22 January

I know you probably can't believe it, but I am here to post another blog entry! It's been a while since I've written, so I have lots to write about. But if I were to recap all that has happened in the past month and a half, I might end up writing a short novel. So, to avoid writing a short novel, I will just restart blogging from today, January 22.

Actually, no. Wait. I will write briefly about what's happened these past few weeks:

We went to Rome for the Italian Flute Convention. Ate lots of pasta and gelato, heard some good flute playing (Emily Beynon, Juliette Hurel, Silvia Careddu, Matthias Ziegler), saw the Colesseum, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain (and more) and of course managed to do a bit of shopping. : )

Shortly after the trip to Rome, Trevor had a hip replacement, and of course since he is Trevor, he was up and about only days after the surgery. Back to kicking students in no time, which we all expected. While he was in the hospital, William Bennett, Rachel Brown and Ian Clarke came to the Studio to teach class. Three wonderful classes - all very different, too. I especially liked Rachel Brown.

We then had the Christmas concert at the Hastingliegh Church, which went very well. We played quite a lot of music and had a good time rehearsing and putting the concert together. I played bass flute for most of the concert, so our three hour rehearsals were more like three hour workouts for my poor arms. And thumbs... I challenge anyone to thumb wrestle me now.

Recordings from the concert:

Tico Tico, arranged by Trevor


Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, arr. by Trevor


Of course December flew by and before we knew it, Christmas had arrived. On Christmas Eve, we had a lunch (or feast, rather) at the Old Dairy then went to Trevor and Dot's for drinks, games, and a movie. Christmas day was spent at Trevor and Dot's and I think we all ate three times our weight in delicious food. New favorite Christmas things: mulled wine, minced pies, Christmas pudding and Christmas crackers. I will never again have a Christmas meal without Christmas crackers.

Adrian, Kristin, Jhen Wei and I celebrated the New Year at the Bowl Inn Pub in Hastingliegh. The party was pirate-themed, and some people had some very convincing costumes. We, however, had none, so we were kindly supplied with some plastic pirate hats and eye patches. :)

Since then, it's been back to work. A few exciting things are coming up though. This week a few of us are spending a few days in London for a bit of a "vacation". We plan to go to the Tower of London, the British Museum, the Wallace Collection, Buckingham Pallace and perhaps a few more places. In February, Jhen Wei and I are doing the British Flute Society competition and after that, we are all going to Wales for a pedagogy class with Julie Wright. I'm especially looking forward to that! So, the next few weeks look quite busy... I expect these last two months to fly by. I can't believe we only have about 9 weeks left here! I am looking forward to seeing my friends and family back home though. Also - the first meal I eat when I get home is going to be something fried, greasy, and served with cornbread. I never thought I'd miss southern cookin' (yes, cookin') so much!

Other than that, I've just been practicing. Lots of practicing... : ) But in an effort to avoid going crazy from so much flute playing, I have been enjoying a few normal-life activities. I've been running a lot recently, I just finished watching the Mad Men series (so good!) and now I am reading all the Harry Potter books. I've somehow managed to see only one of the movies and I read a few of the books years and years ago, so I think it's time to see what this Harry Potter is all about...

Alright, well now that I'm all caught up with what's been happening here in England, I plan to start blogging again - and more than once every six weeks! : )

We're going to London tomorrow very early for a class with Robert Winn at RAM, so it's bedtime for me.

~ Jenny