what the hell...
I'll still be using Livejournal for awhile more till I get the hang of Blogger, am very slow at computer stuff.
Anyway, banged around on the piano just now. I hate practicing for something, for exams, practicals or in this case, NAFA auditions. Stupid MOE teamed up with Stupid NAFA, what a wonderful combination. About a week ago MOE sent me a sloppy email (less than two days before the interview day) about the interview. Although I'm online almost every night I don't check my mail that often. Luckily I did so that night at about 9pm and replied to confirm that I had received it. The girl in-charge later called me at about 9.15 and told me, "Oh see, I'm still in the office coz you didn't reply." like it's my bloody fault they were so sloppy in handling such important stuff. Do they realise the conventional PHONE, SNAIL MAIL or even FAX are more reliable than email? With the phone I would get the message straight, SNAIL MAIL could be sent by registered post so there would be no discrepancy about having received it. FAX machines generate reports (like receipts) to show whether a message has been sent and received. And today, I just received the bloody mail from NAFA telling me about the interview tomorrow. You know what's the joke?
Now; please dear friends, do be patient with me because I am going to really nit-pick this haphazardly written letter.
Excerpt from the letter:
"Date : 20 march 2003 (Thursday)
Time : 10.00 am to 12 noon (Theory paper), and followed by a practical test and interview in the morning of 24/3/03 (Monday)
1) A letter should only address ONE thing at a time. But in this case, the could have added extra information on a separate sheet of paper, or, simply state it in a new paragraph. It is unprofessional to mention an "official" date under the Date column then throw in another date under Time.
2) Look at the first half of the Time info. "10.00 am to 12 noon (Theory paper), and followed by a practical test and interview..." Now, upon reading this, one would register in their mind that after the Theory paper, there would also be a practical test and interview on the SAME day. BUT, BUT, BUT... if you continue reading, "....and interview in the morning of 24/3/03 (Monday)" would suggest even though technically the practical test and interview would follow the Theory paper, they would be held in the morning of 24/3/03 (Monday). So... the question is, are the practical test and interview held after the Theory paper? OR, are they held in the morning of 24/3/03, in which case the "followed" was merely in a "so to speak" manner? AND, there's more! If you were to really be picky like me... another reasoning could be that the the practical test is right after the Theory paper while the interview is in the morning of 24/3/03, in which case the word "followed" still stands since both practical and interview are indeed, still effectively AFTER the Theory paper. The only idiot conclusion I could arrive at after debating is that the the Theory is held on 20 March 2003 for certain. (Any fool could see that)
3) Nowhere in the letter did they mention details of the audition. I know that scales, sight-reading, aural skills and contrasting pieces are standard requirements of most auditions. But that is not a reason to assume everyone knows and leave out such details. Roughly what standard should the pieces be? Some people consider grade 8 and above as advanced, but for me, I think of the piece first. "Contrasting" is pretty vague. Contrast in what? Style? Period? Mood? Tempi? Furthermore, I believe there are some music institutions which insist the student present at least one Baroque piece, and often state J.S. Bach specifically.
4) It was terrible that they did not include a map of NAFA's location. Of course, without the map I would still know how to get there since I pass by NAFA every Sunday. Still, it is only considerate to do so. When I was informed of MOE's approval (on the very day of MOE's interview), the lady on the phone casually asked me if I knew where NAFA was and when I said I did, she went, "Oh good, then I no need to put map liao."
5) When I called NAFA this evening, the lady on the other side was impatient. I had meant to clarify the matter stated in Clause 2 above. I had to ask a series of idiot-proof questions to get some answers. In the end, it was clear that my 3rd hypothetical reason was correct. The Theory paper and practical test would be held on the 20th of March (tomorrow), and the interview was an entirely separate thing. That in turn raised another question, what time's the practical?! She told me that I would be informed after the Theory paper. I couldn't believe that the procedure was would be so shoddily carried out so I repeated my question and she more than unhappily repeated her answer.
I'll continue about other stuff later. Tired now.
Anyway, banged around on the piano just now. I hate practicing for something, for exams, practicals or in this case, NAFA auditions. Stupid MOE teamed up with Stupid NAFA, what a wonderful combination. About a week ago MOE sent me a sloppy email (less than two days before the interview day) about the interview. Although I'm online almost every night I don't check my mail that often. Luckily I did so that night at about 9pm and replied to confirm that I had received it. The girl in-charge later called me at about 9.15 and told me, "Oh see, I'm still in the office coz you didn't reply." like it's my bloody fault they were so sloppy in handling such important stuff. Do they realise the conventional PHONE, SNAIL MAIL or even FAX are more reliable than email? With the phone I would get the message straight, SNAIL MAIL could be sent by registered post so there would be no discrepancy about having received it. FAX machines generate reports (like receipts) to show whether a message has been sent and received. And today, I just received the bloody mail from NAFA telling me about the interview tomorrow. You know what's the joke?
Now; please dear friends, do be patient with me because I am going to really nit-pick this haphazardly written letter.
Excerpt from the letter:
"Date : 20 march 2003 (Thursday)
Time : 10.00 am to 12 noon (Theory paper), and followed by a practical test and interview in the morning of 24/3/03 (Monday)
1) A letter should only address ONE thing at a time. But in this case, the could have added extra information on a separate sheet of paper, or, simply state it in a new paragraph. It is unprofessional to mention an "official" date under the Date column then throw in another date under Time.
2) Look at the first half of the Time info. "10.00 am to 12 noon (Theory paper), and followed by a practical test and interview..." Now, upon reading this, one would register in their mind that after the Theory paper, there would also be a practical test and interview on the SAME day. BUT, BUT, BUT... if you continue reading, "....and interview in the morning of 24/3/03 (Monday)" would suggest even though technically the practical test and interview would follow the Theory paper, they would be held in the morning of 24/3/03 (Monday). So... the question is, are the practical test and interview held after the Theory paper? OR, are they held in the morning of 24/3/03, in which case the "followed" was merely in a "so to speak" manner? AND, there's more! If you were to really be picky like me... another reasoning could be that the the practical test is right after the Theory paper while the interview is in the morning of 24/3/03, in which case the word "followed" still stands since both practical and interview are indeed, still effectively AFTER the Theory paper. The only idiot conclusion I could arrive at after debating is that the the Theory is held on 20 March 2003 for certain. (Any fool could see that)
3) Nowhere in the letter did they mention details of the audition. I know that scales, sight-reading, aural skills and contrasting pieces are standard requirements of most auditions. But that is not a reason to assume everyone knows and leave out such details. Roughly what standard should the pieces be? Some people consider grade 8 and above as advanced, but for me, I think of the piece first. "Contrasting" is pretty vague. Contrast in what? Style? Period? Mood? Tempi? Furthermore, I believe there are some music institutions which insist the student present at least one Baroque piece, and often state J.S. Bach specifically.
4) It was terrible that they did not include a map of NAFA's location. Of course, without the map I would still know how to get there since I pass by NAFA every Sunday. Still, it is only considerate to do so. When I was informed of MOE's approval (on the very day of MOE's interview), the lady on the phone casually asked me if I knew where NAFA was and when I said I did, she went, "Oh good, then I no need to put map liao."
5) When I called NAFA this evening, the lady on the other side was impatient. I had meant to clarify the matter stated in Clause 2 above. I had to ask a series of idiot-proof questions to get some answers. In the end, it was clear that my 3rd hypothetical reason was correct. The Theory paper and practical test would be held on the 20th of March (tomorrow), and the interview was an entirely separate thing. That in turn raised another question, what time's the practical?! She told me that I would be informed after the Theory paper. I couldn't believe that the procedure was would be so shoddily carried out so I repeated my question and she more than unhappily repeated her answer.
I'll continue about other stuff later. Tired now.