Just letting you know that I have updated my Picassa album!

I'm sitting here in my office in between rehearsals. I feel that motivational struggle again. : / I know I posted about this issue a long time ago. You could probably go back and read it again and I might feel about the same.

Life doesn't suck, by any means. I mean, I'm in... Thailand, of all places!

Our concert is this Sunday. I'm just not sure how good it's going to be. These darn red shirts are keeping people from coming to rehearsals. LKASJDFL;KASJDGF;LK4U230ADKNVPQ8U5-Q094UDKFSJGHAO. That's how I feel about it.

Granted, this will be my first concert, where I've picked my own repertoire. And these kids are new to choral singing. So, I know, in the words of the illustrious Dr. Buchanan, that [it's] not supposed to be good yet. The good thing is that they are getting exposure to the world of choral music. The faculty and I have discussed the possibilities of continuing a choir at SSRU.

I've been reluctant to post because I'm working on something behind the scenes that I don't want many people to know about until it's time. Sorry for the lack of updates, but I just want to keep the lid on something.

Whew!!! It's been really busy for the last few days!

Choir practices started this week. We only have two more weeks before the concert. I think we'll be okay, though. It's a good thing that the music students met during the semester because that took care of learning most of the pieces we are doing.

On Friday, Oil and I went shopping. We had a GREAT time. She showed me how to use the sky train and the boat system. Very handy to know!

On Friday night, Fon and I went to the airport to pick up Marcia and Kayla.

On Saturday, we headed south to the beach. Kajohn, Oil, and Fon and his wife came with us. We ate at a sea side restaurant. Fresh sea food is AMAZING!! Pictures to come later.

A Chinese temple was near the restaurant. There were also lots of monkeys at the monastery. Very cool.

That afternoon we headed towards Pattaya. We stopped at a small market and picked up some sticky rice and coconut in a bamboo stalk.

On the beach in Pattaya, they have rows and rows of umbrellas and chairs, and they just leave those up until the sun goes down. We had fresh coconut, the sticky rice, pineapple, and chicken. Very relaxing.

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Today, we went to Ayutthaya in the morning. We rode the elephants!

After lunch we went to Chatuchak, the weekend market. It was not crowded at all, which is not normal by any means...

...because the Red Shirts are protesting this weekend. Bow took us to Chinatown. When we tried to come back, we had to take the loooooonnnnng way around because we couldn't get through some of the streets due to the Red Shirts.

More detail to come later. I'm very tired, so this is very sparse....

This week marked the beginning of choir rehearsals for the performance on March 28th. SHORT TIME to rehearse! But I think it will be alright. Last night I had all of the students, and this morning I got to work with the men. They are a HOOT. So much fun! We are working on an arrangement of "Blow the Man Down."

Later this week my family is coming. I'm very excited to show them around. Fon is working on putting together a plan. I should get some good stuff out of the that.

So, the day we went to Ayutthaya...

We went to an arts and crafts village. This is a project initiated by the Queen. It is a program that teaches how to make arts and crafts to promote the Thai culture, so, like, masks, pottery, textiles, etc. Very neat!

After that, we drove through Ayutthaya. It used to be the capital of the country. There are many ancient ruins there. And elephants. I almost rode one. Time constraints, however, prevented us from actually stopping, so we just circled the area in our bus and went to lunch.

At lunch, we met one of the very important officials of the province. She kind of reminded me of a president's wife. Very gentle. Very beautiful. Very wise. She wanted to take a group photo with us, and they set out a row of chairs. She sat in the middle and invited me to sit by her. She told me I was beautiful. :)

In the afternoon we went to Saraburi, which is a big agricultural province. This is the region where the King started his "New Theory" to revitalize farming and make farmers more successful throughout the whole year, rather than just the rainy season. You can read more about that here.

In the evening we ate at a nice restaurant on the river. I could really get used to that. Fresh seafood... soooooo good.

On Friday, the music department had a voice recital. Since that is my expertise, I went and observed. Interesting, that it was! All sixteen students in the studio (the only studio) sang four songs. In total, there were probably eight or ten songs. They had two accompanists between all of the students, which was different for the brass recital I heard the week or two before. The brass students played along with recordings and midi-piano files. I think the vocal students benefitted from the actual accompanist, and I hope that the brass students follow suit! At any rate, there were students ranging from really good to beginners. They had to memorize their music (as they should!).

What I learned after the fact is that this is only the second semester for voice lessons. The poor professor has only FOUR hours between all SIXTEEN students. *shakes head* I mean, at least they are now offering lessons. But FOUR hours? For SIXTEEN students? Maybe that will change in a few years. I would imagine that the studio itself will become viable in a few years as well. I hope he gets better circumstances!

I performed right at the very beginning. Can't get rusty!

That evening, I attended a farewell dinner for the conference. I got to sit next to the President of the university! :)

On Saturday, most of the professors from ISU left to return to the states. Dr. Kilp, Dr. Aldrich, and Dr. Mitchell stayed to do some more sight-seeing. We took a tour on a river boat with Oil, and then got some lunch down by the river. After that, we went to Wat Pho, the temple with the HUGE reclining Buddha.

We went to Mr. Yao's for dinner. Good, as always!

On Sunday, I went to church with one of my students. Great little church! My student put me into contact with a taxi driver that goes to his church.

On Monday morning, that taxi driver picked me up at my hotel to go to the bus station. That bus drove me six hours to Maha Sarakham, where I was picked up by Panu, who took me to Kylie's house/apartment/island bungalow.

On Tuesday I slept in and met some of the people in Maha Sarakham, including Pok, who is just magical. She is so sweet! She took us to a fish sanctuary just right out of the city. Very quiet, and very beautiful. That night, Kylie and some of her friends and I went out for the evening.

On Wednesday, I rode the bus back to Bangkok. That same taxi driver picked me up and took me back to my hotel. Knowing a taxi driver FTW. :)

Today, Thursday, I worked on selecting some more repertoire for the choir concert at the end of March.

Very eventful last few days!