Wow I can't believe its been almost a month since my last blog post! Time has been absolutely flying by. I've been so busy this month, I've hardly had time to do anything! The best thing that's happened since the last time I wrote was that Ben moved here to Norfolk and I moved off base to live with him! Its been so nice, I actually feel like a 100% normal human being again. The apartment we got isn't as nice as we probably would have wanted, but its a place, and considering the amount of time we had to find a place to live, I think we did pretty well. The location is great (I can practically see the band hall from where we live - we're right outside of the gate), and its a great price. We're just so used to living in our own house, its hard to transition to apartment life (especially when you're neighbors are super loud and have super loud kids!) Good thing is, in a year if we want to move, we can (and we probably will!)
The only drawback right now is that I have a 20 minute commute in the morning. Which isn't all that bad I guess, I'm just used to only driving 10 minutes to work or school (like in Rochester), or walking 5 minutes from the barracks to the school. And the commute sucks when you have a watch/duty every other day! That is the way it has been for the whole month of September since there is no Army class, so there are only Marines and Sailors to fill up the watch bill.
For those of you who are confused by that...here's how it is: at the school, all the basic students have to stand watches either at the school telephone (day), the barracks telephone (night), or a roving barracks security (night). They are only two hour shifts, but they can really suck if they are in the middle of the night. Right now I've got it worked out with the watch bill coordinator (the person who does the schedule) so that I don't have to stand midnight-2am or 2am-4am watch...but all others I can be scheduled for. For example this past week I had 10pm-midnight on tuesday night, and 4-6 on Friday morning at the barracks. Friday morning I had to get up at 2:30am to be able to get ready and get to my watch on time! And since morning muster is at 7:20, I just went and practiced after my watch. I was sooooooo tired by the end of the day. And I get to do it again 2 more times this week, woo! Those watches were so much easier when I lived right upstairs! But its worth it to live with Ben. Honestly I don't think I should have to stand the barracks watches because I don't live at the barracks, but I don't make the rules I guess... Luckily a new army class should be coming in the next couple weeks so I should only have watch once a week or so.
Anyways, other than standing the watch, I love my job! Getting paid to practice? OK! And I do a lot of it. I'm trying to learn as much as I can from my instructors here, especially from my clarinet instructor. She is really good (she has a masters degree also) and definitely knows what she is talking about! I've never played so many marches in my life, but its pretty fun. Basically my day starts at around 6am - we are required to get an hour of practice time outside of school hours and I get it done before school starts so that I can just go home at the end of the day. We muster at 7:20, then school officially begins at 7:30. We have a "period" system, like in high school. Periods 1-4 are in the morning, then we go to lunch, then we have 3 more periods in the afternoon. After 7th period, we have what is called "service specific time" which means we do stuff with our respective services (navy, marines), usually PT (physical training - aka exercise). Its a lot to do in one day, but I would never trade it for what I was doing before I joined the Navy.
So I officially have about 4 weeks left before I graduate from the school. I'm trying to get all my academics done ASAP, but I'm also trying to take my time because I can possibly qualify for early advancement to E-4. That means a pay raise without having to take the E-4 exam! Its a difficult balance, but I'm managing. I'm starting to run out of time though! I'm super stressed out at the moment. I just can't wait until a month from now. Everyone says that its way easier being in the band than it is at the school. I just hope they are right!
September 25, 2011
August 29, 2011
Natural disaster week!
Apparently in Virginia it was national disasters week because not only did we have a hurricane over the weekend, we also had an earthquake earlier in the week! We also woke up to yucky smoke on Thursday morning from a wildfire that was burning south of us. It truly looked apocalyptic!!
The earthquake was the first time I've ever felt something like that. Last year there was an earthquake felt in Rochester, but I was at work in a very large building and I definitely didn't feel it at all. It was weird, it just felt like the building was wobbling for a good 15 seconds. It was not what I thought an earthquake should feel like!
And then there was Irene...hurricane Irene that is. At first, the school of music was going to have us all evacuate to an army base up by Richmond, VA. But then on Thursday the decision was made to "shelter in place" here in the barracks. I was glad that we didn't have to go anywhere! But a little scared because I've never been in a hurricane before.
So on Friday we ended up not having any classes, instead we helped to secure the music building for the hurricane. It involved lots of sandbags and lots of plastic:
Fun times! We were done by 11am, so then we had the rest of the day off! The rain started at around midnight on Friday night (I only know this because I had watch from midnight - 2am that night), and it didn't stop until after the storm passed on Sunday morning. Basically we had wind and rain all day on Saturday, we even had a couple tornado warnings in the morning where we all had to go down to the bottom floor of the building that I live in. But that was the most excitement that I experienced. The wind got pretty bad when the hurricane actually got to us, but honestly, I slept through most of it! We didn't even lose power. Woke up Sunday morning to blue skies and sunshine. It was such a beautiful day considering how it was 24 hours prior! So the moral of the story...category 1 hurricane = no big deal. Just stay inside!
So beside the hurricane/earthquake/fire, all is well. I'm working really hard here! I've been trying to go to school early (ahem, 6:30am!) to get a warm up in, and it really does help. The past week I've been in a playing group for the first two periods of the day, so it helps to get some long tones in before I start. And I haven't had that much time to practice during the day because my schedule is full of ensembles - I'm one of only two clarinetists here! I've already had a performance with the "grad band" at graduation. It was pretty scary, mostly because I am still learning all the movements that we have to do while marching. Drill band is a constant stressor in my life right now, haha. It is so much new information that I have to process and execute, and I'm not exactly the most coordinated person ever. I still really suck at doing an about face (which I have to do to get out of the concert split formation during graduation performances!)
Basically, I'm pretty exhausted by the time evening muster comes around at 9:45pm. But I want to make my experience worthwhile here, I want to get better! I want that early advancement, which I can get if I do really well here at the school. And of course I still want to be in a premiere band one day.
For my solo piece here at the school, I've decided to to A Set for Clarinet by Martino. I'm looking forward to playing the piece, but I'm sure that I will want to kill myself at some point between now and my final audition, LOL! Its just that type of piece. But I've done difficult works like this in a limited amount of time (flashback to my Eastman MM recital and Dancing Solo!) so I know I can do it. And I basically have more practice time than I know what to do with here!
In other news, Ben is moving down here this week! Last weekend we actually found an apartment to live in, and it happens to be right outside the base gate that the band hall is just inside of. We didn't even know that until after we had put a deposit down on the place! So it worked out. Its about 20 minutes away from Little Creek, but I think I can deal with that for 2 months (plus I'm probably going to be commuting at 6am or earlier, so traffic shouldn't be an issue). I'm just excited that I get to move out of the barracks!
Its been about 6 weeks since I arrived here. I can't believe how fast its going by! I've almost been here for as long as I was at boot camp. I hope that it keeps going by fast, I want to get to the band and start what I joined the Navy to do. Just over 8 weeks left to go!
The earthquake was the first time I've ever felt something like that. Last year there was an earthquake felt in Rochester, but I was at work in a very large building and I definitely didn't feel it at all. It was weird, it just felt like the building was wobbling for a good 15 seconds. It was not what I thought an earthquake should feel like!
And then there was Irene...hurricane Irene that is. At first, the school of music was going to have us all evacuate to an army base up by Richmond, VA. But then on Thursday the decision was made to "shelter in place" here in the barracks. I was glad that we didn't have to go anywhere! But a little scared because I've never been in a hurricane before.
So on Friday we ended up not having any classes, instead we helped to secure the music building for the hurricane. It involved lots of sandbags and lots of plastic:
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| Photo credit: School of Music facebook page |
So beside the hurricane/earthquake/fire, all is well. I'm working really hard here! I've been trying to go to school early (ahem, 6:30am!) to get a warm up in, and it really does help. The past week I've been in a playing group for the first two periods of the day, so it helps to get some long tones in before I start. And I haven't had that much time to practice during the day because my schedule is full of ensembles - I'm one of only two clarinetists here! I've already had a performance with the "grad band" at graduation. It was pretty scary, mostly because I am still learning all the movements that we have to do while marching. Drill band is a constant stressor in my life right now, haha. It is so much new information that I have to process and execute, and I'm not exactly the most coordinated person ever. I still really suck at doing an about face (which I have to do to get out of the concert split formation during graduation performances!)
Basically, I'm pretty exhausted by the time evening muster comes around at 9:45pm. But I want to make my experience worthwhile here, I want to get better! I want that early advancement, which I can get if I do really well here at the school. And of course I still want to be in a premiere band one day.
For my solo piece here at the school, I've decided to to A Set for Clarinet by Martino. I'm looking forward to playing the piece, but I'm sure that I will want to kill myself at some point between now and my final audition, LOL! Its just that type of piece. But I've done difficult works like this in a limited amount of time (flashback to my Eastman MM recital and Dancing Solo!) so I know I can do it. And I basically have more practice time than I know what to do with here!
In other news, Ben is moving down here this week! Last weekend we actually found an apartment to live in, and it happens to be right outside the base gate that the band hall is just inside of. We didn't even know that until after we had put a deposit down on the place! So it worked out. Its about 20 minutes away from Little Creek, but I think I can deal with that for 2 months (plus I'm probably going to be commuting at 6am or earlier, so traffic shouldn't be an issue). I'm just excited that I get to move out of the barracks!
Its been about 6 weeks since I arrived here. I can't believe how fast its going by! I've almost been here for as long as I was at boot camp. I hope that it keeps going by fast, I want to get to the band and start what I joined the Navy to do. Just over 8 weeks left to go!
August 14, 2011
Whoa.
Whoa! I can't believe its been four weeks since I arrived here from boot camp! Its been quite a whirlwind since the last time I've blogged....
So I have been officially approved for acceleration at the school, which means I'll be graduating on October 28th. I ended up having crazy fast turnaround time for approval apparently, it took only one day! So now I'm on a self paced individual study program for my academics, and an accelerated schedule for my performance assessments. I'm hoping to finish my academics by the end of September so that I can spend the last month focusing on my playing.
I also found out another very important piece of information! I found out where I'm going to be stationed...drumroll please...I'll be part of the U.S. Fleet Forces Band in Norfolk, VA. So that means I'll be staying right here in Virginia! I will be living in the same area, because the Norfolk base is only 20 minutes away from where I am living now! Definitely not how I had originally planned, but I think I'm OK with it. I'm excited because they have an actual wind ensemble in addition to the ceremonial band (most of the Navy fleet bands only have a ceremonial band because there isn't enough players for a concert band).
So my days are filled with practicing, studying, cleaning, being on watch, and obsessing about my uniform (because its necessary! They are super picky with us because we are the "face" of the Navy and we have to look gooooood.) This past week, I just changed rooms in the barracks because my room was so messed up! But it looks like I'll be moving out of the barracks in a few weeks anyway, because Ben's going to be moving down (since I'll be stationed in Norfolk) soon, so I'll get to live off base! Being married in the military definitely has its perks. He is coming to visit this coming weekend and I am so excited to see him! But we may end up spending most of our weekend looking for a place to live. I think I'm ok with that though :)
So I have been officially approved for acceleration at the school, which means I'll be graduating on October 28th. I ended up having crazy fast turnaround time for approval apparently, it took only one day! So now I'm on a self paced individual study program for my academics, and an accelerated schedule for my performance assessments. I'm hoping to finish my academics by the end of September so that I can spend the last month focusing on my playing.
I also found out another very important piece of information! I found out where I'm going to be stationed...drumroll please...I'll be part of the U.S. Fleet Forces Band in Norfolk, VA. So that means I'll be staying right here in Virginia! I will be living in the same area, because the Norfolk base is only 20 minutes away from where I am living now! Definitely not how I had originally planned, but I think I'm OK with it. I'm excited because they have an actual wind ensemble in addition to the ceremonial band (most of the Navy fleet bands only have a ceremonial band because there isn't enough players for a concert band).
So my days are filled with practicing, studying, cleaning, being on watch, and obsessing about my uniform (because its necessary! They are super picky with us because we are the "face" of the Navy and we have to look gooooood.) This past week, I just changed rooms in the barracks because my room was so messed up! But it looks like I'll be moving out of the barracks in a few weeks anyway, because Ben's going to be moving down (since I'll be stationed in Norfolk) soon, so I'll get to live off base! Being married in the military definitely has its perks. He is coming to visit this coming weekend and I am so excited to see him! But we may end up spending most of our weekend looking for a place to live. I think I'm ok with that though :)
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