June 28, 2005

Payday! Native Baht is being deposited as I write this. haha. I'm so excited to be back and done with ITG. It was quite an experience though. I hung out with the world's greatest trumpet players..incredible! I also played my first concert as principal horn with the TPO and it went really well. Right before the concert I was soo nervous..I never get nervous for concerts. I felt like I should have been playing 4th..I love that chair but by the end of the concert I was excited to be playing 1st. We played the Hayden trumpet concerto with David Hickman, the World premiere of "Emerald Rhapsody" by Ewazen with Jens Lindemann, Paul Merkelo and Joe Bowman and then Janacek's "Sinfonietta" with a killer trumpet section. It was one of the hardest working experience of my life but also one of the most rewarding. I received some wonderful gifts from the artists and really touching compliments about my playing. Dave and I also got in with the hotel manager since we were working so closely with him that I know we can go back anytime for a sweet rate. YAY! The hotel is right on the strip where are all Thai "massage" parlors are. Yikes! But it's close to the airport and accesible to any part of town.

After ITG we headed straight to the beach..Koh Samet. It's about 4 hours from Bangkok and well worth the trip. We went to the West side of the island which has 3 resorts nestled in a cove and is very peacful and quiet, versus the east side which is crowded and busy. We first stayed at the cheapest hotel (quite nice) for about $30 but soon discovered why it was so cheap. First, there was a ginormous spider on one of our window shades and Dave had to run to get hotel staff to come kill it...it was as big as the palm of his hand and really creepy looking..yuck! So we were creeped out and we kept hearing noises outside all night..didn't get a lot of sleep and woke up around 7am to some scratching on the wall behind our heads..Dave banged the wall and 5 minutes later whatever it was came back..to more scratching. Well, within 10 minutes there was a hole in the wall!!!!!!!!!! We freaked out and threw everything in our bag (still in pajamas) and went down to the lobby and told them we needed another room! So we crashed in another room until checkout and then went to the nicer resort to the right of us. haha. I'll put up pictures on my album but I can't find the cord to connect the camera to the computer..I think it's at our condo.

The beach was green and the sand was soft but there was a little more trash in the water than we would have liked..not sure if that was a storm or if it's because we were on the Gulf of Thailand..so we weren't in the water that much although it was warm and clear. We met some awesome travelers on our little journey...some nice aussies, a French couple and Chinese friends as well. That was suprising for me. I've never talked with so many travelers...that was great. Oh, the food was to die for there. It was more expensive than what we pay in Salaya but the curry was amazing..and the fish of course too.

Our trip back from the beach was really long. We left the beach at 12:30pm and didn't back to Salaya until almost 8pm..we should have made it back by 5:30pm. We hit rush hour in Bangkok and then had to take the BTS (above ground train) which was so packed and then another bus (at least everything had a/c). The last bus took soooo long. Dave and I had a good time with it though and since no one could understand us we were being backseat drivers and talking smack to the other drivers. It was hilarious. Some monks joined us on the bus and man, right as they walked on the people in the seats in the front jumped out of their seats to give them to the monks...even a mother with her child.

I think that's all I have for now. I'm just glad to teach this week and get back to some normalcy. My first studio class is tonight and I'm really excited for that. I'm also starting horn yoga..haha 7am on Thursday. We'll see how that goes. It'll mostly be breathing excerices and long tones..good times. It feels so good to be back. Check my album for photos tomorrow! YAY!

June 18, 2005

Good morning! It's Saturday and Dave and I are back at the office to take care of ITG stuff. Nothing too eventful has been happening..just really busy with work. Next weekend, after ITG, we are headed to Koh Samet which is an island not far from Bangkok but is supposed to have white sand beaches and dry weather. I can't wait. We're also going to check out a resort to have the wedding at but we'll see how that goes. So I won't be updating my blog for at least a week but when I get back I'll have some sweet pictures from the beach and then I'll be on top on getting my website up.

June 15, 2005

YAY! I'm back. We finally have internet in our office. I'm so excited..it could also be the steroids I'm on but who knows. Seriously though. I have this awful cold that's lasted a week...Thai colds are way worse than the American ones.  So I have loads of mucous and it doesn't mix well with my asthma.  Last time I had this happen I went to my allergist and he gave me steroids to clear up since it's so harmful and I had some left over, so I figure if it worked then it'll work now. YAY!  So much has happened since my last post...

I'm in the swing of teaching now.  I have 10 students and they range from really excellent to learning the fingerings.  It's a nice mix.  The ITG conference is next week so everyone is freakin' out around here..including Dave and I.  Dave went down to the hotel last weekend to measure the stage and right across the street is a nasty massage place..yeah..disgusting. 

Our menu is constantly expanding here.  At first we we're only eating at 2 places and now there's like 4 or 5 that we can eat at..yes! Yesterday we calculated that we spend about $5 or $6 a day on food!  That's 2 meals, sometimes 3 a day.  We usually have cereal in the morning but the only thing we can afford is corn flakes. That's right...we are poor kids that can only eat corn flakes.  If we wanted Lucky charms or Frosted Flakes we'd pay about $9 per box!!!!!! Isn't that nuts?  We jsut ate at a new breakfast place that's really yummy..they don't really do breakfast here but we managed to get scrambled eggs and pancakes..with honey.  No syrup.  what's up with that?  We've been compiling a list of costco items to get in July when we're home for Ann's wedding and at the top of the list next to cereal is syrup and peanut butter...they only have jiffy.  I guess there are grocery stores in Bangkok with american products so that's next.  I just want some freakin beans, cheese, salsa and tortillas...oh yeah.  I'm drooling thinking about that... but maybe that's the roids too. haha.

I'll be updating more and very soon my website will be up..I'll work on that on Friday. Peace.

June 6, 2005

It's the First day of school! Classes don't actually start until next week but I have to try and organize schedules etc. this week and it feels crazy around here.  Dave and I took pictures this morning of our first day at school...it feels like I have a real job..weird.  Nothing else is really new.  I just feel incredibly unorganized at this point so I better get going.  I can't wait to get internet so I can put up pictures. 

Oh, we went to the largest market in Bangkok this weekend..JJ's.  The first price is never the price you pay at this market but since I don't know my numbers yet, I was just another tourist to the vendors and I had a frusterating time trying to bargain.  But I bought some dangly 50 cents earings and I bargined on a bamboo jewlery box and of course found fun things for my sisters.  So the goal is to learn numbers this week so next weekend I can bargain in Thai!

It's still weird to me to be starting school in June.  It feels like band camp.

June 3, 2005

Dudes.  I played this gig yesterday and it was amazing.  I played under a Japanese conductor, the soprano was Japanese, the tenor was Austrian, we were playing in Bangkok for the German embassy..that's so cool. Oh, and I ate Indian food for dinner.  sweet.

Dave is all better now..thankfully.  It was totally something he ate.  We're having a good day.  We went to a sweet market in the Chinese part of the outskirts of Salaya and bought mangos, green oranges, pineapple and starfruit. We had a new faculty meeting and that went swimmingly.  I'm so excited to dive into this..the office is ready for us to move in and everything.  This weekend we're going to explore Bangkok and go to the largest market here which I guess takes a few trips to see...I can't wait for that.

Oh, we had a little adventure on our new bike today (a donation from the last horn teacher).  Most bikes have a little seat on the back so 2 people can be on the bike, yeah, ours as the place where the seat goes but no extra seat..so I was squeezing for dear life and any little bump knocked my bum pretty good.  But shoot, it's twice as fast as walking and in this heat, I'll take the bruised bum over the endless sauna.  In the meantime, I'm looking for my own bike.

Dave and I got our tentative schedules and we're both thrilled.  He'll be directing a big band, have 2 jazz trumpet students and teach 2 sections of aural skills 3 and I have 8 horn students (pre-college through graduate level), horn ensemble, faculty woodwind quintet and chamber music coachings. I'm so excited.  Can't wait to get going.  My students are already testing me...I set up a meeting at 8pm on Monday (the first day of school) so I get lessons squared away and horn ensemble scheduled and one of my students says, "oh, we can't go at 8pm..can we have it at 6pm?" and I asked "why" and he started talking with the other students and after 30 seconds he says "okay okay..8pm will work."  hahaha.  I thought it was cutest thing ever..they were totally trying to test me out.  Suckers.  Have a good weekend.   

June 1, 2005

It's Wednesday and this week is flying by. Dave and I get our office keys today but Dave is soo sick that I think I'll be taking care of that one. Poor guy. I feel so bad for him..he had a fever and we even took him into a doctor but they just gave him an antibiotic which he couldn't keep down. I think he was feeling better when I left today and I know he's feeling better than yesterday but I just feel awful.

Anyway, tomorrow is a big day. I have 2 meetings and a gig in Bangkok. I can't wait for that. It's at the Oriental which I guess is the sister hotel of the Waldorf-Astoria. It should be a good time.

Oh, we had a big breakthrough with food at "the bird place" our favorite restaurant. It's really our dinner restaurant..we eat there every night for dinner because we're not adventurous enough for the food stands yet..we'll get there. I got the names of some other dishes other than cashew chicken! Last night we had steamed veggies over fried rice and this crazy spicy shrimp soup that seemed more like a sauce than a soup. Oh, the veggies were yummy though. We have 2 more dishes to try too. So it's like our dinner option has quadrupled! Score. That's all I got for now