We are all doing well here in Sydney. The children are definitely enjoying their visit with families from the Queenwood school. It is a rough life when you can look out your windows and see the Sydney Harbour, or the Opera House.
Yesterday we had a great day playing with the Ladies of Our Lady of Mercy College. Thank you to Paul and Michaeli Witney for organizing our day there. We were able to attend classes, rehearse together and then play a concert for the rest of the school. It was a lovely day.
Today we will perform a couple concerts at Queenwood school, have a rehearsal with them, and then tonight we will play a formal concert in their lovely auditorium. It should be great.
We have certainly enjoyed Sydney...we have visited the beach (Manly Beach), ridden ferries across the harbor, visited the zoo among other things.
Tomorrow we are off to Canberra by way of the Opera House. Wahoo!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Concerts, concerts, concerts
Today we played 3 concerts.
We started by performing for the Newcastle Grammar School year 3 and 4 students, plus the preschoolers. Then we collaborated for a bit with those young players and worked up a couple of tunes to play for another concert at 11:45. Parents came to listen to that concert. A Newcastle newspaper reporter and photographer also came to listen. (we're hoping to make the front page. :) ) Then we had a bit of lunch with the Upper School students and we had a rehearsal in the Cathedral - where our evening concert was performed.
The Cathedral was AWESOME. It was beautiful. Everything sounded amazing. What a fabulous concert venue.
CJSers went home for dinner with their billets and came back to the Christ Church Cathedral for the evening concert. The concert began with the Newcastle Grammer Middle School orchestra - CJS actually sat in a played with them on one piece (we sightread it...it was a version of Mozart's 25th Symphony's 1st movement), then we listened to Newcastle's Upper School and the Hunter School for Performing Arts Orchestra. We performed 6 pieces - about a half an hour - and then we finished with the combined finale of Brittan's Sentimental Sarabande and Frolicsome Finale...and wow...it sounded amazing in that hall.
We have certainly felt welcomed here in Newcastle. Some CJSers have visited the beach, some have raced cars (on a miniature track), some played Wii...we're living the Australian life now.
But...the rain continues...maybe tomorrow the sun will start to shine.
We started by performing for the Newcastle Grammar School year 3 and 4 students, plus the preschoolers. Then we collaborated for a bit with those young players and worked up a couple of tunes to play for another concert at 11:45. Parents came to listen to that concert. A Newcastle newspaper reporter and photographer also came to listen. (we're hoping to make the front page. :) ) Then we had a bit of lunch with the Upper School students and we had a rehearsal in the Cathedral - where our evening concert was performed.
The Cathedral was AWESOME. It was beautiful. Everything sounded amazing. What a fabulous concert venue.
CJSers went home for dinner with their billets and came back to the Christ Church Cathedral for the evening concert. The concert began with the Newcastle Grammer Middle School orchestra - CJS actually sat in a played with them on one piece (we sightread it...it was a version of Mozart's 25th Symphony's 1st movement), then we listened to Newcastle's Upper School and the Hunter School for Performing Arts Orchestra. We performed 6 pieces - about a half an hour - and then we finished with the combined finale of Brittan's Sentimental Sarabande and Frolicsome Finale...and wow...it sounded amazing in that hall.
We have certainly felt welcomed here in Newcastle. Some CJSers have visited the beach, some have raced cars (on a miniature track), some played Wii...we're living the Australian life now.
But...the rain continues...maybe tomorrow the sun will start to shine.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, Oi, Oi!
We have arrived in Australia. We drove to Newcastle. Our children have gone home with their new billets. The adults enjoyed a lovely meal at Doan's friend, Ian Cook's home. And now we are finally ready to sleep.
Let's just say, we put the Fun in Whangerai. What a wonderful time we had in New Zealand. We must thank our tour guides - Yvonne and Budgie - and our bus drivers - Kitaro and Paul. We will miss you! We had a great time with them! And we have so many stories. Our Saturday evening concert was to a filled hall despite the heavy rain. We had no idea we would have such a great audience. We played the Organ Concerto, Tango, and Intermezzo...among others.
We must also thank our Whangerai billets. The kids had an amazing time. Though the weather on Saturday did not permit some activities, they still went mud sliding (John King, Luke and Danny), played lots of board games, visited the beach (Kerstin and Brittany), played cards, watched movies, checked out the flooding harbor...and of course sampled more New Zealand cuisine. Thank you Maria and everyone at Whangerai!
Anyway, we arrived on schedule at the Auckland airport only to find that our plane was delayed two hours. We had no trouble killing that time however...the shopping in the airport was excellent. When we arrived in Sydney we found more rain but our spirits were not dampened...we could see the opera house on our descent into the city (and then we got to drive across the Harbour Bridge en route to Newcastle.) Plus we were told by the customs officer at the Sydney Airport that we were the best group she has worked with. Our children were so polite and followed directions brilliantly. Plus we were the first Americans to come through claiming to have no food (food is not allowed to come through customs in Australia) and when the dog sniffed our bags...he found no food. Hooray for CJS!
Unfortunately or fortunately the Australian Wallabies beat the New Zealand All Blacks in the Rugby Game on Saturday night. We aren't sure which team to root for really.
We will miss the Kiwis, but Australia, here we come!
Let's just say, we put the Fun in Whangerai. What a wonderful time we had in New Zealand. We must thank our tour guides - Yvonne and Budgie - and our bus drivers - Kitaro and Paul. We will miss you! We had a great time with them! And we have so many stories. Our Saturday evening concert was to a filled hall despite the heavy rain. We had no idea we would have such a great audience. We played the Organ Concerto, Tango, and Intermezzo...among others.
We must also thank our Whangerai billets. The kids had an amazing time. Though the weather on Saturday did not permit some activities, they still went mud sliding (John King, Luke and Danny), played lots of board games, visited the beach (Kerstin and Brittany), played cards, watched movies, checked out the flooding harbor...and of course sampled more New Zealand cuisine. Thank you Maria and everyone at Whangerai!
Anyway, we arrived on schedule at the Auckland airport only to find that our plane was delayed two hours. We had no trouble killing that time however...the shopping in the airport was excellent. When we arrived in Sydney we found more rain but our spirits were not dampened...we could see the opera house on our descent into the city (and then we got to drive across the Harbour Bridge en route to Newcastle.) Plus we were told by the customs officer at the Sydney Airport that we were the best group she has worked with. Our children were so polite and followed directions brilliantly. Plus we were the first Americans to come through claiming to have no food (food is not allowed to come through customs in Australia) and when the dog sniffed our bags...he found no food. Hooray for CJS!
Unfortunately or fortunately the Australian Wallabies beat the New Zealand All Blacks in the Rugby Game on Saturday night. We aren't sure which team to root for really.
We will miss the Kiwis, but Australia, here we come!
Friday, July 25, 2008
The Whangerai Gale...
So today we've experienced a New Zealand Gale...or a very strong rain storm brought off the ocean. It has been a very wet day but our concert is on schedule for this evening at 7:00. The adults' trip to the Bay of Islands was rained out as well as the soccer and rugby games that the CJSers were supposed to attend with their billets...but all in all it has been a memorable day in Whangerei.
We had such a great time at the Kamo Intermediate school yesterday. Not only were we all taken around the school with student guides, but we were also entertained by the students' performance of traditional Maori songs and the Haka (the warrior's chant...performed the the New Zealand All Black rugby team before every game). Our kids performed a half hour concert for the students featuring: Rondeau, Paganini's Variations, Csardas, Pizzicato Polka, Cakewalk and Tchaikowsky's Serenade for Strings (mvmt. 4). We weren't sure how things would go as we had not played together for a week...but no worries...all was well!
The evening Sausage Sizzle and Rehearsal were interesting. We did work with the Whangerei students and conductor on the Moldau piece in preparation for this evening's concert and the CJS students did not disappoint musically or behavior-wise. They are fabulous kids and represent their families and their country brilliantly!
Enjoy your clear, sunny weather.
We had such a great time at the Kamo Intermediate school yesterday. Not only were we all taken around the school with student guides, but we were also entertained by the students' performance of traditional Maori songs and the Haka (the warrior's chant...performed the the New Zealand All Black rugby team before every game). Our kids performed a half hour concert for the students featuring: Rondeau, Paganini's Variations, Csardas, Pizzicato Polka, Cakewalk and Tchaikowsky's Serenade for Strings (mvmt. 4). We weren't sure how things would go as we had not played together for a week...but no worries...all was well!
The evening Sausage Sizzle and Rehearsal were interesting. We did work with the Whangerei students and conductor on the Moldau piece in preparation for this evening's concert and the CJS students did not disappoint musically or behavior-wise. They are fabulous kids and represent their families and their country brilliantly!
Enjoy your clear, sunny weather.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Off to Whangerei
We are here! Currently our CJS kids are eating lunch at Kamo Intermediate School with year 7 and year 8 students from New Zealand. We have spent time looking around the school, participating in classroom activities, playing games. We will play our concert for the entire school of 640 students in about a half an hour.
Last night the CJSers met their first billet hosts and they went home! Reports this morning were varied but all good. The best stories came from John King, Luke Lentini, and Danny Jung who jumped from hot tub to swimming pool to trampoline and back followed by video games. They had a blast. Whitney and Liz went possum hunting...literally. All the students enjoyed sampling New Zealand home-cooking. They ate broccoli with celery, poached eggs, new and different cereals. It was all very interesting.
Prior to our arrival in Whangerei, we stopped at Hobbiton and were entertained by stories of the filming of Lord of the Rings and we were amazed by the beautiful scenery we saw. Wow! It was gorgeous...we'll have pictures...lots of pictures. This morning before we came to the school we got another taste of the beautiful New Zealand countryside by visiting the Whangerei Falls. Wow again! Amazing. These Kiwis have been blessed with the most beautiful landscapes in the world!
So...off to our concert. We'll chat later.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Kia Ora!
Kia Ora is Maori for Hello, Goodday, All is well. We learned so much about Maori culture today but actually we started the day looking at a different side of New Zealand life.
After a lovely breakfast at the hotel we headed to the Agrodome where we were entertained by a sheep shearer who introduced us to 15 breed of sheep (my favorite is the Suffolk...but most of our group was partial to the Merino), showed us how to shear a sheep and milk a cow. In fact, Whitney and Bobbie Walker both got to milk the cow on stage. Then at the end of the show they brought out 4 little lambs and Matthias was able to give one a bottle. Good fun. We then watched one of their herding dogs herd sheep through the paddock followed by a demonstrating of carding the sheep's wool and turning it into thread. There were some fabulous sweaters, blankets and yarns to buy at the Agrodome. Don't be surprised if some of them found their way into our purchases!
After lunch in the town of Rotorua we headed to Te Puia - the home of the thermal activity in Rotorua. We saw geysers erupt, bubbling mud pools and learned a lot about Maori culture and history. The Maori are the native New Zealanders...well as of 900 AD. They are Polynesian and were noticing significant similarities between the Maori culture and the Hawaiian culture in our country.
In the evening we went to a Hangi Feast and Maori Welcoming Ceremony. We nominated Mr. Walker and Jon Welch as our chiefs and through the Maori warrior's reception of them, we were all welcomed in. We saw a Maori song and dance demonstration and then we ate a meal that was prepared in pits filled with white hot volcanic stones. Very tasty...especially the Pavlova for dessert!
Tomorrow we look forward to our visit to Hobbiton and our first night in billets/homestays!
Kia Ora and God be with you all!
After a lovely breakfast at the hotel we headed to the Agrodome where we were entertained by a sheep shearer who introduced us to 15 breed of sheep (my favorite is the Suffolk...but most of our group was partial to the Merino), showed us how to shear a sheep and milk a cow. In fact, Whitney and Bobbie Walker both got to milk the cow on stage. Then at the end of the show they brought out 4 little lambs and Matthias was able to give one a bottle. Good fun. We then watched one of their herding dogs herd sheep through the paddock followed by a demonstrating of carding the sheep's wool and turning it into thread. There were some fabulous sweaters, blankets and yarns to buy at the Agrodome. Don't be surprised if some of them found their way into our purchases!
After lunch in the town of Rotorua we headed to Te Puia - the home of the thermal activity in Rotorua. We saw geysers erupt, bubbling mud pools and learned a lot about Maori culture and history. The Maori are the native New Zealanders...well as of 900 AD. They are Polynesian and were noticing significant similarities between the Maori culture and the Hawaiian culture in our country.
In the evening we went to a Hangi Feast and Maori Welcoming Ceremony. We nominated Mr. Walker and Jon Welch as our chiefs and through the Maori warrior's reception of them, we were all welcomed in. We saw a Maori song and dance demonstration and then we ate a meal that was prepared in pits filled with white hot volcanic stones. Very tasty...especially the Pavlova for dessert!
Tomorrow we look forward to our visit to Hobbiton and our first night in billets/homestays!
Kia Ora and God be with you all!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
WE Have ARRIVED!!
After a smooth flight to LA with the best flight attendants we could ask for and a very long, but fine flight to Auckland, we have arrived. Everyone slept a bit on the almost 14 hour flight...though some not very much! (They are feeling it now - that's for sure!) We managed to gather cellos (which are all in fine shape) and almost all luggage (one bag was in a hurry to get to Australia...we're hoping it will still show up here in Rotorua tonight) and then we were off.
It has been raining off and on all day which does hinder some of the views of the amazing New Zealand countryside, but it is still very beautiful. We were all awed by what we saw in the gloworm caves...we were afraid we would miss out on the boat ride through the cave because of the high water, but we just made it.
We made a couple of stops in various NZ towns for lunch and pictures and then we arrived in Rotorua a town known by its distinct smell...Evan says it reminds him of his mom's meatloaf.
So now we're off to bed.
We hope to have some pictures up soon...
Cheerio!
It has been raining off and on all day which does hinder some of the views of the amazing New Zealand countryside, but it is still very beautiful. We were all awed by what we saw in the gloworm caves...we were afraid we would miss out on the boat ride through the cave because of the high water, but we just made it.
We made a couple of stops in various NZ towns for lunch and pictures and then we arrived in Rotorua a town known by its distinct smell...Evan says it reminds him of his mom's meatloaf.
So now we're off to bed.
We hope to have some pictures up soon...
Cheerio!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Goodbye Concert!
Thursday, July 17 at 7:00 PM in the Loveland Middle School auditorium...We will perform our music for the tour.
Then - less than 72 hours before we depart on our journeys! Happy Packing!
Then - less than 72 hours before we depart on our journeys! Happy Packing!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Uniforms!
Uniforms have arrived and they have been sorted. Be sure to bring your suitcase to camp on TUESDAY so that you can take your clothes home and start packing!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Camp is Coming!!
Our trip is getting closer and closer...less than 2 weeks! Next Monday (July 14) we will be having CJS Camp starting at 9:00 at the Loveland Intermediate School. Plan on having parents come at 2:30 for an Information Session from 2:30-4.
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