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... ... ...