29/11/04

Anyone experience a full day of teaching? I did it today. Well, the students are quite interesting. They play good music!!. Erm but not much emotions. What emotions can you expect from Primary School kids? Anyway, they are very good in their technical aspects.

Today is their start of their 3 day camp (overnight only at the 2nd day). They gonna have to put up a performance on the last day of this camp to their parents. The recruits are going to play Mary had a little lamp (one song only hee), while the Seniors and Juniors are going to play 3 songs. I was mainly assigned to teach the recruits. I have to make sure they start together, tongue together, breathe together, sound together.

As you expect, the recruits are all primary 2 to 3 students, and I have to tackle them. Wow, to my surprise, one of the trumpeter actually challenged me. Perhaps I shouldn't view it that way but he is really cocky (proud). I was teaching the brasses to slur notes on a degree of a major 2nd, and I got bombed by him haha. "Cher, take out the instrument and see if you can do it or not." Thats what he said. Forced me to take out my mouthpiece, and I buzzed everything he wanted me to do. Couldn't stand his thinking haha. He need to be taught some lessons. So, whatever he wanted me to do, I did it in the normal tempo, and then doubled the tempo in my second try. Watching the kids' eyes enlarge in shock is just a delight haha, especially the one who challenged me. "Just practice hard and you can do it." Thats what I replied.

From all these teaching, you can really see that some kids are really difficult to handle, and you can lose your voice easily. Even for my voice, I feel a bit sore at the end of the day (I have known to have a very loud voice). When I was taking the senior brass section for sectionals for the 3 songs, I sang some of the parts to demonstrate how they should play it. Guess what.... the trombone girls just laughed at me... because they couldn't stand my opera-tic singing style. I always do that haha.

Tomorrow I'm gonna handle the recuits all by myself because my teacher (the main instructor. I'm only assistant) will not be coming tomorrow morning. I have to rehearse the actual movement with the recruits. The movements include, moving onto the stage, sitting down, instrument up, play, instrument down, stand, bow, move out. No conductor will be on stage with the recruits!!. Auto Pilot. How horrifying... for them.

Oh ya, I forgotten to write something to yesterday's blog. Remember I went to westmall for Ice Kachang? In the food court, I saw something that you would not usually find in a food court. Guess?? Its a BIRD. omg. what is a bird doing in the food court? And the food court is on the 4th level of the shopping mall. Thats pretty amazing for a bird. But it can't get out. I wonder if anyone is going to get it out. It was raining heavily, so maybe its hiding in the mall, and it got hungry, so it went to the food court. Imagine that if everything went bonkers, and the birds are having their meals in the food court. FAint!!

Ok enough for today. Gonna rest for another day of shouting hahaa.

Slice of Life

"Different Boats, Same Destination

The true beginning of life is when we realise the certainty of death.

The unpredictability of its coming. And the possible cruelty and injustice of its manner.

Physical life is but a spontaneous, instinctive, almost mindless phenomenon. From the moss that slowly envelops a rock, the graceful prance of a gazelle, to the ferociousness of a lioness during a hunt, almost all life is driven by the need for survival, the tenacity to hold on to life, to reproduce, to continue.

But spiritual life, emotional life, passionate life… these things can only be developed through the recognition and acceptance of death. Some of us may fantasise about immortality, without considering the ennui that can come with it.

Death can be a terrifying spectre. But it can also be a motivation. Most of us ignore it, or boldly reiterate our lack of fear of it. But whether we are afraid or not in our final moments is immaterial. What is important is how death inspires life!

Death can inspire us to live more loving, more selfless, and more meaningful lives. Sure, we all know it's coming, and most of us would like to think that it's going to be decades from now. But it could be within seconds.

We're all on different boats bound for the same destination. Our boats are of different design maybe, varying speeds, different amounts of fuel, some may even be luxury liners! But we all reach our destination eventually.

When we get there, will our mode of transport be so important? Did we spend our time marvelling at the beauty of the sea? Or did we drown in the opulence of our suite? Did we give freely? Or did we take without gratitude? Did we give love instead of expecting love?

Your life is your bounty. And it is made all the more precious because of its mortality. What you do with it, and what you do with others is entirely up to you, but you see, Death is really a gift - it's the monsoon that makes the sunshine all the more sumptuous, the vacuum that makes you swoon in oxygen, the end of all things that inspires you to begin."