This Semester

Hi everyone,
I'm sorry that the blog postings are nowhere near as frequent as I had hoped. It is so hard for me to convey the contrast of my routine day-to-day normalcy with the random adventures or new sensations that pop out of nowhere. I guess what I mean by that is that every time I think I have something figured out, or get a little more comfortable in Asia, something completely new will jump out at me to remind me that I still have so much to learn. Every time I start to write, I end up stuck for several minutes trying to think of the right words to help share my experiences.

The other day I was walking around Clarke Quay, a kind of pseudo Disneyland in Singapore, waiting for my friends to meet up with me. I passed by the same bridge where I met so many people on the night of July 30th (which I described from my post on August 2). And looking at that same spot that I stood as a newcomer in Singapore, I said to myself, "Am I a different person now?"

The reassuring answer is that no, I am not a different person. I am still the same Leah with more variety of experiences to soak in. For example, last week I spent 30 minutes at Borders reading a book about Islam- don't worry, not because I'm thinking of converting :-p, but because I see so many Muslim people and deal with them on a weekly basis, but know so little about such a fundamental part of their life. It wasn't until I put the book down that I realized how odd I would have found it, even six months ago, to go to a bookstore to read about Islam.

However, I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to meet so many people from all over the world that give me cause to read about things I never needed to learn about in the past. Before I came here, I had never met a single person from Malaysia! Now I know several of them, and they are so "Westernized" in some respects that I constantly forget that most of them have never been to the US. I have a huge amount of respect though for my Malaysian friends- they all speak English, Malay, Chinese and Hokkien (a Chinese dialect). They are so hardworking and yet they still like to enjoy life.
At the beginning of this semester, I never would have predicted that I would feel comfortable hanging out as the only Caucasian in a Thai night club. My Thai friends are some of the funniest people I know. They can joke around for an hour straight, but they are still very sensitive people with generous hearts.
I go to sing karaoke with my Chinese classmates who, although they are so quiet in school, let loose and go crazy once they hear some pop music from their home! I watch my Persian friend's eyes light up as she talks about the beautiful nature, architecture and people of Iran. I chat with the children in my neighborhood who get so excited about the small (third-hand? forth-hand?) scooter they were given by their parents. I talk to people from Israel and learn about how difficult it is for them to travel to so many countries around the world because of their Israeli passport. I talk to Chinese and Indian friends who have the same problem.

So I talk to all these people, and learn from them, and what surprises me the most is that, even with all my ignorance, they think that I am the interesting one, because it seems to be every Asian's dream to go to the United States. But what makes me even happier is that we do not have to talk too much about where we are from; people are people, and instead we talk about music, other subjects, our life goals, or just have fun together.

Many people call Singapore "Asia for Beginners", I am a bit frustrated that there really arent' that many adventures to have Singapore, (and even if they were, school and teaching keep me so busy that i would not have time). However, the people who are here constantly keep me on my toes, and I love it.

My day-to-day life is nothing like the dreams I had of studying in a far away exotic place. Days clump together in routine, and things tend to get boring sometimes. My goal this semester has been to fix my technique- a daunting task anywhere, but especially when surrounded by Chinese violinists who can play Paganini caprices perfectly without even warming up. From the help of my teacher, lots of hard work, and some really amazingly patient classmates, my fingers have developed much more confidence! I ended my semester by performing Beethoven Sonata No. 1 for my studio class, and for the first time ever I did not doubt where my fingers were supposed to go, and for that reason I was much less nervous than I had been performing in the past. Because I was not worried about my technique I was able to focus on the music, which is the ultimate point of performing. I still have a long way to go, but I am excited to see where new revelations will lead me. Next semester I am preparing for my solo graduate recital and I also decided to audition for the sublist of Singapore Symphony Orchestra- even if I don't get accepted, the auditioning experience will be good!

Anyway, here are some highlights of my semester:

The Singapore Sun Festival: For 2 weeks in October, 7 Peabody students and 6 students from Guildhall school in London came to collaborate with the Yong Siew Toh Orchestra for the opening of the Singapore Sun Festival . Our orchestra played Peter and the Wolf with actor Geoffrey Rush, and accompanied the Vienna Boy's Choir and Kiri te Kanawa! I had an amazingly fun time with my friends from Peabody and YST. It was really my one time to be a tourist during the semester, and we did things like go to the Botanical Gardens, Chinatown, and even had a crazy night of karaoke!
Our orchestra rehearsing Peter and the Wolf with Geoffrey Rush. See me? :)

Girls in my studio before the Sun Festival Concert- from left to right, Zhao Yi, Chiaoyin, Qi Hong, Szuyun, and me. We all study with the same teacher and they've all been wonderful to me! Two of them are Taiwanese and 2 of them are Chinese.

Swans at the Botanic Gardens
Karaoke night!

Also, the Boston Brass came to our music school for a week long workshop. I know very little about brass, but I didn't need to know anything about the instruments in order to soak in their incredible musicianship and listen to them talk about making music, having musical careers, and professionalism. I learned so much from them, and was lucky enough to go out with them and some brass players to a hawker center (outdoor foodcourt) for a dinner after their brass concert at the school! And a feast it was- I think about 15 of us racked up a $500 bill, but it was so much fun!
Boston Brass at our school

Thanksgiving was a holiday that I was dreading. I thought I would be depressed, since in Singapore, Thanksgiving is just another Thursday. Luckily, I have a wonderful network of American friends here that refused to let Thanksgiving slip away! At our friend Rosie's place we prepared a full meal, complete with a 12-pound turkey and pumpkin pie! It was a warm and fuzzy night where we all realized how lucky we were to start off in a new place and make such great friends so quickly.
All of us around the table for Thansgiving
So much food!!


When I am not at school being a student, I am hopping onto trains all over Singapore to teach. I have 12 students now, ranging from age 4 to adult. I'm learning just as much if not more from being a teacher as I am from being a student, and it's a really special experience for me. I get so excited watching their progress- figuring out what suggestions click in their head and how to work with each student to get them to accomplish different things. Oh, and as an added plus I get to hear the song "Lightly Row" about 5 times per week :-p. One of my students- a 7 year old Malay girl- was so excited at her last lesson to play her songs with piano accompaniment, that she asked if we could schedule another lesson on her public holiday!

So hopefully this is enough to give you all a picture of my life here. I promise the updates will become shorter and more often- there is so much more I want to say right now , but I am leaving on a trip for THAILAND tomorrow morning, and I still need to finish packing!! Look for another posting around Christmas time. I hope everyone has very happy holidays! Say hi to the snow for me!

~Leah