My favourite things

Location can be everything and at the same time nothing. The elements of my life that are affected by where I'm living are completely different than I anticipated. I thought that it'd be a whole new me in a whole new country but then I started to notice my 'old' personality surfacing within the first few weeks. The things I thought would be so different feel so normal and those tiny little things I never thought I'd think about bubble to the surface at peculiar moments. The strangest thing however, is that everything here feels so familiar, that I sometimes I forget I'm even away at all. Isn't it funny how the Netherlands feels like it's just around the corner from Australia?

Here are a few highlights of the past month . . .

Going to the Grand Theatre in Amsterdam twice in one week!
Joeke, one of my percussion teachers, was kind enough to get me a ticket and take me down to Amsterdam to see 'L'Amour des Trois Oranges' by Prokofiev. I was lucky enough to poke about backstage beforehand and even meet some of the musicians from the orchestra and hang out with the cast of the opera - I was tempted to sneak into one of the dressing rooms, don a wig and sneak on stage, but decided I should resist - before taking my prime seat in the beautiful theatre.

Later in the week, I headed down to Amsterdam yet again, with my Australian friend Bella. We dressed up hopped on the train and enjoyed wonderful cocktails (made by yet another Australian in the Netherlands) before 'Romeo and Juliet' performed by the National Ballet.
Romeo and Juliet is one of my favourite ballets and Prokofiev's score is also one of my favourite pieces of music and takes me back to my childhood. It was on the CD of ballet music my mum always played in the car or that I listened to as I went to sleep, though I knew the tracks too well I would always wait for it to finish before I went to sleep.

"The boys" (3 of the percussionists at university) and I performed at the UMCG Hospital in Groningen. We had a small audience of music lovers and were broadcast across the entire hospital. It was such a fulfilling experience for me as I am always thinking about how to make live music accessible to everyone. Before I left I'd been discussing with some colleagues of 'Voyces' choir about doing something like this and I hope that when I return we can make this happen! If anyone has any other ideas or thoughts on this topic please let me know.

On Easter Sunday a big group of us from college decided to have an Easter feast, and boy did we feast! In the morning I made an Easter egg hunt for some of the girls and people cooked away in kitchens all day. It was so nice to have everyone showing such generosity and to share a beautiful meal together.

All my lessons are going well, my parents now have proof (via Skype) that I do actually have friends over here and the weather is warming up!

I love waking up on those days when you can just feel that spring is in the air. Everything seems to be buzzing and all of a sudden everyone is sitting out in the sun in t-shirts and shorts, smiling and waving at each other, just being thankful to be alive and have some long forgotten Vitamin D.

Off to enjoy the sun!
Lx

beautiful flowers from one of my performances
ragtimes at the hospital
outside the theatre in Amsterdam
the Easter feast (note my roast chook!)

No.3 - Winscho

Winschoterdiep 46, Room A21, 9723AC Groningen.

Winscho is the nick name given to the International student housing where I live and, I just LOVE it.

Winscho is so much fun and everyone here is just fantastic. People are literally from all over the world. You want to know someone from Brazil? Spain? Arab Emirates? Korea? Lithuania? Ireland? You got it. People come and go from winscho all the time and no one stays for more than a year, so there is a real sense of community and friendliness. Everyone is used to making new friends and accepting all of the newcomers.

I have met so many beautiful people since arriving here, all of whom are fun, generous people. There's a general sense of 'my door is always open' people are always coming and going from each others rooms. When you want time by yourself it's easy to just coop up in your room and then emerge and knock on a friends door to have some fun or just find a bit of silent company. These people are in your home, which creates forced intimacy and fast friendships. It's a bizarre feeling to walk past people in a towel, or straight out of bed. All of the things that you would do in the privacy of your own home but with a million people around. However, everyone does it, so there is no judgement if you have breakfast at 1pm or stay in your pajamas all day.

I am now completely used to having to take my toilet paper with me to the toilet, wandering around the corridors with bed hair, and taking my toiletries to the shower.

The only thing I haven't yet mastered is not singing in the shower. . . There's time, and for now people will have to deal with my absent minded humming and morning songs.

proof that i have friends

everyone deserves a birthday cake - kisch's 21st

blue sky, taken whilst cycling!

snowy night out

the americans!