such a mature group of people.
-I've had two lessons with my flute teacher and think I'm going to like her. She, amazingly enough, seemed to pick out everything I am really bad at in my first lesson: throat noise, cracking my middle register, and digging into low notes. It kind of bugged me that she did that because I left feeling like a loser, but that's what I want right? I want a teacher who is actively trying to help me solve my problems. She's great. Funny story, I was playing a Piazzolla Tango Etude in my second lesson and she wanted me to be a little more saucy with the slow section... ya know sultry, seductive, all of that stuff that is not really a part of my personality at all. :) So she's like, "I wrote words to this part of the piece and I am going to sing them for you." So she starts singing all about trying to get a man to crawl into her bed. I thought it was hilarious because here I am, this little Mormon girl, being told to play like I want to fornicate. She sang the words, and then said, "Just play it with that in mind, okay?" Definitely does NOT happen at BYU. Pretty classic. I tried to play it as romantical as possible. :) Needless to say, Linda is not Dr. Clayton.
-While I'm on the musical vein, I love the flute players here. There are 20 and lots of them are grad students or DMA students. I think there are just 2 DMA students actually, and I know of at least 9 grad students. So there is only a handful of undergrads. We don't have an organized studio class because there are 6 different teachers that everyone studies with, so one of the DMA students is coordinating a weekly class on Friday nights for us to just get together and play for each other and share ideas and tips. ANYWAY. We had our first gathering this Friday and it was so fantastic. I was feeling kind of bummed about coming to BU because I didn't think it was that great for the flute, but every single person I heard was AWESOME. Seriously really talented. Everyone has been to different summer programs or spent time studying with different flute players, so it was just so awesome to talk to so many people who could share ideas that they've gotten from other players. I'm really excited to be here.
-I got a JOB! It's a graduate assistantship in the school of music working as the "audio archivist" for the recording studio. I feel so professional. So this is a great job. I get paid $350/month and all I have to do is put in 8 hours a week anytime between 5 and 10 PM. Pretty great, right? It's totally flexible and my boss seems really cool. Only problem is I'm not really good with anything electronic, but.... I'll figure it out. I'm going to start looking for another job this week so that I can have two because I am greedy. No, but seriously, living here is not cheap and I would like to be able to get out and do/see some cool things while I'm here. So since my schedule is so ridiculous I am going to try and get a job at a fitness center or a coffee shop, both of which are EVERYWHERE, so hopefully there will be some luck- I want to work the early morning shift. Working at a fitness center would be great, too, because then I could work out for free! Hooray! I'll keep ya posted on that one.
-So people keep asking what I'm liking and disliking about Boston so far and I'll just say that my definite least favorite thing is waiting to go everywhere. Drives me crazy. Public transportation here really isn't that great, especially the B Line that I take every day. It stops like every 10 feet and it is the slowest line. Yay for me. I had my first "runner" experience one morning this week where I sprinted after the T and didn't make it in time. Don't worry, I was really hoping to just stand there and wait for 10 more minutes anyway. And going to church takes about an hour, when the drive would really only be like 15 minutes normally.
-The great thing about being a member of the church is that wherever I go I have an automatic family and place to go where I just feel at home. There has been a birthday party, Institute, and two other parties this past week and I have met so many people. It has been really great. And this weekend there is a really big campout up in New Hampshire, which I'm looking forward to. Woohoo.
-It is already starting to get cold here. Saturday was kind of miserable because I was getting SOAKED and the library is freezing, so I was super super super cold. A lot of times I just stare up at the sky and say, "Are you kidding me?"
Alright, so this post is officially really boring, but I don't feeling like typing anymore and probably no one even read this far, so I am quitting. I blogged. Weeeeeeeee. Hopefully next time I blog I will have another job and acquired some rain boots. Cross your fingers.
5 comments:
Annie! It sounds like you are really settling in, and I LOVE your house! It's really beautiful...very Bostonian! Your story about the Piazolla totally made me laugh! And congrats on the job...keep up the good work. Love you and miss you!! XOXO!
Hahaha type more type more! I love reading about this. Especially since I am STRESSED about where to go for graduate school. Any insider information on the living standards/culture/LDS life you have would be great! Because I don't think I'm getting married anytime soon...keep it coming!
people ask you questions? and amber, I graduate this year, and I don't know where I'm auditioning yet.
Cutsie place. And you need to change your background!
hey. more pictures. these are good, but you can do so much better. i got it. i'll mail you my camera, then you mail it back... it'll be like flat stanley. you'll have to show me all the things you did together.
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