Hi everyone! With less than a week to go it's getting to be crunch time! I feel silly writing in this before I leave, but I thought that I would answer some basic and very frequently asked questions-
If you know the answers already, feel free to skip over this entry and wait for the real good stuff when I post IN Singapore!
1) "Why Singapore?"
The very short answer to that question is that I found out about the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory from its exchange program with Peabody. I have been wanting to travel for a really long time now, so when I got the opportunity to go to Singapore, I decided that it would be the best thing for the trajectory of my career as well as for personal growth. The level of violin playing is extremely high in Asia, and I am looking forward to learning from the other violinists there. Hopefully I can keep up! :)
2) "What exactly are you doing in Singapore for 2 years?"
I will be pursuing a Graduate Performance Diploma from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory at the National University of Singapore. A Graduate Diploma has less classes than a Master's Degree and is more performance intensive, so basically I will be taking lessons and performing and practicing a lot!
3) "What language(s) do people speak in Singapore?"
The official languages are English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil. I will (supposedly) be able to get along fine just speaking English, but I hope to take a Mandarin class at NUS as well. In Singapore they also speak "Singlish"- a funny mix of all of the above languages!
4) "Who will be your violin teacher?"
I will be studying with Qian Zhou, and I am very excited!
5) "Do you know anyone in Singapore?"
I am lucky enough to know a handful of students from Yong Siew Toh Conservatory who spent a semester at Peabody. I am excited to be classmates with them again, and very grateful that they will help me to adjust to life on the other side of the world. Some of my relatives and friends have also told me of connections to people I may meet in Singapore. Finally, with the power of facebook taking over the world, I have met several people over the internet from all over the world who will be spending a semester or a year in Singapore. Hopefully we will all explore together!
6) "So are you excited???"
YESS!!!! And kind of really nervous :).
