Week Two

The next installment of my study abroad adventures is again being written in a café. I am sitting in café “milano” about a 15-minute walk from the Syracuse center in the middle of the student quarter. A break between lunchtime and theory has provided me with a perfect opportunity to catch up on my blog. The “greve” or the strike, due to the displeasure of the current economic situation has caused the trams to run less often today. This is my justification for not using this time to run back home or the conservatory to practice. So café exploration it is. My thé vert and carafe d’eau (green tea and class of water) provide perfect company for blog writing.

The rest of the Syracuse students arrived the following Wednesday. It was like deja-vu (literally translating to “already seen”) to see everyone unloading luggage and nervously speculating about his or her host families. I was excited to have more company, the music group is rather small and the center is quiet with only ten people. I said a quick hello, then rushed off to my first oboe lesson. I arrived at the conservatory, soaked my reeds and began pacing the hall nervously. Having known nothing about this man except for that one concert, I didn’t even have rumors about pedagogical techniques to go by. However, much to my relief, the lesson went well. Immediately upon entering, he complimented me on my audition CD and we began to small talk a little in French. I played the first movement of the Strauss Concerto for him and a Ferling etude. Because the reed making style in France is so different, he didn’t comment on my pitch level (slightly lower than his), my sound, or my reeds in general. Since reed making/critiquing is usually a good part of my lesson, it was a completely different (and more tiring) lesson to play the entire time. Interestingly enough, I understood what he was saying better than some of the conversations I’ve had with my host family. Perhaps, because I am more familiar with the subject of music. At the end of the lesson, he assigned the 2nd two movements of the Strauss (very hard and a good amount of work), and another Ferling.
I skipped home with relief and excitement.

The following day was more orientations for the rest of the students, and a presentation of the class options at the Center. For this, each professor teaching a class gave a little speech about the class and why we should take it. Completely different from the generic course descriptions. I really liked being able to hear the professor speak and ask questions; this gave us a much better feel for what the course would be like. After a quick lunch we had “official registration.” This was a rather chaotic, hectic, and slightly ambiguous experience, since 45 people had to register and only one teacher was registering us. However, everything worked out and everyone seems happy with their decisions.

While the rest of the Students had their walking tour of Strasbourg, the music students trekked to the conservatory to have a chamber music meeting. We arrived, and were met by the director of chamber music, and immediately informed that we had to play for him. This was completely unexpected and most of us were very rusty, since we had just traveled and were setting in, and furthermore hadn’t played yet that day because of morning orientations. He said it “wasn’t an audition, but just to get a general sense.” That was a bit hard to believe. Well we all took turns playing whatever we had on us or memorized, including scales, jazz improvisation and rock fiddling. I played a little bit of the Strauss, which apparently went ok, because I got put into a conservatory woodwind quintet who needed an oboe player. The director introduced me to Anne-Sophie, the flute player who was sitting quietly in the room. They talked rapidly in French, and I understood a few phrases like “she is good, she will be good for the group.” Etc. I was then given the oboe/EH part to the Nielsen quintet, and told that we would be playing it for her Conservatory chamber music exam in April.

That evening Livia invited me to go grocery shopping with her and her father in Germany. Why Germany you might ask? Well, apparently it is much less expensive, especially in the area of Gluten/Dairy free products. And it was most certainly the case. I saw things like quinoa and bread for half the price of the “petit magasin biologique” in Strasbourg. It was nice to know that there was both a convenient and more frugal option. The drive back was a bit slow, due a bit of European rush hour. However Livia taught me the word for “traffic jam” which is “button” (spelling?), and literally translates to “bottle cap”, signifying the traffic being stopped like a bottle cap preventing the liquid from escaping. This “buton” allowed us to engage in some small talk. Apparently the affinity for music runs in families in France as well. I asked Livia’s father about his work and he said “I play bassoon in the Philharmonique.”