Finally Snowing!

We got our first snowflakes yesterday (and it's been snowing off and on ever since), after what has been a quite wet winter. We had three days of chilly rain leading up to the snow (and some sleet and wind to make things extra nasty), so I'm actually quite glad it's snowing. It's much prettier than sleet. And, happily, so far I have had no transport problems despite the snow. When I lived in Germany this much snow would have completely shut down the buses and delayed or canceled the trains.

This sounds crazy, but I still don't really know what I'm doing for vacation. I'll probably spend some time in Munich, and maybe some time in Italy, and definitely some time here practicing. Only little problem with that plan is that they actually close the school for break, but I'll find a time that I don't annoy anyone and practice here or something.

I have a few classes this week still, but things are really starting to calm down. Which, honestly, is quite nice. It's been a chaotic couple of weeks. I've had a lot of extra lessons, and extra concerts.

Random things I haven't posted on my blog: I now have a swiss driver's license, I'm playing solo with an orchestra in May, and I actually did pass my first semester of French (which, honestly, is kind of surprising. I'm quite bad at it. But yes, I will take it again next semester. Now it's become a matter of pride that I don't give up and stay this bad at it). I've also put my facebook into latin. This really doesn't have a point, but it makes me smile.

One last random thing. I wrote a guest post for a another blog (which is amazing), which you can read here. It's about playlists I've made of horn music on spotify.

Winter Update

This is the official winter update!

I haven't managed to write a lot recently, because school and extra stuff have been keeping me really busy. French is still really hard (there are more irregular verbs than regular ones, really), and with three instruments to practice, I don't have a lot of free times (especially because organ isn't exactly portable, which makes finding times to practice even harder).

Niki and I are coming to the States this winter! We'll be in San Diego from January 27th to February 3rd, and in Fort Collins from February 3rd to the 10th. Sorry it's short, but it's really all we can manage around school. Some teachers appear to not understand the concept of vacation.

This has been the warmest winter in a really long time in Switzerland. It still hasn't snowed where I live (it finally started snowing in the mountains, which the ski areas really appreciate). We've mostly been getting cold rain and fog, which is lovely, as I'm sure you can imagine. Don't be too jealous.

I managed to write the first draft of a novel during my train time last month... I really miss the orchestra that was giving me all those hours on the train, although I don't miss the train as much. But those trips made me realize just how beautiful Switzerland is.

That's all for now!

How to become my favorite family member!!!

So, my Uncle Glen and Aunt Susan were in the area a few weeks ago (specifically, they were in Southern Germany, but that counts. We met in Konstanz, which is less than an hour from me). Coming and visiting me is one of the easiest ways to become my favorite family members ever.

And just in case you're wondering, we have lots and lots of fun. And there's chocolate. You know you're jealous. And thus want to come see me too.

Fall

I love when the weather finally starts to turn, when the leaves start to fall from the trees and crunch when you step on them, when the mornings are foggy and the air has a bite to it. I love the food of this season--all the soups, fondue and raclette, the pumpkins, the pomegranates and clementines (I don't actually like oranges, but for some reason this time of year I always eat a few clementines, they suddenly just sound good)... these are the mornings I drink hot apple cider instead of tea, looking out the window into the cold while my insides are toasty warm.

I seem to be able to get more done in the winter, find it easier to study, practice, and concentrate. Fall to me is really the beginning of winter, and winter is my season of books and languages, music listened to under the covers, and quiet. It's the season made for introverts.

In other news, school is now in full swing. I love all my classes, even French, which is giving me a true challenge, which is probably what makes it fun. I have an orchestra job right now on the other side of Switzerland, which means I'm spending a lot of time on trains. Today the total train time will be around four and a half hours. Next Sunday it will probably be seven hours.

My favorite aunt and uncle (Susan and Glen) were in the area this week, and I got to see them briefly in Konstanz (southern Germany). Why are they my favorite? Because I got to see them! It was good to have family around, even briefly. Hopefully a few pictures are coming soon.

That's all for now... Sorry the time between posts is a little absurd. As usual, I'm doing more than I should be this semester, but also as usual, I'm loving every second of it.

School!!!

I'm actually going to write a post, instead of being lazy and just posting pictures. This one shall be about school, which starts today.

My classes:

-Horn (self-explanatory)

-Natural Horn

-Horn Ensemble (sensing a theme??)

-Orchestra (two projects: Russian Music and Beethoven)

-Chamber Music

-Organ (threw you for a loop, didn't I?)

-Excerpts for Winds

-Body Awareness and Breathing (that sounds a bit strange translated...)

-French

-Bachelor Project (Independent)

It sounds like a lot when you make a list like that, but almost everything on that list is a weekly class. The Bachelor Project isn't even really a class, so much as a massive assignment that I have to do before next June. For this reason I will probably take it a little easier next semester, but we'll see (I tend to be rather bad at taking things easy. Technically speaking this semester I could not take four of those classes and still be fine in terms of credits and such).

Now, if we want to play which of these things is not like the other, there are two classes that might stick out a bit. Organ has nothing to do with horn (although as everyone at the church I played at yesterday will tell you, they're wicked awesome together). I'm taking Organ because I can (and because I finished piano last year and can't imagine life without a second instrument). If I like it and get good at it (who doesn't like playing an instrument that can shake buildings?), there is a good chance I can even make a little side money subbing for church organists and such.

And... French... yes, French. Two reasons I'm taking French. Reason number one is I feel like the only person in Switzerland who only speaks two languages. Being bilingual is kind of depressing, when your friends speak five languages fluently. So I've decided to take French. It's a useful language.

The second reason is a little more abstract. Since I started middle school, I've basically only dones things I know I can be good at. I already knew some german, so that was easy. I haven't taken a class that I know literally nothing about in ages, if ever. So this year, I'm going to. Trust me, I'm terrified.

So now for the Kathryn Challenge. Do something this semester that scares you. Take a new language, learn something that is seemingly unrelated to your life and everything you're good at. It might be kind of fun (or it might be miserable, we'll see).

That's all from this side of the pond (for now). I've been thinking about writing a series of posts about Switzerland and Germany and the differences between them (living, education, etc) and comparing to the US. Does that interest anyone? It would be easier to start if people asked me questions... so ask! Write comments! Something!

Italy, part 4: Arezzo and Siena

Arezzo and Sienna are both around 1 hour from Florence. Both are very old cities, and both have interesting summer competitions between the quarters of the city. In Sienna it's a horse race. In Arezzo it's a joust. I'm serious. Complete with lances and everything.

We shall begin in Arezzo.

Inside the main Church in Arezzo. The flags are for the city quarters.

Stained glass in the church

This is what remains of an old roman amphitheater.

A poster advertising the joust

The outfit...

And the practice

They don't actually joust each other, they score points based on where they hit the dummy

On to Sienna. Our favorite part of this city was the Duomo, the big church. Although our heads nearly exploded based on the amount of stuff present.

The Duomo

First view of the inside.

The alter

Everything in the church was decorated. This is a piece of the floor.

More floor

The ceiling of the library

This was a music library. Kathryn heaven.

Did I mention that the books were as big as I am?

Sienna was full of cute little streets!

And we were able to climb a tower near the church, for a good view. It was kind of windy...

My hair also enjoyed the wind.

View of the moon as we were leaving

That's all for Italy. Check back soon for school news!!!

Italy, part 3: Florence

So, I went back to Italy! This time with Cédric. Our main destination was Florence, but we made a few side trips as well (coming soon). Why Florence? I have no idea, ask Cédric. This trip was completely his idea, although we decided we would go on it while we were in Prague last year. Where will we go next year? I'm not sure.

The Ponte Vecchio (italian for old bridge)

Ponte Vecchio at sunset

Me, with a much newer bridge

The Duomo. This church was huge

Famous doors to the Baptistry of the Duomo

And what do you do with big churches? Climb them. Yes, we went to the top of that dome. :)

The Inside of the Dome

Looking down as we climbed. The bug like things are people

Florence from the top

Cédric and Kathryn

Lion statue (there were statues everywhere...)

Statue in one of the galleries

This is a Library. I want to live here (except the books are all somewhere safer now)

Gardens near the library

Pretty Mosaic

This is Peter the Pigeon. We became good friends.

The gardens for the biggest Medici Palace...

Imagine being able to get lost in your own garden!

Many street corners had shrines like this one

That's Dante. And beatrice, and her mother.

That's Beatrice's grave

We saw an awesome organ concert. This is the organ :)

One of the rooms in the old palace. The treaty that re-unified Italy was signed here

Map (extra points for anyone who can find Zürich on here)

Yeah, that's a ceiling... ... ...

Italy, part 2: Genova

Genova is where Niki's family lives. It's a sweet little city in northern Italy on the western coast. Genova is the home of focaccia, pesto, and Columbus. The air is pretty much always salty (my hair found this interesting...), and it was hot (but it's summer in Italy, so that's not really surprising).

Niki's family... look at all that pesto.....

This is Mimi... I'm totally in love with him, he's so cute!

Genova city center

OMG PESTO. Best. Pesto. Ever

Antonio Canova, The Magdalene

You wish you spoke sea turtle

I love the Mediterranean

It's so BLUE

At Portofino

Cute little houses...

And the bay....

And it was warm, really!

This is Paolo, the octopus

Ocean picture

My 300th gelato of the trip

My hair seemed to like the salt in it after my swim...