First post - the post that hurts the most.

(only fans of the Mighty Boosh will get that reference, and I congratulate you on your being really cool if you do)

I suppose this is a welcome post to this whole new thing going on called my life, which to my befuddlement, many of you seem to be interested in. So, that's nice.

As most of you probably know, I am from a rural part of California known for green plants such as Redwood trees and marijuana. You may also know that I have recently graduated with my BA in Music Education (and a minor in Geography that I am very proud of - a wonderful subject!) and in about two weeks time, I will begin the Music MA program at the University of Bristol, located in Bristol, England.

If you had told me that this would be my life a few years ago, I probably would've written you off as a lunatic or something along those lines. But in reality, you never know what's going to happen, so maybe the lesson here is to never underestimate yourself? (Though it is a nice surprise when good things happen if you do happen to underestimate yourself...)

So after spending my 22 years in Humboldt County, I have finally arrived in the land of Arthurian legend, Marmite, and brass bands. 

Travelling:  SF - London =10 hour flight. It wasn't bad though. I sat next to a girl from Brighton who was going back to university, and another girl who was about to go back on exchange to UCL from Duke. No plane food for me - I brought a sandwich from the best sandwich place in the history of sandwiches - Ike's Place. The next time you are in the Bay Area, go to one of Ike's 7(?) locations.  Pretty sure it's the best thing I've ever eaten in my life. Seriously.

Going through the UK border was much simpler than I was anticipating. I showed my passport and acceptance letter from Bristol, the officer stamped my passport, gave me a smile and said, "Good luck princess!!" 

And that was the moment I knew I was in England.

Nobody in the States says anything like that.

I picked up my 48.3 lb bag from the carousel and found my way to the Underground/Tube. I have to say, escalators are tricky with two very large and heavy bags, but thankfully, there were about 4 or 5 gentlemen that helped me out along the way, and without my even asking! I stayed at a hostel in Piccadilly, right in the center of everything exciting in London. Trafalgar Square was a 5 minute walk, and so was St James Park. 

This pelican was about the size of 6 basketballs put together. 

I was reading in the park, and it walked right over to me, sat down, and fell asleep.

I ended up doing a few nice things in London (the National Gallery, the British Museum, Hyde Park). I saw a concert by a few LSO brass players, and went to St Martins-in-the-Field to see a Bach concert by the Trafalgar Sinfonia. Mostly though, I wandered around, admiring the architecture and spending too much money taking the Tube all over the place. Of course I went up to Abbey Road and Cavendish Avenue. Twice.  

Life in Somerset (for me at least!): 

I don't think you could ever get bored of London, I was getting a tad lonely, so when Saturday rolled around I was more than happy to lug my bags back onto the Tube and head to Paddington station, where I caught a train to Bath, located in the county of Somerset, about 40 miles south of Bristol. After a journey filled with reading and staring out the window, the train pulled into Bath Spa an hour and a half later. There I was greeted by Steve and Jo Sykes; Steve is, among other things, the tuba teacher at UoB, and his wife Jo is a local music teacher and director of the Midsomer Norton and Radstock Silver Band, a traditional British brass band that I will be playing with in the National Brass Band Championships.

The wonderful people with the Midsomer Norton and Radstock Silver Band have been terribly gracious; they set me up with a place to stay, and have even organized hosts to show me around the area for the whole week! I am staying with Tom, a very good 13 y/o trombone player. His family consists of some of the nicest people I've ever met. Tom is quite goofy, so it should probably be obvious that we get along well. 

Food:

Being a bit of a foodie, I have been most interested in going to the grocery stores to see what food is common in a typical English diet. There is lots of meat (no good to me since I don't eat it), potatoes (duh!), lots of tarts, pasties, cakes, biscuits, and lots and lots of dairy. Cheese, cream cheese, cream, double cream, clotted cream, whipping cream, ice cream, butter, custard, yogurt, pudding, milk...anything you can do with dairy, they do. (I cannot imagine being a vegan in this country!) 
I had cream for the first time the other, night on top of an apple tart for dessert (aka 'pudding' or 'afters') and it was pretty delicious. I have yet to have clotted cream, but apparently if you put it on top of ice cream, it creates a hard layer where the two meet and it's supposed to be very yummy. (I think my arteries hardened as I typed that sentence...and although I don't think I'd ever really want to eat that, I am here to learn and embrace British culture, I guess I'll have to try that at some point.)

They say 'bits' for everything, like us Americans would say 'stuff'. 

So here is some orange juice, with no bits.

- - - Peanut Butter.
One that has become a joke around the band is peanut butter. While on a shopping trip with my lovely host Jane, she asked what I liked to eat. I listed off various things, and one of those things was peanut butter. She asked what I used it for ... so I said, "In oatmeal (porridge!), with apples, bananas, celery, pancakes, toast with honey..."

You should have seen the look on her face. 

She was absolutely horrified.

Horrified at the idea that PB would go with anything sweet...and this took ME by surprise. Being the good American I am, I grew up eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It is an every day, normal, common to have.

Me:     "What, you've never had a pb&j before?"
Jane:   "What's a pb&j?"
Me:     "..."

Shocked!! 
If you were to ask any child in America what's in their lunchbox, there is no doubt in my mind that a good 80% of them would say pb&j.  So I explained what a pb&j was, and received the same horrified reaction as before.

I asked her if she'd ever had Reese's. Yet again, it was "No, what's that?"  

Well, I had to get her a Reese's. After lots of searching with no luck, a very nice man appeared as we were walking up to the checkout with a package of Reese's (which come in three's here!). 

Jane was going to try Reese's, I was determined to convince her that peanut butter goes with everything sweet things. When we got back to the house, I made Tom try it. He didn't like it...but his brother wouldn't even look at it. Jane bravely ate the rest of Tom's half. And, as any sensible person would, liked it! Ha, success!!

I have been asking people around the band whether or not they knew what a pb&j was...sadly, it seems as if the poor people of Britain have been deprived of this culinary masterpiece (okay, that's an overstatement, but...still). They've never heard of it. They don't know what it stands for. Most people don't even like peanut butter on it's own. 

What I'm saying here, is that I've got some work to do. I'm determined to get them hooked. Soon enough everyone in Somerset will be eating peanut butter like they drink cider.

MN&RSB
The National Brass Band Championships. I stumbled upon this opportunity after emailing Steve earlier in the year to tell him that I'd like to take a few lessons from him and that I'd like ot get involved with brass bands. He replied, and long story short, I'm playing with his wife's band on Saturday in the Finals.

You may be asking yourself, "Self, how did she ever get so lucky?!" (ha, there's a Gil joke for y'all!)   and believe me, I ask myself that very same question every. single. day. And I still have no idea. 

The brass band championships are very unique to Britain (although the groups have spread to the US, Australia, and parts of Europe, it's really in the UK, where they originated, that they are strongest). The very basics are as follows: groups from various sections of the UK, who've won local/regional contests, come together to compete for bragging rights, glory, and of course, money! There are 5 different sections of bands - 4th through Championship - and each section has its own test piece. Every band within that section plays the same selected piece, and the judges compare the groups based purely on the sounds that they hear (they are stuck in a tent so they can't see the group and be biased!). At the end of the day the results are given. Bands then either feel disappointed, confused or angry, surprised, and for winners, ecstatic. 
Either way I'm pretty sure they make their way to the pub. At least that's what I've heard...

Because we only have to learn one piece, it means that we get to pick it apart, section by section, note by note. I don't mind though, it's all a part of the experience, and if it gets the group a prize and some bragging rights, well, that's even better.

It feels good to play music again, and after all, that is why I am here in the first place. The first rehearsal was Sunday from 12:30 to 5 (They say half twelve - no one uses numbers like twelve-thirty - it's either "Pick you up at half ten, or quarter to?")

A few things I've noted: 
- In Humboldt Bay Brass Band, our version of forte is their version of mezzo forte. They are LOUD...and I was warned about this, but I must not have believed it enough.
 - Real British basses (tubas) are GINORMOUS. So much bigger than any of those German ones I'm used to! I can't reach the mouthpipe - it's too tall - so I have to have a stand to lower the whole thing. The fourth valve is located across the horn, and I have to be in a slightly awkward position because my arm just barely reaches. (I think I'll have to switch to Eb after this...)
 - Whole note=semibreve. Half note=minim. Quarter note=crotchet. Eighth note=quaver. Sixteenth note=semiquaver. Thirtysecond note=demisemiquaver.  Half step=semitone. Whole step=one tone.
(It takes me a second to translate and it still sounds funny, but I have adjusted nicely.)
 - I feel at the moment that I sound like absolute sh!t, and I am a little embarrassed. Even though Steve and Jo are very friendly and down-to-earth, I am utterly intimidated by the both of them; they are both excellent musicians who demand the best from everyone. Not knowing what they're expecting from me scares the living daylights out of me. I already feel inadequate. (I always feel like that though. I still feel inadequate/inferior/stupid/what-have-you when I play in front of Fred, Dan, or Gil. I don't think I'll ever feel as if I'm good enough for anybody. Ah well, so it goes.)
 - Playing music is incredible. For me to leave my country and travel 8,000 miles away from home, only to sit down and make wonderful music with people I've never even met...I can't think of many other things that work like that. Music is amazing. 

More posts to follow!