Ok, today (which was actually yesterday cause I started this blog and never finished it last night) was awesome. We started out by eating a yummy breakfast and then taking a tour of Tallinn. This was SO great because the weather was sunny and PERFECT. We saw many beautiful buildings, but most importantly, the Song Festival Grounds. Estonia is known for their HUGE singing efforts. Every 4 years, the Baltic citizens get together at this location to sing! This singing movement is what led to the independence of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. There are usually 15,000 participants, and there is room for 200,000 in the audience!! It was HUGE! So, we went there... and got to sing! Here are 2 videos of us singing in this VERY historic place!
Cantate Domino:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHtLDzNezkU
Jesus I Adore Thee:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81ZT8-Owu5s
After this tour, we were dropped off at the center of town called "Olde Town". There are many beautiful buildings, fun cafes, and great shops! We were then allowed to roam around for the rest of the day! Here are some pictures from this afternoon.
Also, we had senior night out... that was SO much fun! It was at a great restaurant with a traditional Estonian 3-course FEAST! Just delicious! So, tonight (which is actually a different day than I was just talking about... cause now it's the next day... if that makes sense??) we have another concert. I have been SUPER sick for the past 2-3 days, but thankfully the Lord has been speedily healing me, and I think I'll be able to sing my solo with just a little bit of a stuffy nose :) Tomorrow we leave for Finland... we're taking a ferry!!!
We went from "open the bus door!! It's HOT!!!" to "CLOSE THE BUS DOOR!!!! It's FREEZING!"
Hello! Well, I am in my third day of being in Estonia! A few days ago, we were in Tartu. We had a concert 2 nights ago and sang in their church on Sunday morning. The concert on Saturday night was AWESOME, but we didn't wear robes because we're still missing a box of them! It was INCREDIBLY mosquitoey too, and everyone was getting bitten up! 20 of us girls stayed in the seminary on Saturday night, which was basically like dorms. It was DISGUSTINGLY mosquitoey and one of the girls even got a bite on her lip! We took showers without towels, so we used our pillow cases to dry off... let's just say it was definitely an adventure. The hosts of the seminary were also difficult... they didn't speak any English (only Russian)!! They asked if any of us played piano or anything, so I sat down at the piano and had the 20 of us girls sing "Let Everything That Hath Breath" for them! They LOVED it!!
This is our friend that we made at this church. His name is Taivo and he spoke awesome English! 
On Sunday morning, the church service was all in Estonian! It was sooo weird!! I felt like I was in a dream! After the church service, we started heading to Narva, Estonia, which is right on the border of Russia. We didn't actually get to go to Russia because it's either $200 or $300 for a visa! However, we can see it! Last night was our last concert in a string of concerts that we've had, now we have a few days off. I had a bit of a sore throat, so I was pretty nervous about my solo! However, that piece has been going really well so far... one of the Estonian girls even video taped me on her phone during the church service on Sunday!
This is the church we sang in last night... it was ANCIENT! It was bombed during WWII and it's still being renovated. We were the first college choir to ever sing in this church! 
Today we drove to Tallinn, Estonia. On the way there, we stopped at Narva Castle, which was founded in 1256 under Danish rule. We saw Russia right across the river!!! It was incredibly windy, but BEAUTIFUL. I'm currently sitting in my hotel room in Tallinn with a VERY bad cold :( Thankfully we don't have any concerts for the next 2 days! I hope I can kick this one fast!
Here are some pictures from our castle adventures today:
Well, we are still in Riga (today is our last full day). We have been given until 3:30 this afternoon for free time! So, this morning we ate a nice breakfast at the hotel and then Shawn, Kurt, Barry, Dan, and I went wandering around the city. We stopped at an INCREDIBLE little tea house. It was basically a pretty small glass octagon in the middle of a beautiful park. The first level was where you smelled/ordered the tea, and then we climbed a spiral staircase to the top where we sat on the floor cushions. It was so fun! They brought our tea up on trays and we each got our own pot. Delicious and cheap :) After that, we wandered the city some more and did some shopping. I got a really unique amber ring for a great price. (side note: the Baltic countries are known for their amber. 80% of the world's amber is found here). We did a lot of walking after that, and stopped at a BIG market. We found a lot of fresh fruit, veggies, and meat there, along with some souvenir-ish things. After looking around for a while, Barry, Dan, and I walked back to the hotel for some rest before our first concert tonight!
Mr. Sawyer finally arrived at dinner last night, and all of our luggage (including Dr. Kolwinska's long-lost trombone) made it too... except for one choir robe box.. that will make for an interesting-looking concert tonight! We are singing a somewhat abbreviated concert tonight, so hopefully it won't wear us out TOO much.
Here are some pictures from dinner last night and our adventures today:
Beautiful ladies at dinner :)
It was suuuper mosquito-y last night when we were watching the boys play Killer Bunnies... sooo we grabbed our choir jackets and made turtlenecks look fashionable!
Tea time!
Our CRAZY time in the market... where Dan tried some pop that tasted like Tootsie Rolls!!
Well hello everyone! We have arrived in Riga! We didn't have ANY volcano issues at all, even though the Reyjavik (Iceland airport) was closed the day before we flew in. Thankfully, there were no delays or cancellations. Last night was basically a free night after we arrived at the hotel. Several people were missing their baggage, however, and some still are! Shaylee and I both have our luggage though :)
This morning, we had a great continental breakfast at our hotel that included a LOT of great fruit! After breakfast, we took a guided tour of Riga which was BEAUTIFUL! We saw a ton of VERY old buildings with lots of history behind them (got some great pics too... like this one!)
During our free time, we ate at a beautiful cafe with delicious pizza! After that, we went on a row boat ride!! It was only $4 for the 4 of us to ride... super fun! Here's a video of our chaos...
Tonight we have dinner together and then more free time... lots of free time in Riga... oh well. It's Latvia. Cool, right?
We have our first concert tomorrow night, and thankfully Mr. Sawyer is on his way (his dad had a stroke the night before we left, so he stayed until yesterday). I was pretty worried that I was going to have to conduct the concert because he wouldn't reach Latvia on time!
Well, that's about all I have for right now! Here are some of our funny quotes... I'm just writing them on here so I don't forget them :)
"Darba laiks" -- every door on any building
"Door! Shut your door!" -- Barry
"Flick the dicker" -- Shaylee, referring to the camera switch
"I can use it as an utter... i mean RUTTER!!" -- Barry rowing the boat
"Shaylee is having a TOTALLY BLAST in Latvia!" -- Shaylee's facebook status
Currently, I'm sitting in the Toyko airport... in the Delta Sky Club! Livin it up on spring break. That's how we roll!
This trip has been an incredible blessing to me. I cannot even begin to describe how many people have impacted my teaching life, my personal life, my spiritual life, and my musical life. I'm just NOW beginning to process everything from the trip. I'm sure that it will be a long process and that I won't even understand a lot of what has happened until much later in my life. However, I know that this trip has GREATLY impacted my life and my future. I have been opened to so much more and I have discovered that there is SO much more in this world than I had ever known. The students at this festival were BEYOND amazing. I had no clue that high school students could show so much appreciation and love for someone they just met! Not only were the students a blessing, but the faculty and staff that we worked with were outstanding. They were SO hospitable and never hesitant to hand their choirs over to us for a rehearsal. I can't thank them enough!!
The concert on Saturday night was unforgettable. The choir performed with such immaculate attention to detail and, more importantly, JOY in their hearts. I was so blessed!!
Here are some pictures of the incredible students that I met:
Our FABULOUS hosts for the week... we couldn't have done ANYTHING without them!!!
Have I said yet that I LOVE ASIA?! I love Hong Kong and I love everything about everything!!! It's just delightful and people are so nice!!
Tonight is our huge festival finale concert. The students have been SOOO well prepared and they are absolutely ready for this festival. I am so proud of my section!! yeah altos!!!!
Yesterday was a sight-seeing day and we had a BEAUTIFUL day of touring. So many great memories were made and great pictures were taken! We rode a train, boat, bus (where shaylee almost puked...), and car alllll in one day! Lots and lots and lots of rehearsing yesterday and today was just a run through of the program. It's going to be STELLAR!
Here are some pictures from yesterday!
Ok... today has been AWESOME!!! We have gotten to conduct several children's choirs today and they are responding VERY well!! It's so fun to connect with them... even though they struggle understanding a lot of American culture stuff. Anywho, I've been having a lot of fun with the kids at the school and the staff. They are SOOO hospitable and fun!
Also, there are some (and by some, I mean about 30) Yemen soccer players staying at our hotel and they honestly look at Shaylee and I like they have never seen a female before. it's absolutely hilarious. At breakfast this morning, they sat at tables next to ours and never stopped staring. Literally. It was SOOO funny!!
Here are some great pictures of us so far... I won't post all of them, but at least you can see some of our adventures! Also, I'll post some videos too!
This was a tank of fish at our hotel that you have to choose your fish from for dinner! gross!!!
This is all of us at the "Ladies' Market" in a pretty shady part of Hong Kong... but it's a market FULL of designer knockoffs... and we got to barter for EVERYTHING!!! (Oh yeah... and we got authentic bubble tea!!)
alright... sorry that I haven't been updating much... there is no free internet!!!! And, the battery on my computer is dying. ugh. So, I'll be posting pictures and videos when I get home. I am eating soooo much yucky food that I never thought I'd like, but I actually do like (sushi with crab, a fish with a head, wasabi, etc.) Anywho, the choir stuff has been REALLY taxing and a lot of work, but the kids love us and they're fabulous! We're at an incredible music school... with 7 levels and a kagillion music staff. It's awesome. Anywho, we're really tired after our delicious sushi meal, so it's bed time! Adios!
Yeah, as was expected, the time zone stuff is freeeeeaking us out. We're on a layover in the Tokyo airport in the very chic Delta Sky Club! Holy moly... talk about VIP treatment. We're ridin' high class.
So, the flight here was about 12 hours, but we took off almost an hour late. It wasn't actually too bad. I got a lot of quality reading and sleeping in. They even played the new Harry Potter movie!! Luxury. They served us asian food (kinda) on the flight and all of the announcements were in english and japanese! We got hot towels too!! I'm starting to love this... so yeah. Now we have about a 2 hour layover in Tokyo before our 4-5 hour plane ride to Hong Kong. That'll be a breeze compared to what we just went through.
Everyone here is already super friendly and we've only been in the airport for about 1/2 hour. That's about all I have to post for now because I've only been flying for the past 13 hours.
I'll post something when I'm a little more awake and 'with it.' Hope America is treating you well :)
Hello to all of my Hong Kong Travel Diary readers!!
Today (as my title clearly states), is my last day in America! The 4 of us "student conductors"/section leaders will be taking off with Mr. Sawyer tomorrow afternoon. I honestly cannot wait. I've been doing some research about the places to visit... I doubt that 9 days will be able to cover all of those places, especially with a choral festival to keep us busy. However, I keep thinking, "how often will I get to go to Hong Kong??!" Who cares if I'm tired and jet-lagged!! I want to get out and about asap so that I can see all there is to see and experience everything!
I'm a little nervous about being in a MASSIVE city that speaks an entirely different language without a tour guide or someone that knows the place, but that's part of the fun too. I think I just need to learn how to say "where is the American Embassy?" bahaha. Ok, but really. I can't concentrate in class today because all I am thinking about is "what if I forget to pack this? or this?" Therefore, I have several long lists. And by long, I mean LONG. It's great. Sorry professors, but China comes first today.
Ok, so on that note, I need to go study for my science mid-term... ugh. I'm a music major. I don't do science. Oh well. I'll leave you with a beautiful picture of what I will soon be seeing! Make sure to keep checking back on a daily basis to see updates of our Hong Kong adventures... hopefully complete with pictures and videos!
Well, it has certainly been too long since I have updated this thing. College life has returned... full swing. I can't believe how amazing this semester is compared to previous semesters. I have three classes, one of them being a night class that meets once a week for an hour and 1/2. The Lord is good! I have free afternoons (which has NEVER happened before), I can eat lunch, I can leave campus, and I can even accompany for voice lessons and make some money! Needless to say, today is one of my slack days, and I'm at Billy's Coffee Cafe right now, drinkin a nice iced mocha. Ahhh what a life.
This weekend is the Concerto-Aria competition. I'm SO excited to see my family (especially my sissy!!) and I'm excited to perform my aria! This will be some good preparation for my senior recital, which is just a few short weeks away... like 2 and 1/2. eesh. I'll be singing "Piangero la sorte mia" from Handel's opera Giulius Cesare yup. It'll be a good performance I think.
Soooo, how about the Bachelor last night? Yes, it's my guilty pleasure. It's just so fun to have a room full of 5-6 girls yelling at the TV, eating dinner, and chattering about cute outfits. We love having our family time on Monday nights... and we love Jake. One thing we don't like, however, is his choice of VIENNA staying around. Ugh. Get rid of the princess already. Choose Tenley!!! In other news, LOST starts tonight. My heart skips a beat just thinking about it. It's bittersweet. I almost don't want it to start yet cause it's the beginning of the end, and I want it to hold off for just a litttttle longer. But then again, I can't wait to see it. My roommates think I'm nuts. I'm sure there are plenty of LOST lovers out there though. Dear ABC: you have good programming on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Thank you!
One more thing: for College Choir tour, we're performing an arrangement of "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho" that Dr. Norris arranged a few years ago, and I get to play shofar!!! (yes, Emily, the same one as you... but he's rewriting the trumpet part for jazz trombone... interesting!)
I'm going to Hong Kong in T minus 3 weeks. CAN'T WAIT!!!!!! Does anyone know what the weather there is like this time of year?
Well, adios! Off to read some more Percy Jackson :)
Good gracious. I would rather have my wisdom teeth taken out again than finish this last semester of classes. There is no motivation for me to be here this semester! I only have a senior recital, which will be done in mid February. I'm taking Environmental Science (haaahahaha...), Christian Thought (which is the most exciting one... I'm so excited for this class, except the fact that it's at 7:50am. yuck.) and I'm taking Ed Ethics on Thursday nights. Honestly. How much more boring can my life get?! Oh yeah, I'm accompanying people for voice lessons, which will occupy some of my time. I just want to be back in Sioux Falls. I started to really love it there, then I just had to pick up and leave.
On a different note, I worked out tonight. Sooo refreshing to get back into the routine. I ran for 2 miles then got a crazy allergic reaction! Who knows what it was, but I ended up sneezing nonstop and just decided to come home and eat some cereal. I'm still sneezing. Gross.
Also, I got to sing "I've Been In the Storm" with College Choir today. It was a little rough because of my cold... and lack of singing classically due to wisdom teeth extraction. yeah. Hopefully it'll get better.
This Saturday I'm singing at the Roseville Jazz Blast... that'll be HUGE! I'm suuuuper excited... we're doing Summertime again!
Wahoo!!!
So, the Bachelor this season is VERY disappointing. I cannot believe OR agree with really any of the girls that they picked for the season!!! They're all models or fitness models and/or ditsy. What incredibly dense girls. So shallow and ugh. I can't even explain how frustrated I am!!!
At least Grey's starts this week. That oughta redeem it... maybe. And LOST starts on Feb 2. That's the one that I can't wait for. AT ALL. Well, this allergy thing is freaking me out. I think I'll try bed. G'night.
Hello all.
Wanna know what I've been doing for the past 4 (or more) days? Spending hours upon hours at Scooter's, researching for my program notes. Good gracious. I am ALMOST done though! If anyone happens to have any information about Paladilhe's "Psyche", I'd LOVE to have it. That's the only piece that I still don't know anything about. Next step? Getting 100% memorized. No biggie. It'll happen.
What else have I been up to... hm... not a ton. I have been getting to hang out with a lot of friends lately, which is SO great because I was definitely stuck in the house for 2 weeks. My wisdom teeth healing is going great and I'm pretty much back to normal. Still using the syringe to squirt out my wounds though :) gross.
Everyone needs to clear their schedules for tomorrow night and come to Firehouse at 7:00!! There shall be some good music, coffee, and prayer. What a great way to spend a Wednesday night :)
Welllll, I think I'm gonna call it a blog. That was it. Sorry it was soooo uneventful. Life has been fairly lame lately. That'll change. Keep reading!
Nat
Yes, the windchill IS -19. Gross. I'm in a sweater, hoodie, socks, and jeans, and i'm STILL freezing. Oh yeah. and a hat. Global warming my butt. Sorry Mr. Gore. Come up to Sioux Falls and visit the ice caps of the Falls.
I'm in an interesting mood, aren't I? I am currently listening to a Gaither Homecoming... the Ryman Gospel Reunion if you must know, (which, interestingly enough, is not out of the ordinary for me) and I am having a fairly boring night. I ate 2 slices of pizza in wisdom-tooth-recovery record time! Less than an episode of House Hunters. GO ME!
This morning was fun. I rehearsed with some guys from my church for a thing we're doing at Firehouse this week. We're doing some gooood music that I forgot about!! If you're in Sioux Falls, head on down to the Firehouse on Wednesday night at 7 for a good time (and maybe some coffee too).
Well, in the morning, I'm heading out for a giant road trip to Parkers Prairie, MN for Jamie's wedding! This will be quite the drive, but I'm glad I'll be getting to see some of my friends. I need some time out of this house!! It's been 2 blasted weeks.
Program note writing has been a doozy. Please let this be done sooooon.
Well folks, that's about all I have for today. Pretty lame, I know. But here's a video that I took of the blizzard to make this post all better.
Well hello everyone and welcome to the momentous "first blog". Let me tell ya... this is going to be one blog that you'll want to bookmark. My life might not be incredibly awesome, but it's certainly not boring.
First, let me update you on the biggest thrill of my life lately: loss of wisdom. I had my 4 wisdom teeth removed on Monday. My poor teeth were so scared, they were shakin' in their roots *insert laughter here*. But honestly, I was terrified. My sister can attest to that. Poor girl had to listen to me whining about how I hate having people dig in my mouth, how I was more scared for this than spinal surgery, how I would rather jump into the Sioux Falls than get teeth pulled (ok that one was a lie). But yeah. It ended up being (relatively) painless. I never used the prescribed medication, had little swelling, no bruising, and NO dry sockets!! I've been on solid food for a few days already and I'm pretty much back to normal functioning. It just takes me about twice as long to eat a normal meal. No biggie. And I am quite thankful for this ease because I'm singing in a wedding on Sunday! woo!
I am going to release a VERY rare picture of me, in my miserable state. This isn't even being posted on Facebook, folks (because I don't think every single one of my friends will read this, but they'll most likely see the picture in their facebook feed). Ok are you ready? Feel free to judge. It's pretty humorous. 
Ugh. There you have it. laugh it up.
In other news, I have been sitting at a coffee shop pretty much all day long writing and revising program notes for my senior recital! I'm sooo excited to perform, but SO excited to get it all over with!
Well, that's about all I have to spew right now. This is a bit like writing a Christmas letter... but every day. Weird. Anywho, keep reading! I'll try to post somewhat regularly!
Goodbye for now...
NatCrom