So much to do, so little time

It seems incredibly implausible that at the end of the day I feel that very little has been accomplished. I have always felt this way about practicing - spend hours working on something but never quite feel you have it just right. And at school I was definitely feeling this way constantly - with SAI, flute club, CMENC, MRDs, flute, etc. there was always something to do. When I came here I was hoping, and slightly expecting, to not have this feeling. Of course I assumed it would stay in terms of practicing, but I thought the feeling might subside with everything else. Maybe it's just my nature to always find something to do - cooking, cleaning, emails, research... and the list goes on.

We've definitely been kept busy here recently. Last week Trevor started taking us to area places for shopping. Some of us went to Canterbury, others to the local Farmer's Market. I went to the Farmer's Market, and of course loved it. I picked up all the sweet tooth cravings I haven't been able to satisfy - homemade ice-cream, fudge, truffles, walnut bread, and so much more :-) Afterwards Trevor took us to a local butcher shop he uses, which I loved too. It was slightly surreal. The shop is just outside the butcher's home, on his farm, surrounded by land and nothing else. To get there you drive down a not so popular road, and then suddenly you'll see handmade "butcher shop open" wooden sign. I definitely believe that if you're going to eat meat, this is the way to do it. Go somewhere where you know the animals are treated properly, where you can get fresh meat, and where someone is doing the work the "old-fashioned" way.

The train tickets arrived safe and sound for our weekend of Robert Dick. They were addressed incorrectly, but somehow were still able to find us. Now all we have to do is figure out how to work the train connections...

We were able to finish the movie, Jean de Florette, on Monday. We attempted to watch it Saturday night, but the power went out - for apparently no reason whatsoever - so it was postponed. It is very depressing but a great film, made in 1986.

Last Friday a local family began teaching all of us to play the card game Whist. Every month there is a Whist tournament (whist drive) and we are always invited to participate. To me it is a very British card game. It goes back to the 18th and 19th centuries, and you play in couples. The "leading lady" always begins - with the men dealing and retrieving the winning cards. I love it. The family that helped us is one that we will see a lot of. Paul, the husband/father picked Judith and I up from the airport. Sue is his wife, Robbie their son. Robbie is about 12 years old and plays the flute. Every year some of the students will help him with his playing. He's too scared to play for Trevor - I don't blame him. Recently he had an article published in Flutewise Magazine (a children's flute magazine in the UK) where he explained why he was the luckiest Flutewise member. In exchange for us giving him lessons the family will help us with transportation, teach us whist, take us to castles, etc. Robbie and Sue are coming over again tonight to finish our lessons.

On Tuesday of this week we went to the Royal Academy in London to see a masterclass with William Bennett (Wibb). Him and Trevor are almost the same person. They share similar mannerisms, common phrases and opinions. During the class we would often start laughing because hearing something from Wibb that we usually hear from Trevor was very strange. The class was of course great. The students that performed were a mixture of his and other flute students in the Academy. There was a big mix of playing levels, and a large mix of nationalities - Chinese, Canadian, American, Japanese and a few others. The class lasted all day, which made Judith and I wonder if they had other classes they were supposed to be in. Beginning around 10:30, we didn't leave until 6:00. There were two tea breaks and a 30 minute lunch break. It was very difficult to concentrate throughout the whole class, but I still managed to learn a lot.

The Monday before we went to the Royal Academy for a class by "Flute Maestro Shashank" - South Indian Classical music. It was great. He went into pretty great detail, which was incredibly hard to follow, but very informative. He played a mini-concert (with a computerized drone since he had to come solo). His life story, so far, is pretty incredibly. Obviously the cultural differences play into this. He began studying music at the age of 2... his father being and Indian flutist as well. I purchased a CD and I listen to it constantly. So a shameless plug for him, go to www.shashank.org to learn all about it :-)

Throughout our time with Trevor we will spend about a month each on the recorder and Baroque flute - maybe a few others. I start recorder this week, tenor, and I forgot how frustrating it was to learn a new instrument. Yes it's similar to flute, and yes I did play it a bit throughout college for education classes, but I think I'm having to relearn everything. And plus learning something for Trevor is very different from learning something to pass a playing quiz.

I was finally able to book my flights for the Holidays. I'll be home from Dec. 16th - Jan. 4th.

I suppose those are the main updates for now...

love,
lindsay

Things I've learned:

• To play whist.
• Mincemeat pies don't taste as bad as they sound.
  
• Saying "bless you" after someone sneezes is because of the Plague in Britain. Japanese don't say anything when you sneeze.
• How to make sopapillas.
• The postal service here, Royal Mail, frequently goes on strike so it is likely you will only receive mail 3 days out of the week.
• The following are pronounced differently (incorrectly by Americans... according to Trevor...): Baroque (should be closer to Bah-rock, no long o), Gouda cheese ("gow-dah" not "goo-dah"), anything with two t's (we say d's).