First full week of school

The week of August 24th to 28th was my first full week of school. My school is so different from any other school I've been to that there is still a lot to get used to. It's so big that I don't know much beyond the second floor where I have my music classes, the cafeteria on the first floor and on the third floor I'm lost. It's hard to find someone unless they're in your class because there are no common breaks, for everyone has their own schedule. The cafeteria is open for lunch between 10:15 and 12:45 when you can come and go and eat as much as you want. On Monday, We, my music class and I, had our little concert which we've been preparing since Thursday. It went well. I played the melody on trumpet in "Dihndi", the piano accompaniment in "Pride, (In the Name of Love)" and the piano and trumpet in "Stayn' Alive". The audience was the 2 classes in the younger grade of the music program. they were a dead audience, sitting there like stones the whole time. But we were having fun, rocking out on stage. Tuesday was an activity day, so we can bond with our classmates, get to know the other kids in the music program and have some fun before the regular classes start. It was a hike along a skiing trail mapped out by the teachers with questions to answer along the way. It would have been more fun if it hadn't been so long, or so hot or had some sort of bathroom facility. But it wasn't all bad, I was in a nice group and the forest we were walking through was beautiful, I can't wait to ski along the trail. We hiked up a small mountain to the top where they gave us lunch and the view of the harbour, that we had up there, was breathtaking. Wednesday was our first day of regular classes. Everyone, but me, got their schedules. I figured out which music classes I want to take, music, music theory, jazz, choir, trumpet and piano lessons, then I wrote down a request for the other random classes I want to take such as cooking, a computer course, traditional handicrafts, history and Swedish. Since I'm a special case, not taking the mandatory core classes, they are still fitting it together and I should get my schedule some time this week. In the mean time, I can go to which ever classes I want. So Wednesday, I followed my classmates to their classes and read a book because all the classes were in Swedish. All they really talked about in class was their schedules, the courses they need to take to graduate and what choices they have after high school, so I didn't miss much. Thursday, was a more interesting day, I had some classes in the morning which I read my book during or slept, but then at 11 o'clock, I left the school to play in a low brass concert. The concert was made up of Anna and I both playing tuba, a trumpet, trombone and alto horn played by music instructors from the Blaspopperna band. We had the concert in an elementary school for some grade 3 kids. We played songs from kids' TV shows like Pippi Longstockings and the Flintstones, which had all the singing along. The point of the concert was raise kids' interest in playing low brass instruments. Later that day, we had our first Blaspopperna band practice and I met some of the kids from the previous weekend's camping trip. I met my new trumpet, Lars, teacher and we set up lessons for Tuesdays. Friday, I had my first Swedish lesson at school. It's very nice, casual class, there's only one other student in the class, Jessica, a girl from Germany who is here for 6 months. We are at about the same level of Swedish so we don't have to go through the basics again. Afterwards, I had a choir lesson and besides sitting in the wrong place and starting at the wrong ques because the instructions were given in Swedish, it went well. The song we are practicing is in English, Early Autumn, so I was able to participate. After choir, my classmates dispersed to their separate courses so I didn't have any more classes that day. I went to the cafeteria and had lunch with 2 girls from the mechanics program. They were very interesting to talk to and gave me a tour of their machining lab and welding lab. Later they went home and I went into an interior design and textiles class that had several large wooden looms. I was curious to see how they worked so the teacher gave me a demonstration. When I get my schedule, I might see if I can fit in some time for weaving. That evening, Marita came back from a 2 day conference and Hakan came back from a 4 day meeting in Russia, so we had a nice family evening.