wow...

Yesterday was quite an experience! April 20... His Holiness the Dalai Lama came to the University of Michigan and gave a lecture at Crisler Arena. Me and four other flutists got the chance to play the hour before the lecture started. It was so unreal!!!! It was crazy because a) the arena is HUGE b) we couldn't even hear each other playing anything and c) there were 8,000 people there. Anyway, it was worth the 1.5 hour wait before the show and going through tight security because I SHOOK THE DALAI LAMA'S HAND and MET HIM!!!! My roommate Jackie and our friend Elliot (who played Indian tabla for the show) and I had to leave early so we were planning on sitting behind the stage to hear his lecture for 30 min or so. We met this professor/provost/president of Indiana University and he told us that he'd introduce us to the Dalai Lama. We were a bit skeptical at first but when the Dalai Lama was ushered to the stage by the secret service, we were right there. His Holiness reached out his hand and so we all shook his hand. and the Indian man from IU introduced us to him telling him that we played him music before the lecture... and the Dalai Lama gave us a huge smile and (i think) said "oh how nice! thank you". It was so surreal!!! His face was so.. serene and there was this aura about him that was just... holy. I know it sounds really stupid but you had to be there. I wish i had a camera or something to capture the moment... sigh.

Hello!

I guess since I haven't updated in awhile I'd be stating the obvious if I said there's been so much going on in the past few weeks! I really hate the waiting part of the whole application process. It's quite agonizing and I feel like I'm not myself lately because I've been losing sleep. haha. Anyway...

First, my recital. It went pretty well I guess... and I'm really glad I got it done FIRST before my grad school auditions and everyone else's recital. I had so much fun playing different kinds of music... although the program itself was over 1 hour and 20 minutes. whoops. :) at least everything was around 1. 5 hours (the intermission was only 7 minutes or so).

Grad school auditions... first I had Umich, on a Friday (feb 15) then  I flew out to Pittsburgh for Carnegie Mellon the next day. The audition itself went really well so I'm crossing my fingers that I'll get in. Then right after my audition I flew to Boston and stayed with my friend Jason, who is this amazingggg violist getting his masters degree at NEC. I really liked Boston, and my audition was well received by all 5 flute faculty members. This poor guy who was auditioning before me for his undergrad lost/got his music stolen so I had to do my audition as soon as I arrived to the classroom. Blah... but I was nice enough to lend him some of my music. :) I came back to Ann Arbor on Monday night and flew out to Rochester (new york) for my Eastman audition on Thursday. I wish my audition went better... I played perfectly but I couldn't play from the heart... cheesy, I know, but the "me" essence wasn't really there. Personally, I didn't like Rochester (the city itself) and plus, the fire alarm went off in the Annex building while I was warming up so I stood outside in the cold (it was snowing) with my flute. It sucked. Oh well... The greatest part of it though, was that I got to see my middle/high school friend Becca who goes to Syracuse. She drove over an hour and a half to come see me in Rochester! We had something called Garbage Plates.... hahaha. It sounds disgusting but all it is is a plate with 2 hamburger patties, American cheese slices, onions, beans, french fries, and mayo pasta salad. You mix them all up and voila, an artery-clogging, heart-attack served on a plate meal for 6 dollars. Seriously, it was good though! Rochester is known for those garbage plates! Then we decided to go to the biggest mall around... which wasn't really that big. at all. It was deserted... granted it was a Thursday night but still...  we also went to Borders and Target. I guess our spontaneity inspired Bec to drive crazily on our outing but it was pretty fun. AND!  I finally had someone to share my enthusiasm and love for Target!! haha.
I went to Cincinnati the following day and had my audition at CCM. By then I was so tired of playing auditions that it kinda went ok. Personally, I could've done a lot better but hey, having 5 auditions in a span of 8 days is kind of tiring. I really like the teacher at CCM though. He reminds me a lot of my current teacher. I doubt I got in... I think in that one day, he had 10-minute audition slots from 10am to 9pm. something really crazy like that. I really liked the hotel I stayed at (the marriot hotel on campus) and it was so much fun hanging out with my best friend Jackie. It was so nice seeing a friendly face in such a foreign environment.... haha. We went out for amaaaaaaazing Indian food and then we saw Be Kind, Please Rewind. It was funny :D.

Have I mentioned that I hate waiting to hear back from colleges? I think I'm really jynxing myself by typing this on xanga... but still. I. Hate. Waiting.

Spring break was at the end of February... I know, it's not really spring but hey, a week off of school was quite nice. And it coincided with the end of my auditions at the beginning of break. so it was perfect! it was nice hanging out with the boy and I even got a haircut :). I cut 10 inches off my hair... so now it feels healthy again! haha. I saw Sue-Ting and her boyfriend Ed, and even Lauren! They're all friends from middle/high school and it was definitely nice catching up with them! It's so good to see friends from home :). It really felt like we hadn't really changed all too much these past 4 years in college.

I had a band concert last Friday... it went well... I got huge compliments after playing the Mendelssohn. I thought people would forget about that piece since we played that first before 2 difficult and big pieces. So that was really nice :)... I'm a lot more confident about my ensemble playing... thank god. I thought I'd never get over my fear of sounding like crap in a group. haha. Anyway, Mark Scatterday from Eastman came to conduct our concert. We played Karel Husa's Vivid Colors and Roberto Sierra's (arranged by M.ark Scatterday) Fandangos. The latter was probably one of the most difficult pieces for band I've ever played in. I feel like I had to BS most of those runs... but I bsed well enough I hope! Anyway, today was probably the most crappiest day. haha... I hate getting new music and having to "sight-read" during rehearsals. Ugh... it's always a nightmare, especially if no one knows the pieces.

I guess that's about it... I'll be quick (and excited) to update what grad school I decide to go in the near future. Yay!