My phone dinged with a text from Andrew at 6:44 am. He was letting me know he was at the airport, courtesy of a ride from his sister, and would text again when he landed.
When he applied for a spot at Chosen Vale International Percussion Seminar, way back in January, I didn’t give it a second thought. But, apparently, it’s a big deal. At least he thinks so. All I know is it cost a $$gazillion dollars and has stressed him out this summer preparing music for it. I think that is a musician’s trait to stress out so much.
The seminar is being held in New Hampshire at this place. He has been there for a week now and it’s a two-week ordeal. The first few days he said he has never been so hot. There is no air conditioning in the buildings they are in because they are kept as authentic as possible. They had to sleep with the windows open and a fan going all night which didn’t help much at all. I expected him to have cooler weather than we have here in Florida or he has in Tennessee, but evidently, they are experimenting a heat wave. This week it has finally cooled off again and he said it’s actually chilly.
When he told me he had to be up early one morning because he had breakfast duty to wash dishes, I questioned why, after paying that amount of money to attend, he had to do dishes. They have to each pitch in a couple of times and he drew breakfast both times. He said, “on the bright side, not as many people get up for breakfast so there will be less dishes to wash.” Smart boy!
This afternoon he said he has eaten more chickpeas this week than he can handle. I don’t think I’ve ever had chickpeas except maybe in soup. I guess I won’t be cooking chickpeas when he stops here next week on his way to work a band camp in central Florida!
I’m glad he has the opportunity in his higher education to experience different cultures, meet new people in his field of interest, and work side by side with great musicians. And let’s not forget, he’s even learned to do dishes!
He should graduate in the spring of 2019 with his masters in music performance and intends to continue his education farther. I’ve decided he’s going to be a professional student, but the pay isn’t very good!
Posted in Family, My Dribbles and tagged chickpeas, Chosen Vale International Percussion Seminar, Enfield Shaker Museum, great experience, heat wave, higher education, kitchen duty, no air conditioning. Bookmark the permalink.