8 Days of class and my first experience with "foot-ball"

Alright,

It's been 8 days since the bell rang here in Manchester, and I am finally starting to find out where everything is. One bad thing - I woke up today and our fridge (our teeny-tiny fridge for 4 people, mind you) broke. So, they came up to "fix it." That definitely didn't work. I am not sure why they just can't go buy another one - they had to order another one. The service man, who was quite nice, said that he would have one for us in a couple of days. Now, most of you will be asking yourself "what about all of the food in the fridge?" That is a great question. They gave us a key to one of the guest rooms on the top floor of the dorm so we can store our food in that fridge. So, now when we wake up in the morning we have to go up 2 flights of stairs and down the hallway to get the milk. Oh well - another thing to add to the list of "dumb things about Britain." Just kidding, there has been very little that I haven't liked about my new surrounding.

Last week on Thursday I had the chance to see the Halle Orchestra, which is said to be the finest orchestra in the UK. I thought that London Symphony, but people tell me that right now - they are it. They performed Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 (Bach), and Mahler's 5th Symphony. Anyone who knows about Mahler knows that he wrote incredibly taxing and hard parts for the orchestra and the 5th Symphony is one of the longest pieces in the orchestral repertoire. It weighs in at 75 minutes of glory. It was spectacular, though. The musicians did get a bit tired toward the end, but who can blame them for that one. I said before that the last concert was one of the best live performances, but this one was even better. Definitely beat the Kansas City Symphony out of the water. ;)

The weekend was filled with rest/relaxation/and practice. I had some pretty good sessions in the practice room - which I am taking a break from right now. My excerpts for the Coast Guard and Navy auditions are getting better (I will definitely be ready to play something else when I get back, though) and hopefully good things will happen in 10 days.

I had my first experience with European Football on Sunday. I spent the day with my flatmates at the Trafford Centre, which is basically a very large shopping mall. However, Manchester United was playing a home game and you have to drive by it on the way to and from the Trafford Centre to get back to the RNCM. Needless to say, there were some very large, very drunk, very smelly men on the bus on the ride back that had "had a few." Oh well.

This week is getting off to a good start though. If you hadn't noticed, the website is a different color now. I felt like we needed a small change, and you can get to the BLOG directly by clicking on the link the says BLOG on the homepage. No more needing to go to the NEWS section. A few more cool things for the music crowd. Soon, you will be able to purchase the FUNDAMENTAL MUSIC series from Tormod Flaten, and the EUPHONIUM VIRTUOSO collection from Steven Mead right here at patstuckemeyer.com. I feel that these are 2 great lines of music that need an outlet in the US - and now we have it! Look for more info! For those that have no interest in the music, but your interest in me - thanks for all of your cards and emails! It has been a great trip so far, but I miss you all! More pictures soon, I promise!