...3 Days Later

Classes have started and similar to during the school year, I'm busy as a bee. 

This program is phenomenal! I love that I get the opportunity to really immerse myself into singing, the German language and the Austrian culture. I feel at home doing these things and I am learning more every day that I might in one week at school. 

German classes have started. Voice coachings have started. Voice lessons have started. Everything is going! Learning a language this quickly has been different. I have to really focus, spend time with the vocab and grammar and immerse myself as much as I can. 


So let us catch up :)


Wednesday, July 11
Today was very easy. No day will ever be like this again! Bene and I woke up, ate breakfast and warmed-up. We relaxed until we had to walk to the college for faculty auditions. I had my audition after lunch (pasta and salad) so my morning was very calm. 
Then came the audition. It was very low key/low stress. I went in, sang my song, and left. 
After the audition we went to H&M and Zara to collect some items that were not packed, yet needed. 
Today was the first day I went out for dinner. My group from WestConn (Erick, Ben, Bene, and I) and a new friend named Conrad went to a place called "Schnitzel und Pizza." Naturally, since I am in Austria, I got a Hawaiian pizza... 
...but the pizza was good none-the-less. 
After dinner, we walked back to the college. THE DOORS WERE LOCKED WITH OUR BAGS INSIDE. We didn't know what to do so we just stood there. We were only 15 minutes late for the closing of the building! LUCKILY, our standing around was a good thing. Someone came and unlocked the school. 
Then I got to skype with my family!


Thursday, July 12
Today was the first day of class!!! I forgot to set my alarm this morning but luckily Bene had set hers. After a quick breakfast Bene and I went to school for our 8:30 German class. At 10:00 until 11:00 we worked on German homework and then I had a coaching.
The coach had wonderful ideas to offer me to improve my songs and after the coaching I felt like I had improved leaps and bounds from the singer I was at 8:30! 
At 12:00 I did some more homework until lunch (chicken and rice) at 1:00. There was an announcement about a stomach bug going around the program, so I promptly avoided everyone as I do when I know people are sick. <3
At 2:30 we had an official walking tour of Salzburg which started at the college, went over the bridge by the Hotel Sacher, through the Mirabel gardens (sound of music!!!) and ended in the monastery. 
After this we went back to the Lehrerhaus. Dinner was SO GOOD! .....nothing like a bowl of oatmeal ;)
At 8:00 I had a rehearsal with my pianist for the Competition that takes place on Saturday. It might have been the thin air, it might have been that I was tired, but I was not in my best voice. I felt bad that the first impression this man has of my singing is nicht so gut (not so good). But... what can you do? 

After that I attempted to dry my hair... 
I brought an adapter... 
It fit in the outlet... 
It worked fine....
...  
...but Bene advised that I should really be using a voltage converter instead of just the adapter. She has the attachment we needed but it didn't fit into the outlet. Therefore, we stuck the dryer into the converter and the converter into the adapter and the adapter into the wall. Bene held it all together but her hand was shaking and you could hear the electricity building so we decided that might not be the best plan. I borrowed another girls hair dryer because she said she got hers to work. I plugged the hair dryer into the adapter...
put the adapter into the wall...
...
SPARKS. I immediately pulled the plug out of the outlet. It was horrifying. All I want to do is my hair. Oy.

Today, Friday, July 13  
Classes began today as usual. I had a lesson with Dr. Astrup. Unfortunately, I gave all my music for the recital to my pianist so I didn't have it for the lesson. Instead, we worked on some repertoire that was similar to make the same concepts as well done as possible. After that, I went to lunch (pasta with delicious sauce with olives and sachertorte for dessert!). Following lunch we had a 2 hour masterclass and then a quick run-through of recital music with Dr. Astrup. Once again we found ourselves locked out of the college. LUCKILY, some people were still inside and we were able to get our bags. It seems luck plays a major role in my Austrian adventure! 

Tomorrow is the recital competition so I am spending my night resting up and reviewing music. After I sing tomorrow, I'm going to get something filled with dairy, finish my German homework, and explore Salzburg on a Saturday!!!

I hope all your hairstyles are looking better than mine!
~~~Rachel~~~