At the end of 2013

At the end of 2013, I want to look back this year. I visited Beijing, Xining, Tibet, Xian with my father in April. Then, I finished research paper,enjoyed my last semester with my classmates and friends  and graduated from South China University of Technology. After summer holiday, I came to New York to be a graduate student. I face some problems in New York, such as I must to find a quiet place to live, I always lost, I should learn how to prepare my dinner and tried to communicate with native people. I am ready to welcome challenges in the future and try my best to be an elegant lady.

my bedroom in China

Tibet

 

My teachers

They are my lovely teachers. This semester, I had seven different classes in a week. My teachers gave me knowledge and love. When I asked them some questions, they listened to me carefully and explained the answers clearly. Though my English is poor, they always paid attention to my homework and gave chances to help me improve my English. We could exchange our ideas and discussed our lives. Their advices are so useful to help me take care of myself.

My lovely friends

I have been in New York over 3 months and met so many people. They gave me love, advice and encouragement. And I visited some places in NYC, such as Tarry Town, Columbia University, Macy’s, and I went to Las Vegas to appreciate some exciting shows. It was a wonderful memory in my life. I love NYU, NYC and love my friends. Then, I will celebrate my birthday in 5 days. I think I will have a unforgettable birthday in America.

the life one is me

First Gift

This is the first gift I received when I came to America. Professor Gilbert gave the book to me and I had a lot of fun of it. The author used many examples to illustrate music, improvisation and arts, etc. And the writer states that “Playing the instrument means finding the graceful, balanced form for each action, so that weight is distributed and muscles hold no excessive tensions.” I agree with his statement. Some musicians learned to play instruments when they were young and they practiced every day for several years. And we should practice to balance our each part of body to express our emotion and feeling. When we are nervous, we cannot relax our muscles and may make some mistakes, but if we liberate our minds and body, we can have more energy to pursuit more artistic conception of music. 

Rehearsed in the church

Today, I went to the church for rehearsing. It was always interesting. The small church is full of love and happiness, I like it. This is the third time I had been there. It is Christmas season, now people discussed how to decorate the church. Church music is so beautiful and I enjoy singing them. Every Sunday, we will sing some piece of church music on the stage and listen to the vicar’s speech. The title of this week is “satisfied”, the vicar let us notice that we are never satisfied, but we should enjoy every moment.

 

After the concert

                                          

After the concert, all the students got together and took photos with Professor Gilbert. Then we took photos with our classmates. Some of them from different countries, we always shared our experience in our own country, and I could hear some interesting stories about Turkey, Korea and Chile, etc. It can help me have a wider perspective of the world. I hope we will have many other chances to cooperate with each other. Furthermore, I will remember this happy concert forever.

 

During the concert

       

Professor Gilbert was the host of the concert. He introduced the special concert to the audience. Then, we greeted to the musicians in Norway and Ireland. It’s a fantastic concert because artists were from different places, and we performed together at the same time. Internet is an amazing invention. When I was dancing or singing on the stage, I could see musicians from Norway and Ireland on the screen, and we could cooperate with each other perfectly. It is improvisation that I sang or danced may reflect my thinking without practicing before and I must pay attention to cooperate with my partners. I like this kind of performance because everything and every moment are unique. 

Before “Far From the Shores We Know”

                             

“Far From the Shores We Know” is a special concert which is about improvisations. All the musicians and dancers did not have enough opportunities to practice before the concert, and they should express their feeling through instruments and body language. It was the challenge for me because I was not sure what shall I do at the beginning. Fortunately, Professor Gilbert and my classmates spent more than a month to prepare this concert, so we could know what we should do on the stage. We discussed the theme in the class, and everyone could exchange their ideas. It was the excellent way to let students have more information and come up with more good ideas about improvisation.

Let it snow

     When I got up, New York is white, when I go to the supermarket, the road is white. It is a beautiful world I had never been to, because I lived in south of China where is always warm before I came to New York. Though today is cold, I can play with snow and make a snow ball. It is so interesting.

New York is a great city

New York is a great city. Though the city is noisy and crowed, we can have a lot of fun here. I can go to visit all kinds of museums, communicate with different artists on Washington Square and appreciate concerts, etc. Last week, I went to Stuyvesant High School to appreciate their student’s concert. It was excellent. All the teenagers tried their best to let audience enjoy the concert. Teenagers have enough energy to discover new area. Music education can help them get into the habit of creating something interesting. More and more parents and teachers pay attention to music education.  

Great Choir Concert

We finished the concert and all of us did a great job tonight. I am proud of my classmates. Though Professor Wright was not here, we could also enjoy our concert. Different people with distinctive background, we sang together, we practiced together, and it was not an easy job. Because we should sang like one person. Some of my classmates who major in law or business, they had plenty of homework to do, but they always practiced our songs every morning. I met many students after I joined the NYU Women’s Choir, and I had more new friends in New York now.

It will be an amazing night

In two hours, it will be my last performance on stage this semester. NYU women’s choir is a family full of love and creativity. All ladies get together every Tuesday and practice the beautiful songs. Professor Wright is really excited but she will not be there tonight. I really love choir and NYU women’s  choir is excellent. We practiced not only English Songs but also Japanese song and all the students had a lot of fun. I am ready to go to theater and make up.  We have a dress rehearsal before the choir concert. Tonight will be an amazing night.

New Home

I moved to Bay 46st Brooklyn last week. It is a beautiful area near Coney Island.  I love sea.  When I decided to move out of Newport, I looked for another place near sea. It is not so hard to find a house near sea in New York. When I was a child, my mother told me that seashore is my homeland.  When I see the sea, I will not feel lonely in New York. Though it may take 1 hour by the subway to NYU, I hope I can enjoy my life in Brooklyn.

Excellent experience

I went to the church and rehearsed last Sunday. Professor Wright is a fantastic conductor.  When I followed her to the church, I saw a different world.  This church is not large, but everybody knows  each other. People shared their happiness and helped people in need. Although I lived near Coney Island and must got up early to take the subway to the church, I loved the church and wanted to join the big family. After rehearsed, Professor Wright and other people in the choir gave some advice to help me adapt the new life in New York. The church is full of love.