Naught Week

Another week has gone by, and what a busy one it was. Monday I met with both of my tutors for this term. My minor tutorial meeting was at 11am, at a coffee shop in a wonderful bookstore. Patrick Wadden is my tutor for Medieval History, and I can tell it is going to be wonderful. He's a hilarious Irishman who really knows his stuff. It's exciting, and very intimidating. He wants me to read my papers out loud to him, which is frightening. It means my paper quality has to be turned up an even bigger notch. To make it worse, tutorials are every other Monday at 10am. Baaaah.

That evening Karen and I met with our major tutor, David Stuart. We're taking the same tutorial (Medieval to Baroque Music), but we have different meeting times. David was also charming, and is a professional singer. He is in Hong Kong this weekend performing with one of the groups he is in. It sounds wonderful. I realize he will be a tremendous resource for me: informing me of performances, performance opportunities, and possible jobs for my later life. He, luckily, does not want us to read our papers aloud. It is the same system I am used to, only sped up. Instead of an 8 page paper due every other week, there is one every week. But it should not be so bad. I'm actually kind of excited about the first paper. It is about the beginning of notation, so the reading is dry, but it is overall very interesting. I've probably used the word “interesting” a bit too much, but it is the only word I think suffices, no matter what Dr. Horne would think.
My first real tutorial is next Wednesday night, making my paper due at noon on Tuesday. If this trend continues, it means the beginning of my weeks will be crazy, but the ends will be calm. Wednesday will probably become my ultimate goof-off day, where I go shopping or just lay around and do nothing. It is good to have at least one day like that a week.

Once a real trend emerges, I will probably travel a bit, which gets me really excited. Next month sometime Karen, her sister, probably Meghan and I are making a journey to Canterbury. It is one of the places I am most excited for. There isn't much in Canterbury (except for the kick-ass Evensong), but I want to go just for the allure of the name. It is one of the quint-essential Medieval towns (and the town that the Kansas City Renaissance Festival is based in), and I could not be more excited. Some time this term, though it might get pushed to the next one, I'd like to go to the Netherlands to visit my friend Eva. She was a German foreign exchange student when I was in high school, and we have still remained friends, though the contact has slowed through the years.

On a side note, I am auditioning for a church choir tomorrow: St. Michael's at the Northgate. The church is housed in the Saxon tower in Oxford (the oldest building of over 1000 years of age!), and the choir was fantastic. I'm really hoping to get in, even though finding a replacement for term breaks could be stressful. But, I can worry about that when term comes to a close. First, I have to worry about singing two songs, and sight-reading four others. Ahhhh! Crazy! If I don't make it in, I have no idea what I will do, but I will find something. I really need to join a choir, because it forces me to practice my voice. I cannot always trust myself to go practice solo work, but I can promise myself to sing in choir. And that will do for now.

PS: I got a package from my mom. Mountain Dew and sugary cereal have been acquired.