On the road again

Good morning readers! This is day five of our orchestra tour here in California. We've done quite a bit since my last post and I've taken attendance at least ten times since we got to Oakland. (I am the director's assistant, as I might have mentioned in the earlier post.) Keeping track of my peers is exhausting but it keeps me focused.

Day 2 was full of performance with two high school exchanges and a concert in the evening. Our first homestay was that night. Nicole and I stayed with a Finnish family and enjoyed talking with them about where they were from and where we were from. Day 3 we were gifted the opportunity to spend the day at the Monterey Aquarium. It was so fantastic! I will be sure to add pictures to this post when I get access to a computer because there's so much to show from that day! We were nice and relaxed for our second church gig that night. The homestays we had from this particular church was a two night stay so we got a little attached I think. (It was nice to sleep in the same bed twice!)

Day 4 was all about chamber music. We performed at Rocky Pointe Restaurant, owned by Peter and Grace Wang (for whom we named our study away office after.) It was great fun, good food, and beautiful music. On top of that, the view was gorgeous.

Today we are the road for six hours, headed south for Anaheim. Tonight the tables are turned and we get to be the audience for Orange County's Pacific Symphony.

It's only day five but our days have been so jam packed! And, for now, the orchestra is quiet, sleepy and dressed comfortably for our six hour drive.

Til next time,
Christine

 

Down By The Bay/Party at Rocky Point (Day 3 + 4)

Howdy once again to our followers - Nicole here with an update!

Appologies for not posting for the last two days - it's been jam packed and 3G coverage is quite spotty in this area.

Last left you writing about my home stay in Palo Alto. My roommate, Christine and I stayed with a couple from Finland that had two young daughters. It was a really fun experience to stay with such lovely people with really sweet children (we played instrument show and tell before breakfast - their mother actually had played string bass from age 6 until high school. It was really interesting to learn about the differences in music education in Finland in comparison to here.) They had moved to California for the husband's work - he is part of the Nokia phone company originates from Finland.

We returned to the bus to head to the Monterey Bay Area. The church that we were playing for that evening gave us free passes to the aquarium.

IT WAS AMAZING. As someone who has grown up by the ocean and experienced a lot of aquariums in different places, Monterey is by far the best one I have ever experienced.

It used to be a fish cannery - sardines circled overhead in the entryway.

 

They had a jellyfish exhibit that was full of rare breeds.

And my favorite rare fish - the sunfish! It can grow up to 5,000 pounds by eating jellyfish. They had a stuffed animal version that I caved and bought.

His name is Pudge.

After exploring the aquarium and Cannery Row, we went back to the church for dinner - chicken bakes and gelato! Our performance was very good that evening despite having major oboe issues (its lower register is just not playing for some reason). I had a great time conducting the Sousa at this location - it really sang that night.

After the concert we headed to our home stay - it's this really cute little ranch up in the hills about 30 minutes from the church. Our home stay "mom" Jane actually has a son that is PLU USO alumn - he was in orchestra the first year Dr. Bell-Hanson was there!

The next morning we got up for a high school exchange and our Rocky Point lunch gig. The high school was very impressive - they only have one person running the entire program which is thriving! They were the most behaved and enthralled high school group so far - I was very impressed that they were able to sit through the Mahler Adagietto and focus (it's a very intense piece to listen and play).

We departed for our Rocky Point lunch and concert. For those of you that don't know, the Rocky Point restaurant is currently owned by the Wangs - the same people that helped start and fund the Wang Center for Global Education back at PLU. I had a great time meeting and performing for such wonderful people. And the view was breathtaking.

Until later,

Nicole Laborte

Hey howdy hey y'all! It's yours truly, Devin Turner of the clarinets and stage crew for this trip! So since the internet was so horrible our first night in the hotel and I have no 3G/4G anything, I'll be combining two days in one post! YAY for double helpings for awesome!

So most my posts will be primarily pictures, but they're worth 1000 words anyway so here goes!

DAY 1 (Jan 27th)

The view from my window on the flight over.

My first question of the day: Why in the world is there a ash tray for a airplane bathroom that you're not supposed to smoke in?

In Oakland moments after settling in our hotels.

Waiting for the ferry to San Francisco

A very pensive Helene

We had some very titanic moments on the ferry, especially Nicole.

The ferry trail

Claire's super form emerged in San Fran

Francis wasn't a fan of the heavy wind.

One of many cool bridges in San Fancisco

Meanwhile…Robert couldn't resist taking selfies.

DAT skyline!

Enjoying some o' that wind action!

Getting to Pier 39

Pier 39 ceiling mirrors are fun

Alex wishes he were as cool as this lobster.

Probably one of the coolest things we came across at Pier 39 was the piano steps that actually played music on each step! We got way too excited to see these.

After the last game, 49ers hats aren't worth much. lawls!

A nice view of Alcatraz from the end of Pier 39

Diggin' the scene!

Daniel chillin' as Daniel does.

Yeah we were pooped...

China town had many interesting things to see, like awesome album artwork!

…and asian Legolas

This was awesome! At this place called Empress of China in China town they were selling woven asian art which look surprisingly 3D when up close! So much depth to each piece of art.

In San Fran's China town

Our spot for dinner

So the Daniel ate 1 red chili pepper straight,  I had 1 as well, and Alex had 3!!! It literally felt like fire.

Fun with the Chinese restaurant's round table spinner.

This is how it looks if you squint your eyes while in San Francisco at night.

This is how it looks when you don't.
P.S. that's the bridge from my pictures earlier.

DAY 2 (Jan 28th)

Day 2 was fun! We of course had to wake up at about 5:30am as I had to the night before last as well to get to the PLU on time to leave. We had an early breakfast and then headed to Irvington High to perform a short set for an exchange there which was an interesting way to wake up, and then immediately after  headed to Mission San Jose High School to perform another exchange! I have to say, I was very impressed with MSJHS's strings; they played quite lovely. After playing most our concert repertoire there for the high schoolers, we took a relieving sigh and headed out to Stanford University. It was beautiful and a nice casual chill out, but I'll just let the pictures do the talking.

Bellissima!

Never have you seen a more elegant pose from Daniel Kennett

Neither of them know where his shoes are.

After a satisfying lunch and bonding with more orchestra peeps, we headed to Grace Lutheran Church where we rehearsed, took it easy, and then performed probably my favorite run though of our whole concert so far. We were diggin' the Chabrier big time from the get go and the melodies were a'flowing.

This was Daniel and I's masterful clarinet set up! Bb & A clarinets in all their glory.

After our concert, the lady we home stayed with took us by Facebook Headquarters in Palo Alto. Twas' cool!

So ends a satisfyingly long post that I am posting way too late for my own good. Hope y'all enjoy. Now off to bed! Ciao!