Other Outings

You may be suspicious after reading previous posts that all we do around here is go off on outings and take silly pictures in public places:

That is simply not true.

I have in fact made an attempt to emphasize our more exciting moments, rather than the day-to-day studio stuff, in order spare you from blog posts like this:

Sunday - woke up, ran, practiced, went to bed

Monday - woke up, practiced, class, went to bed

Tuesday - woke up, grocery shopping, practiced, went to bed

Wednesday - woke up, ran, went to bed

Thursday - woke up, practiced, class, CRASHED HARD

etc.

Not thrilling.

So you can understand why there is a relatively high percentage of my pictures in which we are making bizarre faces in public.

Eh, guess that one's okay.

This one's definitely a bit bizarre.

And this one definitely is.

In any case, over the last couple of weeks we've had a couple of lovely outings.  First we went to London to pay a visit to Just Flutes in the morning and stop in at Wibb's RAM masterclass in the afternoon.  Just Flutes is a great shop in London (bet you can't guess what they sell) where I went to get a couple of torn pads fixed and So Yun selected an Arista headjoint for a friend at home in Korea.  Then we had a nice lunch at a Moroccan cafe and headed over to RAM (mind you, no one did any shopping on the way, especially not Ko-Yu and Jhen-Wei).

Rye, in East Sussex

The next weekend we went on an entirely non-flute related trip to Rye, which is a very pretty Elizabethan town on the coast about 30 minutes from Hastingleigh.  We had a look at the church, the town (including the house that author Henry James once lived in), had tea at a charming little tea shop, and even got a hint of spring!

Rye Church

Tutor style.  For real.

Henry James' house

And we even managed to take some proper pictures.

Just a quiet weekend in the country. . .

Two weeks ago, we were fortunate enough to accompany Trevor to a weekend seminar for flute teachers where he was the guest "lecturer."  The course was organized by Julie Wright, who is a wonderful teacher herself, and came to the studio in January to give us a class about teaching (bringing with her fresh pan au chocolat she had purchased in Paris that very morning - fantastic woman).  Julie kindly invited us along with Trevor to the flutes en vacances course in Wales, essentially to be the official "guinea pigs"/Vana Whites for Trevor's lectures, and to take advantage of all the good information on teaching. 

At Paddington Station, about to board our train to Newport, Wales (Kristin's mild euphoria brought to you by the latte you see clutched in her hand, her first in several weeks).

The unique part of the course was its location - an Elizabethan manor house in Wales, complete with the obligatory gardens, spacious rooms, secret passages, creaky floor boards, and (naturally) ghosts.  It was build back in the day by a man of middling importance in Henry VIII's employ, and is now owned by a family who rents it out to groups on retreats/seminars/etc like ours.

Treowen House, near Monmouth, the location of our teaching course, and also our accommodations.  The studio girls had the privilege of sharing a room in the attic, just like Mr. Rochester's loony wife!  (Actually, I think it's because we were the youngest members of the group by a good twenty years, so the powers-that-be probably figured if anybody was going to have to hot-foot it up and down five floors of 500 year-old stairs forty times a day, it should be us.)

Treowen House boasts many interesting features, but WiFi is not among them.  I had forgotten about this rather charming Elizabethan deficiency until we arrived at the house and I realized I had also forgotten to inform Bateman base-camp I would be absent for our usual Sunday night Skype date.  

In a pinch, I searched the house for the single available bar of cell reception to be found (which turned out could only be had by straining my neck at a very uncomfortable angle while awkwardly perched on my bed up in our house-top, mad-woman-in-the-attic quarters) and used my remaining credit to phone Renton, WA.  The conversation went something like this:

Kristin:  Hello, Mom?

Mom:  . . . . Kristin?  Why are you calling the house instead of the computer?  Oh god, are you okay, did something happen, did you get hurt, are you sick, what's wrong, why are you calling???

Kristin: Well I did trip over a big step in the house this morning because I forgot it was there, and I landed flat on my face and my ankle/pride are kinda sore, but other than that. . . 

Mom:  What?!  Where are you?!

Kristin:  Well, I forgot to tell you I'm in Wales.

Mom:  Wales?!  . . . . Did you intend to be in Wales?

Kristin:  . . . . No, Mom.  No, I've been abducted.

Our classroom for the weekend looked to be what was once one of Treowen's drawing rooms.

Jenny, Adrian and So Yun rehearse for our informal concert that night for our new teacher friends.  All this playing, however, is very disruptive to Jhen-Wei's nap (see pink mass on sofa in background)

We had a really good time participating in the classes that Trevor and Julie gave, and it was nice to get a chance to talk about teaching with a group who had a lot of experience.  They were interested to hear about how each of us had received our early training, which turned out not only to be quite different between the six of us, but also very different from the English system.  We also got to play lots of flute ensemble pieces arranged by Julie's business partner, Nick, (fun music for kids) and to goof around with great teaching tools and games like boomwhackers.

I think we managed to charm our way into the hearts of our teacher friends, who were especially fun (as most ladies-of-a-certain-age are) after they'd indulged in a glass of wine or two (or three or four).  Nick and Julie cooked us the most FABULOUS meals, for which we were very grateful, complete with elevensies and afternoon tea in the sitting room, and breakfast, lunch and dinner in Treowen's dinning room.   Really fun to get to know everyone else on the course that way.

Mingling

Model student

Modeling student

Four butt, four flute sofa!

The view from our "classroom."

The gardens were pretty great too, and besides a morning run which I managed to sneak in each day before the festivities got started, we also had a bit of time to explore the grounds around the house.

Trevor and So Yun walk with Joanna (right), a very nice Polish girl studying at the Brussels Conservatoire who we met on the course.

And in the midst of all this teaching and learning and eating and boomwhacking, you ask, did we find any time to "play" Downton Abbey?  You better believe it.
(Although next time, Jenny and Adrian, it's not my turn be the ugly sister.)

New Year, Frivolling in Canterbury, Fish & Chips, Birthdays, and a bit of snow

Here in the studio, 2012 has continued busily where 2011 left off, complete with guest masterclasses, excursions to London, Canterbury and Dungeness and, of course, our usual steady diet of practice and class.

 

We rang in the New Year after a curry dinner at Trevor and Dot's by visiting the local establishment, The Bowl Inn.   If I haven't mentioned it yet, the Bowl is a cozy little pub owned and operated by the cuddliest, most lovable, gigantic, Viking-like, bearded and tattooed ex-Hell's Angel biker you could wish for.  His name is "Big Ron" - it just doesn't get better than that.

The festivities at the Bowl that evening were pirate-themed, and since most of us had entirely neglected to pack our pirate gear (or just feared what might happen to it at customs), Big Ron was kind enough to lend us some.

I get into the Piratey spirit of things - in every sense of the word "spirit."  No, this seasonal cheer did not result in any ill-advised New Year's kissing.  It was all very sensible kissing.

After the New Year celebrations had been cleared up, we dutifully returned to our practice rooms, but were periodically allowed subsequent time out for good behavior.  Among our outings were:

A spot of shopping in Canterbury -

"Look how cute we are - please take us to Canterbury!"

      I know what you're thinking: "Kristin, that does not look like Canterbury.  Granted, I've never been to Canterbury, but I'm pretty sure it looks like you're still out in the middle of the countryside somewhere."  And you'd be right!  We ran into a spot of trouble when we showed up at the appointed spot (see above) to catch the the local Saturday morning  bus service to town.  Charming, right?  Turns out part of the charm is that sometimes the bus doesn't show up.  At all.

      Fortunately for us, and what you cannot see in the picture, the "bus stop" is opposite a block of renter houses, and just as we were about to give up on the bus and Canterbury, we were rescued by a very nice (looking) young man who happened to be taking out his trash at a very opportune moment.  He insisted on driving us to the station at Wye where we could take the train to Canterbury.  Very sweet of him - especially since he also afforded us the opportunity to speak to a real-live cute boy for a whole 15 minutes (sorry, Adrian, you know we love you!)

Fish & Chips at Dungeness on the coast -

No, we are not running toward the sea in hopes of escaping via the nearest boat to France.

And an "inning" to celebrate Ko-Yu's birthday -

The Birthday Girl and me . . . and Adrian.

The feast - Japanese "hot pot" style seafood soup.  An amazing creation where you take the raw ingredients you'd like in your soup (seafood, veg, noodles, etc) and cook in right at the table in a lovely simmering pot of broth.  YUM.

And at last, we even got a long expected bit of snow:

At the Old Dairy

If you look very hard, you can see So Yun and I trudging excitedly making our way to class through the new layer of snow.

Christmas! (yes yes, I know it's February)

So because I've been a very good girl and practicing furiously of late, I'll admit I've been somewhat lax as far as updating this blog is concerned (but you should hear my scales!)

Here, then, is an attempt to make up for my long absence from the blogisphere and update you all on life here in Elmsted over the past two months.

They of course included quite a few holidays.  I was very fortunate to enjoy a really lovely Christmas/New Year season with my English/Korean/Taiwanese/Australian/American friends.  We kicked things off with the annual Christmas Concert at Hastingleigh Church, where the six of us (together with a pianist and cellist) played a number of ensemble pieces to raise money for the restoration/upkeep of the church.

Rehearsing at the Old Dairy for the concert.

In the studio before heading down to the church for the concert.  So Yun is ready for her close up.

Jhen-Wei, Ko-Yu and I at the post-concert dinner.  The ladies of the village (or as Trevor calls them, "BVMs - Blessed Village Matriarchs) organize this dinner every year at the village hall.  And in case you were wondering, yes, I tried every dessert, and yes, they were all delicious.

Our Christmas with the Boxalls, who were kind enough to have us over a few days before Christmas after Robbie joined us for Ian Clarke's class at the studio.  I had my first taste of Christmas pud and some funky extended techniques all in one day!

Christmas Eve at the Old Dairy where the six of us had our own feast.  Jenny was a veritable Julia Child.

Christmas Day with Dot and Trevor - so much lovely food!!!!

Heading to the village on Boxing Day to see the Morris Dancing.

Participating in the Morris Dancing - I mean, with hunky dudes like this involved, who wouldn't?!

A bit of silliness on the way home - I think I was reenacting my spectacular Morris Dancing performance.

Happy Christmas, everyone, albeit a bit tardy!! 

Let's go Rome!

At the beginning of December, we went to Rome for five days to take in the Italian Flute Convention (Flautissimo - gotta love the name) and . . . because it's ROME.

At Flautissimo we heard Trevor give his "Carnival of Venice" show (in which he plays about as many flutes as you can think of, from the C flute to the bass flute, Chinese flutes and multiphonic flutes, electric flutes to a bicycle pump and a carrot - which he cores and tunes on stage).  We also heard recitals by Philippe Bernold, Juliette Hurel, Emily Beynon, Silvia Careddu and others.  And of course, I had a chance to partially resurrect some of my ancient Italian - enough to order pizza anyway. 

There are so many things I could say about our trip - probably boring both you and me - so since a picture is worth a thousand words (which I would inevitably give you) here are a few pictures to tell you all what we got up to in Rome:

On the plane

Off the plane

In the hotel room

Out of the hotel room

At the Pantheon

The Colosseum

Constantine's Arch

Monument to Vittorio Emmanuele II

The Vatican

The Spanish Steps

Central fountain at Piazza Navona

Trevi Fountain

Gotcha, Mr Serious!

So Yun's birthday dinner

Ladies who lunch

At the top of the Spanish Steps

Yep, I had a pretty good time.