Wednesday, January 21st

The countdown on my last few days in the classroom has begun. I am finishing up my last full day this week, as there is a teacher work day on Friday and Tom has decreed I must begin my cultural education in Berlin early on Thursday and therefore shall only be required for the morning portion of the day tomorrow. I like the extended weekend he has offered me. The past two days in the classroom have been similar to the last few weeks, however I am again conducting for a period to prepare for the bits of the beginning band “informance” that I will be conducting in this evenings concert. Tom has termed it an “informance” so as to merely inform the families on what their beginning band students have been doing.

Tuesday I played on the trumpet again and took on the role of percussionist in the advanced band. I will be woodwind, brass, and percussion savvy by the end of this experience, that is for sure. My conducting has improved greatly and I am enjoying being in front of the students with a baton in hand much more these days. After school I headed out immediately with John to get Katie to her piano lesson on time and took the opportunity to walk around Landstuhl while her lesson was taking place. It was fun to get a better look at the town when it was light (I tend to only be there in the dark coming or going to the train station). The buildings are beautiful and the small-town feel there is very comforting. That evening we ate dinner in front of the television, watching the live feed of the inauguration, and sharing our thoughts on the event. I then headed to bed early to make up for the sleep I had missed during my weekend travels.

Today I headed in early with John and got the opportunity to talk and write some at my desk in Tom’s office. I find myself a little antsy this afternoon with my trip to Berlin in the forefront of my mind, and battled all day long to focus on the tasks at hand. I succeeded for the most part and again conducted, played trumpet, and worked with the lone percussionist in the afternoon beginning band. This student is a good kid, with a little bit of an attitude problem, so I spent a good deal of time working with him to see the value of his practicing and the point to learning all the percussion instruments when his main desire was just to play the drum set. He improved and I walked away feeling as if something was accomplished, for at least he remained positive for the remainder of that period. During the advisory period today I worked with two clarinetists learning duets and we worked on skills necessary to play solo/duet pieces well. I also had the task of explaining how to count 4/8 time to them, and succeeded for the most part. It was quite the task, but I enjoyed it greatly. Tom and I are now are waiting at school until this evenings concert, accomplishing some of the tasks on his to-do list. I am very much enjoying working in his classroom and find myself using a slightly different approach, paring compliments with criticism. I do not believe that either technique is better, but this works for myself and the students so I have marked it down as a success.

The next few days are to be filled with fun things in Berlin, as I will meet up with Whitworth’s Politics through Art tour, led by none other than my Wind Symphony director, Dr. Strauch. My roommate Allie as well as my friends Maya, Jeannette, and Billy are all on the trip and I cannot wait to get to spend some quality tourist-time with them. I have been extremely fortunate in all I have gotten to do so far during my stay here and I don’t see that changing any time soon : ) For example, the first things I will be doing in Berlin is attending a Berlin Philharmonic concert! I look forward to updating you all on the concert (both of them) and my days in Berlin, however that will most likely not occur until Sunday evening. I miss you all back home and will try to put up the pictures from my trips to Munich, Salzburg, and Fussen.

Until next time,
~Katie