Things are starting to settle down for me in Singapore- there are less surprises every week, and after 6-7 weeks (the fact that I've lost count is a good sign, hehe!) I'm starting to feel somewhat like I belong here.

This post is mainly going to be about violin because, for better or worse, violin has become my life while I'm here!

In the past 2 weeks since I've written I've basically been living at the music school. I leave at 9:30 in the morning, have a leisurely breakfast at school, and then do my morning warm-up routine (about 1 hour of scales and technique practice). Then the rest of the day, depending on what day of the week it is, will consist of more practicing, rehearsals (chamber or orch), violin lesson, or hanging out with some of my lovely new friends at school. I usually get home sometime between 10pm- midnight and crash for the next day.

It feels funny for me to be at the music school for so many hours in a day, but the workaholic atmosphere here is rubbing off on me to the point that I always feel guilty if I am not working as hard as those around me. The practicing is definitely paying off though, because I have received some great feedback from those around me. I've been able to play and perform at a higher level than I was able to even a month ago, thanks to the incredible influence of my private teacher, chamber coach, and peers. The great thing is I am ENJOYING the practicing the performing too, and I'm so happy that music never becomes a drag.

The next few weeks are going to be crazy~ I have a string quartet performance on September 30th, a solo performance on October 10, and I'm playing in the sun festival in Singapore with selected members of the orchestra on October 18th. And I leave for Vietnam today, so I must keep this short!

Since I don't have time to upload photos to the blog, here is the link to my facebook album which shows some of what I have been up to lately!
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2072967&l=198c8&id=5401136

~Leah