Americarna

Red white and blue, American flags everywhere, BBQs, bands playing along the street, sunshine, cowboy hats, and good 'ol American cars and trucks. Except for no fireworks, it kind of sounds like the 4th of July, at least a little bit, right? Well, I have felt a bit like it was Independence day these last few days as summer draws to a close in New Plymouth.

This weekend was the annual Taranaki American Car Festival, known as Americarna. When I returned from my weekend driving adventure Sunday afternoon last weekend, I noticed all the shops around town had decorated in red, white, and blue, and I went from seeing virtually no flags, and certainly no US flags, to seeing the stars and stripes everywhere. I have to admit, I felt a bit of pride as I walked down the street :)

The festival was first held in 2007. The goal is to celebrate American classic vehicles, especially hot rods. It is meant to be something for the community to be involved in (hence the storefront decorations and displays), and an event for all ages. For further information, check out the festivals website:
http://www.americarna.com/About/

Because of my delightfully busy schedule, I did not experience much of the festival, but I did have the pleasure of being in town when all the cars and truck were parading down the main street. It was quite a wonderful range, and with all the flags waving, I once again felt like I should be planning to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" and watch fireworks later in the evening. There were many fantastic vehicles there, I was able to ninja photos of a few so see below. It was a slightly odd sensation to see a whole heap of kiwis waving American flags, but again it did instill some twinges of patriotism. In addition to the parade around town, the cars were on display Saturday afternoon, as were the motorcycles for the Magogs (the local biker gang). I know the vehicles also made a tour of the New Plymouth rest homes, which I think is quite thoughtful of the festival planners.

I am not one to really get homesick, but I did enjoy the touch of home. Here are the good pictures I was able to get (like any well-prepared tourist I had left my camera at home as I had failed to remember the parade would be happening when I set out Friday night so these are what my phone could manage).

The Little Red Toyota

This weekend I had an unexpected adventure. For the first time since June last year, I drove. Not only that, I drove on the wrong side of the road, while sitting on the wrong side of the car. Crikey!

I had made plans to visit Tauranga for the weekend to catch up with some friends. So I booked my bus tickets and arranged a place to stay and confirmed my boss would let me play hooky for Friday afternoon. Friday was a lovely sunny day and all was well with the world....until I got to the bus and found out my ticket had somehow been cancelled, and I therefore had no way to get from A to B. So what to do. I considered cancelling, but after chatting with those expecting me we decided to figure out a way to make it work. Flying was not an affordable option and there is no train, and only one bus per day, so that left driving. I was able to get a car reserved for late afternoon, the only automatic they had left on the lot (manuals seem to be a bit more common here). I showed up to get my car and was soon in possession of the keys for a bright red Toyota Yaris. Cute as it was, it kinda made me miss my Jeep haha :)

Now, I had plans to drive in the not too distant future, so I reckon this was just a good practice run since I would be on somewhat familiar roads. I was lucky to have excellent weather for ninety percent of the whole trip (I got rained on a bit while driving through the Awakino Gorge on the trip home), and was pleasantly surprised to find that once you had a bit of time to adjust, it is not too difficult to drive on the wrong side. I had to make sure I really focused each time I turned right, since it is across traffic, but there was not much traffic as I was on the road so luckily I never had to deal with heavy traffic.

Most annoying thing about a backwards car: the turn signal is in the WRONG SPOT!! So, this meant every time I needed to turn, I would try to be courteous to other drivers and notify them of my intent and instead I would just end up turning on the windshield wipers. You are probably thinking that since I had a four hour drive one way I might have figured it out after an hour or so, and remember that the indicator stick is located on the right side of the steering wheel, but hey, old habits die hard. The gear shift was also on the wrong side (as it was logically located between the two front seats) so when I was ready to actually move after turning on the car, I found myself reaching for what always turned out to be the door handle. Otherwise, the strangest thing was feeling like the left side of my vehicle was extra wide. I do feel as if I have overcome a bit of a NZ hurdle by successfully driving across the island :)

In terms of no-vehicle or traffic law factors, the roads were not bad, if you are happy to drive on curvy, hilly, mountainey roads. Mt. Messenger, about 45 minutes from New Plymouth, and the only way to really get to the rest of the island, is a bit hairy. Follow this link to check it out :)
https://maps.google.co.nz/maps?q=mt+messenger+highway+3+new+zealand&ie=UTF-8&ei=KqkJU5DYOcislAWVjIHoCw&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ

My next driving adventure will be in a couple weeks time, while I'm on the South Island, I will keep you posted on how it goes!

@ the Piano

Towards the end of last year, the Cathedral decided to start a new recital series in 2014, called "@ the Piano." The idea behind the series was to offer exposure and performance opportunities for local pianists, and use the funds collected from the gold coin entry for a new Cathedral Choral Scholarship to offer to area students wishing to pursue choral studies.

I was honored to be asked to perform the first recital. So, for the last couple months I have been practicing away (thank you to my flatmate for patience, and my apologies to neighbors who are tired of the same songs over and over). I chose to be ambitious and order brand new music for something that has been on my list of things to learn. This was a fantastic idea, until the music arrived far later than I had planned (believe it or not, it takes longer to ship things to New Zealand than to just send it across the US!). So the practicing has been much more intense and at times probably a bit frantic these last couple weeks (my fellow musicians will understand this I know!!). But despite any stress or frustration I may have at times over my fingers apparent inability to memorize things as quickly as I want, I am quite excited for the upcoming event :)

This week, the paper shared musical news with the community so I thought I would pass it along. Unfortunately I am only able to post the link to the page, so if it does not work, and you want to see it, let me know and I can email it to you :)

http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/viewer.aspx

IRMT Conference

In the last couple of months, I have become increasingly involved in music here in New Plymouth. Since I would eventually like to work full-time as a musician, I find this quite exciting. Right now, I have two piano students, with the possibility of more to come. I am the on-staff accompanist for one of the girls high schools. I am a member of the pit orchestra for the upcoming Operatic Society production of Phantom of the Opera (perhaps most excited about that!). I have two solo performances in March, and I am preparing sonatas for a future performance with a local violinist. I have also been asked to join one of the orchestras as they are in need of an oboist, but have yet to commit to that as I need to consult my day planner to see whether I could make the rehearsals.

But anyway, on to what I am meant to write about today. About a month ago I had the pleasure of enjoying some yummy cups of coffee at a delightful little coffee shop down by the port, called "The Bach," in the company of the local director of IRMT (Institute of Registered Music Teachers in New Zealand). While it is not a mandatory registration to teach in New Zealand, it is highly encouraged as the organization provides support and materials for the teachers, and it is much easier to be hired by schools or other education organizations if you show your registration, as it confirms that you have become certified by the organization. I have begun the process but it is not yet complete. Other local IRMT members must vouch for you, and you must be observed teaching, in addition to submitting the application which details your education, experience, etc., so it takes a bit of time.

While we were chatting, I was advised of the fast approaching 2014 IRMT Conference, which was to be held in New Plymouth this year. I was encouraged to attend so I added it to my to-do list. I was only able to attend one of the three days of the conference, due to work and other commitments, but I picked an excellent day to attend and feel I learned as both a teacher and a performer.

The day was led by a chamber group called the "NZ Trio." Throughout the day there were four sessions, all of which focused on teaching styles and techniques. Local students had volunteered, or been volunteered, to perform. The trio members would conduct a masterclass with the student(s) and then open the floor to all for questions, discussion, etc. I don't have too much teaching experience as of yet, so I was keen to absorb any tips I could. As I am currently preparing for a recital, I felt that I gained just as much, if not more, as a performer, through observing the master class and the ideas put forth by members of the trio while working with the students.

The NZ Trio was formed in 2002. The group consists of a cellist, a violinist, and a pianist. The focus is to perform New Zealand's music, and they often commission works by local composers. They performed for the conference before the first session began, and I highly recommend the group to those of you who enjoy listening to chamber music :) Lunch was my favorite part of the day at the conference, as I had the opportunity to enjoy chatting with the cellist and violinist. They joined myself and another American pianist, who arrived in NP about the same time that I did (this was actually the first time we'd been able to meet; ever since arriving we had each been hearing about the other, and had sent work to the other when we were not able to take it, but had not yet met). The members of the trio have traveled, performed, and studied internationally, so we had an insightful conversation on some of the differences between music in New Zealand and in other places, especially the US. Myself and my new-found American friend had begun a comparison of the approach to performing and teaching music between here and back home, so we enjoyed the input from seasoned performers who have seen and understand both sides of it.

I had not been to any sort of teaching conference before so this was a new and wonderful experience. I think that perhaps one of the most enjoyable aspects of it was that I knew many of the teachers who were there from other involvement in music around town. I felt as if I was a part of the community and this was an event in my now every-day New Plymouth life. It is a nice feeling, because for some time I had a goal of working overseas, somewhere I could go and become a part of the community, one of the locals. I'd say mission accomplished :)

On a side note (no musical pun intended of course!), yesterday I saw someone riding a unicycle down the coastal walkway.

Also, picture of the day: sunset last night :)

Observations

I have always enjoyed people watching, especially when I travel because you never know what you might see. I'd like to share some of my recent favorites today :)

I often see an older Indian couple walking as I'm on my way home from work. They hold hands and stroll along, looking completely blissful. The lady of the couple wears some of the prettiest sari that I have ever seen. 

While going to the grocery store one day I saw a guy dressed in an over-sized t-shirt and gym shorts. I was intrigued by his footwear.....on one foot he had a white sock and a sneaker, on the other he had a black dress sock and a croc. 

On my way to work last week, I was amused to see a businessman dressed nicely in pressed shirt and slack, complete with a tie and shiny black shoes, carrying his lunch, on a skateboard :)

One afternoon I got to watch a family of five teaching the mom how to skateboard. She is braver than I.

Perhaps my recent favorite:

I was walking home and some teenage girls were just ahead of me, discussing their shoes and the weather. One girl states "my feet are hot because I can feel the heat from the concrete through my shoes. It's because I have no sole. I need to go buy a new one." 

Cheers for now!