Music Theory Started!!

Unfortunately, I didn't take the time to blog for the last few days. I am really sorry about that. Now I will try to remember everything that might be important enough to take down.
Saturday:
My day started off as every other regular Sabbath. I woke up kind of late and I had to hurry up to get ready in time. That wasn't the problem at all - actually there was no problem :) My sister even let me come in the bathroom while she was still dressing. So I caught up a few minutes on the countdown.
There were quite a few things to take with us. Starting from the two trombones and two trumpets along with all the supplies for playing brass (music stands, music,...) we had to take our food for lunch with us as well, because we had to eat in church, since there would not be enough time to drive home, eat and take a nap, which is the thing most important to my dad :)
Church ended up really interesting, because the sermon was very useful and applicable. The pastor talked about nature and the beauty God has given to us through his creation. He was the one who reinforced the importance of gardening. It is so healthy for children and teenagers to work outside in order to achieve a better understanding to nature as well as a bondage. He said that there has been a test in an elementary school by some media coverage team. They bought all kinds of different vegetables and fruits and they presented it to the class in elementary school (I don't remember what grade it was but probably something like second graders). Now the job of those kids was to name as many of them as possible. Guess what happened... yes that is right, they just knew the crucial types such as tomato, strawberry, maybe even cucumber but that was about it. One kid even called a pepper some sort of herb or the other way 'round. Anyway it was a disaster.
The second part of the test was of a different kind. I thought that now they were to name candy, but that wasn't it either: They were to name the meals of McDonalds and the surprising outcome was that they could name all the different meals without ANY problems. Isn't this showing in what direction our society is going. For most people the word health does not even exist. I mean, I knew that, but it was just similar to the deluge - it brought it to my attention. We should have some health education offered in schools, because this is creating a lot of problems. This is what politicians should invest in: Better health, less insurance costs for sick people, therefore more money to spend it on some other important issues. So that was one part of the sermon, which I really liked.
After church, we went upstairs to prepare our lunch. We had salad (lettuce, tomatoes, and corn), spagetthi and tomato sauce. We found out that there were two more families who stayed at church as well. That was really nice, so we could socialize a little bit and it was actually interesting and funny. I got to learn about the Nicolatians named in Revelations (which is the only book that mentions them) but unfortunately I forgot most of what they stand for. What I remember though, is that they had some very inappropriate sex-cults.
The next thing we did - once finished with eating - we took a long walk. It was about one hour long and the problem was, that my shoes were just not made to walk long distances so my feet started hurting. I still enjoyed it, because I got to be outside which I haven't managed in a long time.
In the afternoon we had a final runthrough/dress rehearsal. This was not stressful at all. I am really glad for that. One of the points that didn't make it stressful was, because I am no longer a member of the church choir. This is giving me so much more time and it allows me to relax more often than last year.
Now let me tell you a little bit about the Thanksgiving feast at my church. The decoration was extremely neat. It was kind of like a little arbor. There were leaves all around the place in front and some space in the middle. On the left and the right there were all kinds of fruit and vegetables neatly arranged. It looked great! That must have been a lot of work. I will post some pictures of that on photobucket.
The kids were singing and when they did, they were really cute. Some messed up every now and then, some refused to do it in public, but after noticing that it does them no harm they sang along with everybody else. Tabea played a piano piece, and because she wasn't practicing the way she should have, she made a few mistakes, but they weren't major and it was good that she got some practice in presenting music to an audience.There were poems read from different persons, even some of the older kids. And then to close it all up and to have some breaks, the Choir sang and the brass ensemble played some pieces and accompanied the church songs that were sung.
After the official part we started eating bread, grapes and cheese, which is the tradition for Thanksgiving in Germany (or at least in our church). This gives the members of the church the opportunity to talk with each other and to exchange thoughts. Tables have been set up in the "sermon room" as well as in the talking area. There were a lot of people and a lot of kids attending and there was way more food than we could eat :)
Once I got home I talked to my best friend until I went to sleep around 11:45.

Sunday:
I woke up late on Sunday, since I went to sleep late Saturday night and I wasn't all caught up with my sleep from the week. So it was around 10:40 that I got up. I went downstairs to get the clothes from the washing machine. Still in my PJs I hung up all the clothes outside, because it was a sunny day and really warm for October. By hanging up clothes I actually got to be outside for at least a half hour. I was able to take off some of the clothes my mom had hung up in the morning, since they were already dry. I took them to my room and started ironing them while watching a movie. Doing laundry kept my busy until 6 o'clock at night. I didn't expect this to last that long. During that time I also called my best friend so that she could help me with my English homework. I had to write a comment on the question if the auto stereotype of Americans has changed or not through Hurricane Katrina. It was quite interesting to exchange thoughts and sometimes we opposed each other as well, but finally agreed on a final version. All of that took us about one and a half hours and I could see what a good essay looks like. Mine are always casual, but I should try to use higher vocabulary more often in order to perfect my writing skills as much as possible.
Whatelse did I do? Well, I helped my sister practice violin, since she didn't want to. Whenever I help her, she likes it a lot better. I care about her more than about my time because she is the great musician in the family. It isn't me as some might say. I am the hard worker and therefore I achieved a certain level which I will never be able to pass. I also practiced myself, since it was about time to do something concerning my violin studies. Without even noticing it Sunday has passed by and it was late at night (around ten) when I started my last homework which was the essay.
Monday (today):
I went to school as regular. But school was not regular at all. All the teachers seem to be mad. Some of them even try to get some students down. Especially my math teacher puts us down. In math it is not only some students but the entire class that he is doing this to. He believes us to be just a class consisting of 100% dummies. If we are not able to answer his questions right away, and I mean immediately, we are already stupid and if it is the case that you give the wrong answer he will certainly make sure that you know it was wrong, and that you are - oh so stupid by giving such an answer. Most people are afraid now to say something during math and he wonders why there is so little participation. ha ha. I am afraid as well. I don't want to say something wrong and therefore I only raise my hand after securing my solution through my neighbor.
But that wasn't it yet for today. During my free hour I wanted to do some French homework that I still didn't have completed and I wanted to also print out my homework in English. I got two of the three questions answered in French and - as usual - we didn't need it today. Oh, by the way, we got our test back. I made 13 points which is an acceptable grade for the level of that test. You have to consider, that I knew every single word and 70% of the definitions by heart. Just because I have not studied some of the definitions to the point that I knew them by heart I got one mistake (even though it isn't "mandatory" to learn them) the other mistake was a stupid ending of a word, I thought about which one to use and I decided on the wrong one. Oh well. That was me not studying hard enough.
During English I wanted to present our work, and Mr. Schätzle had a look at my essay but since Theresa wasn't feeling very good, I didn't present my essay - this was no longer my priority. After class I had a talk with the teacher and he told me that I still don't participate enough for 15 points. I wondered for myself what else I am expected to do. Therefore I wrote him an email. I mean, when we talked, he told me that I should have presented this essay to the class, but I also told him that maybe no one else would have liked to present his or her essay after hearing mine, especially since it has been perfected by you. So we agreed that I am going to read it to the class on Wednesday. I definitely want 15 points in participation in English. This is the one subject where I think I deserve it. I try very hard to participate as much as I can, but obviously it is not enough. Hopefully I will get clearer instructions over what is expected from in order to receive 15 points.
Now, here is the biggest thing that went on today. After school I went to my first music theory lesson in Rottweil. It was challenging to find the room that it was held. We got there just as I have told the teacher when he called me on Thursday, but the room that it has been in last time was locked. We went to several regular music teachers asking for the room. No one knew. Finally we got to someone who said that it was possible to be upstairs, so we went there and we found them (20 minutes late). Oh well. As expected my hearing was not as good as it used to be and therefore it is very good that I will have some more training in Music theory. It is definitely necessary. The stuff that I have learned in America would not even be sufficient for the audition test that I have to do. It will be harder - or as hard as the AP Test, except that there won't be a curve :( Oh well. There were also some good news. I don't have to do as much for the piano as my teacher said last time. Honestly, I was pretty shocked after hearing what my teacher had planned for me. I am doing piano as a second "subject" and she gave me music that I could have played if piano was my first "subject" not for all of it, but for most of it. So I am really glad that I won't have to work this hard for just the piano. Violin is another story. We didn't even start picking music yet, since there is so much other stuff to get out of the way first.
This should be about it, up till now. I will start working on my homework (finally) and I will also try to practice some more violin.