Leave me Manhattan, I want the evergreens

One of the words in the title of this blog is "music." But I never blog about it. That is going to change. My days are filled with music and for this I feel so blessed. Today has been filled with practicing and reed making in preparation for this weekend's concert. Making reeds can be very tedious and frustrating so I enjoy listening to music to help time pass and keep the mood light. While making reeds I like listening to a variety of music. Sometimes it is music I will be playing in concerts, sometimes other classical music, sometimes soundtracks (especially Little Women!), and sometimes other music that has nothing to do with the oboe. This is one song I love and that I listened to probably like 5 times today. I am one of those people who obsesses over a good song when I find one and listens to it on repeat. I have been listening to this song a lot ever since it came out. I love Damien Jurado and have so many good memories from seeing him play multiple times in Provo and Salt Lake. This song really makes me pine for home in Washington. I hope that one day we can find ourselves living in that beautiful state. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn63pG-k2Hg

Hong Kong

After saying goodbye to the orchestra at the Hong Kong airport (they were headed home) I took a shuttle to the hotel where my dad and I would stay in Hong Kong. My time here began with the Hong Kong Philharmonic. It was a phenomenal concert!

Me and my friend Apple. Last time I saw Apple we were 4. My dad knew her parents from his mission in Hong Kong and they came to the US 20 years ago to visit.

Dinner. Delicious. I did like the food in Hong Kong better than in mainland China.

Typical Hong Kong street

Hong Kong skyline

One morning we went to the temple

from Victoria Peak, the tallest mountain around

another attempt at being asian

fish market

Parts of the island looked so tropical

they are pros at squatting

cool taxi we rode at Aberdeen

the last sunset of my 3 week trip to China. farewell!

Song of the week/ month/ maybe summer

Wednesdays are long.
Here is a song that adds a little pep to my work day.
Can't wait for this concert in July!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjFaenf1T-Y

China: the second half of tour

There was some pollution in China. This was taken from outside our hotel window in Beijing. Yum.

After Beijing we traveled to Tianjin. At the conservatory they performed a concert on traditional instruments. It was so beautiful to experience their culture through music.

We had a taste of home late one night at Starbucks. We were pretty hyper due to our lack of sleep.

The beautiful building behind me is where we performed our second concert in Tianjin. A lot of the architecture in Tianjin was European influenced. I loved it.

The double reeds after our Tianjin concert. I miss you guys so much!

This signed cracked me up. Maybe it will do the same to you.

Fancy staircase in our only fancy hotel. We were so sad when we had to leave.

If you are from eastern Washington you will think this is funny.

Cool bridge in Shanghai

Ok this one requires some explanation. In China people asked to take pictures with us a lot. We were on a boat ride and got together for a group photo. Then, all of these people gathered to take pictures of us. And then I took a picture of them.

Me and Mandy in Shanghai

This guy was strolling around with his garden at midnight.

I love love love circle doors!

The beautiful West Lake in Hangzhou

China Philharmonic performing in Hangzhou. It was a great concert but the etiquette is SO different. We all enjoyed ourselves and had some laughs when the contra bassoonist played "if you're happy and you know it." Good times.

East tower in Guangzhou

Traditional Chinese instrument concert in Guangzhou. I want to learn all of these instruments.

We thought we stuck out too much so we bought some fake glasses.

Our concert was organized by communism.

Me, Kory, and Natasha after our final concert. This was also my last concert playing with Natasha since she is off to Indiana for grad school :( I know she will do great things but I already miss her so much. This tour was an incredible experience. Amazing country, wonderful people, and powerful music. It doesn't get much better than that.

BYU Chamber Orchestra Tour part 1

Beijing, China!

The pictures in this post are all from Beijing. We spent seven days there and saw a lot of sights. The above picture shows our beautiful matching lands end sweaters that all the girls in the orchestra had to wear while on tour. It also shows my friend Amanda Moreton, Mandy Moore for short.

Amanda, Allison, me, and Andy at the summer palace. That lake behind us was man made.

This man was working on his calligraphy skills at the summer palace.

Beautiful rose gardens

The stone boat built with money given to China to build a navy. Good purchase.

Me at the happy dumpling restaurant. Some of the only normal food we had.

One of our performance venues.

At the entrance of the forbidden city. There were so many people there!

This is where China was dedicated for missionary work.

Inside the forbidden city with Erica. This was my favorite sight in China. It was ridiculously massive and beautiful.

Forbidden City rooftops

So many cute dogs in China. And I don't even like dogs.

Me and Amanda making Mao faces

One of our crazy rehearsals with the Beijing Dance Academy.

The Temple of Heaven. Blue roofs signify holiness in Chinese culture. Only a few buildings have blue roofs. Including the Taiwan LDS temple :)

We went to a Kung Fu show one night. This little boy did flips on his head. It was insane.

And now the GREAT WALL OF CHINA! It was so fun to get out of the city and see this beautiful sight. It was really steep where we climbed it!

This lady was there too.

China is so beautiful!

Finding our inner Tai Chi on the Great Wall

Chinese food. oh yummy.

This was a cool cathedral. It was very out of place in China, but made me feel like I was in Europe which is always a good feeling.

And now for the bug market!

Me eating a scorpion. I still can't believe I did that.

Loading the bus to leave Beijing. It was a great city!