How does it always go like this, that during the week I can't manage to write an entry into my blog? Could it be because during the week I'm constantly surrounded by such great people and doing such marvelous things that I don't spend much time in my room. Well... In any case: Here's another story about the things we've done this week.
Maanantaina kuulimme esitelmän maahanmuutosta amerikassa ja kahden perheen risteävät tarinat viimeisen sadan vuoden ajalta. Iltapäivä kului draaman merkeissä kun jouduimme "tulikokeeseen" eli meidän tietämyksemme muinaisen kreikan teatterista testattiin kirjallisella kokeella. Kokeen jälkeen oli myös draamatunti, jonka aikana saimme kokeemme korjattuina takaisin. Loppuillan ohjelma sisälsi lähinnä kortinpeluuta ja rauhoittumista.
On monday we heard a presentation on immigration in america and the intertwined stories of two families from the past hundred years. The afternoon was spent with drama as we were "baptized by fire" by having our knowledge of ancient greek theatre was measured with a written test. After the test we also had a drama lesson during which we got our corrected tests back. The rest of the day consisted mainly of playing cards and relaxing.
Tiistaina olikin sitten laulutunteja koko päivä. Aamupäivällä teimme jo tutuksitulleita hengitys harjoitteita ja siirryimme pikkuhiljaa äänenmuodostuksen kautta stemmalauluun. Kappalevalinta oli osuva: Come what may -musikaalista Moulin Rouge, mutta sävellajia olisi minun puolestani voitu laskea, kun tuo oma ääniala ei aivan vastaa Ewan McGregorin äänialaa. Iltapäivällä olikin sitten tiukempi paikka, kun allekirjoittaneella oli ensimmäinen henkilökohtainen laulutunti. Siitä meinasi tulla hetkittäin jopa tulista, kun kaksi vahvaa taiteilijapersoonaa otti yhteen laulun merkeissä. Mutta isommilta vammoilta vältyttiin ja opin jopa joitain asioita. Ja oli myös hieno huomata, että opettaja osaa vaatia riittävän paljon opiskelijoiltaan alusta asti.
Tuesday was filled with singing lessons. In the morning we did the already familiar breathing exercises and moved slowly through vocalization into harmony singing. The choice of song was apt: Come what may -from the musical Moulin Rouge, but the key could've been lowered in my opinion, since my vocal range isn't quite the same as Ewan McGregor's. In the afternoon the going got even harder, when I had my first private singing lesson. It almost got heated at times, when two strong artistic personas went head to head in the field of singing. But no one was badly hurt and I even learned a few things. And it was also grand to discover, that our teacher knows how to demand enough of his students from early on.
Keskiviikkoaamuna olin niin fiiliksissä, että muut meidän ryhmässä alkoivat pohtimaan olenko edelleen järjissäni. Syy oli yksinkertainen: PARIAKROBATIA! Aloitimme kevyillä pyramidiharjoitteilla ja siirryimme pikkuhiljaa kohti vaikeampia liikkeitä. Lopulta kaksi ryhmäläistä onnistui kahden hengen kärrynpyörässä ja muutamat meistä kolmen hengen kuperkeikassa. Lounas tuli ikävästi harjoittelun tielle, mutta emme antaneet sen häiritä vaan menimme heti lounaan jälkeen takaisin saliin(vapaa-ajallamme) kokeilemaan kahta eri ryhmäliikettä, jotka haastavat luottamuksen ja lihaskunnon äärirajoilleen. Kun meitä kaikkia sattui tarpeeksi paljon, siirryimme harjoittelemaan pieniä näytelmiä jotka esitimme myöhemmin iltapäivällä toisillemme neljän hengen ryhmissä draamatunnilla. Näytelmien tyyli oli keskiaikainen kirkollinen runodraama. Ilta kuluikin taas sekoillessa porukalla keittiössä.
On wednesday morning I was so over the moon happy, that the other students in our group started wondering if I'm still sane. The reason was simple: PAIR ACROBATICS! We started with light pyramid exercises and moved slowly towards harder moves. In the end two students from our group managed a pair cartwheel and a few of us did a three-person-somersault. Lunch cut us of unfairly, but we didn't let that bother us and went straight back to the sport hall after lunch(on our free time) to try out a couple of group exercises that challenge the trust and physical fitness to the extreme. Once we were all hurting enough, we started to rehearse small plays that we performed for each other in groups of four later in the afternoon in the drama class. The style of the plays was medieval liturgical verse drama. The evening we spent just goofing of together in the kitchen.
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| Näin me vietämme iltamme. This is how we spend our evenings. |
Thursday was a dance day as usual and it slowly started to feel like I might even learn how to dance over the year. I'm still not in love with the highly balance-oriented ballet and jazz movements, but contemporary dance is starting to feel a bit more body-based. Thursday evening we had special program owing to the fact that the board of the student council organized a get together, in which we played games and got to know the students from the other groups. Still the most loudest and most visible students were found maybe, unsurprisingly, in the Performing Arts and the English Drama -groups.
| Ahkeraa opiskelua. Melkein. Diligent studying. Almost. |
Today I had slight starting problems, but the serenity and cerebral quality of the theory of music lessons helped me wake up. In the afternoon we moved over to the pianos and conjured up variations of accompaniment styles. The weekend is at hand and on tomorrows schedule there's a ride home and checking the expiration date of my passport. Eagerly waiting for next week...




