IHS Brisbane '06
IHS was really good. Will hopefully upload photos when I transfer them off my sister's laptop yup. Meanwhile pics can be found here! Currently my com hangs like mad when I attempt to open any photo folder. Met Ying Jing [next year's chair, congrats!] at kino today, we were talking for quite a long while. We miss symposium!!! The feeling of just being able to play bells the entire day- you wake up, go for morning rehearsal, have morning tea, more rehearsals, lunch, bell workshops, afternoon tea, more workshops, dinner, night bell concerts, then go back and shower and sleep (and revise scores) and when you wake up in the morning it's more bells! You just want to spend your life ringing, as Ying Jing and I agreed. Quite a bunch of the Japanese ringers are still on bell tour, they're in New Zealand til Thurs or so then going elsewhere. Is their summer break now. [Does anyone know when their school year starts/ends btw? After summer break, or start of the year?]
Learnt many things at the workshops, though a few were boring-ish. Ringing musically with stopped sounds was enlightening! Have been malleting wrong nearly all my ringing life!! Am supposed to mallet closest to the lip of the bell, not nearer the middle! Because the waist and the lip produce different tones! Twelve tones apart, to be exact. Ie a D4 bell produces a D4 sound near the top, and an A5 sound at the waist. Never knew this *_* Advanced treble bell techniques was very useful- I totally want to learn how to play crazy insane treble parts! So many things you can do with the treble bells goshhh! The flick inwards circle, flick from the turned up damping position, do a PROPER four in hand... Only it needs practice practice practice, which I can't do 'cause well, no bells in the vicinity D: D: D: D: and no songs to practice them for D: Corinne's right, we do graduate before we reach our peak. Meanwhile Hakuoh University Handbell Choir is darn frikkin good!!! I googled them and found out that they've performed before the Emperor and Empress of Japan O_OO_OO_O like zohmygosh emperor and empress of japan? *_**_**_* When they play you can hear the melody clearly, you can hear the accompaniment clearly, and the bass malleting part was fantastic O_O It's insane I really don't think any of us (raffles ringers) can currently mallet that steadily that fast. Much, MUCH practice. Also they have a C2 bell!!! Is GINORMOUS I will totally upload a picture when Akiko sends me the one she took of me holding it! Incidentally I cannot ring it. It is uber bombing big la the circumference is huge and I try to ring it but the clapper refuses to move. So demoralising ;_; The Jap choirs are all really good- their playing is very together and the melody comes out clearly! Akiko gave me her school badge but after hearing their choir play I was embarrassed about wearing it X_X Japan has the second largest ringer population in the world, I say! Handbell Ringers of Japan [HRJ]!!! I wear my HRJ collarpin to school. As mastah smartly said, it's only a letter off from RJ anyway >D And I got it from the HRJ president himself *_*
Made lots of new friends! Very mostly Japanese, I'm not biased at all la. So now I email Akiko in my somewhat broken Japanese and she emails me in her somewhat broken English! My Japanese totally improved at Symposium; nearly everything had a translator so the Jap people could understand. Am going for HRJ 30th year Anniversary Festival if everything works out, is another Symposium-like thing but over a weekend in November in Fukuoka- *_**_**_* Will be able to see the Jap people again! Am currently going quite alone, I fear myself getting lost in my music too often because my sight-reading sucks too much and there's no one I'm familiar with to point me at the right bars! [Sight-reading and confusing rhythms are the banes of my ringing life!] And I do hope everything is not conducted solely in Japanese! They still have school in November, I want to crash one of my friend's schools and go to school with them for a bit! Only most of the Jap friends I made are either 20+ and working or from Hakuoh Uni, which is a Business and Law School D: don't know the high school girls well enough to crash theirs, and the other person I got to know well enough is a guy! Crash his school?
Takahiro >_<
I think this trip really helped point me in a what-i'm-really-interested-in direction, and got me really re-thinking future options again. Been thinking of going to a UK or perhaps US Uni and doing a couple of terms in Japan, but now there is the Jap Uni option too! [I actually just want to transfer there now now nowww I say somewhat impulsively, and do high school in Japan but never mind that. Oh such base life here in comparison!] But on interests- mostly I am too passive, unsure of what I like and don't. But oh, this I want to do. Ring! There is such life in front of us! Our entire lives, ready to be lain before our feet. And oh, responsibilities. Rules, away! Purvis' influence pervades!
Does anyone know what date JLPT is end of this year!