Orientation week

Friday 8/19/11 - Leave Harrisonburg and drive a long time

Saturday 8/20/11 - Arrive in Bloomington and unload at apartment

Sunday 8/21/11 - Visit Evangelical Community Church

Monday 8/22/11 - Beginning of orientation; Written theory and Aural theory entrance exams

Tuesday 8/23/11 - 2 Music History exams and Sight-singing exam

Wednesday 8/24/11 - Register for classes

This past Friday, my parents, Claire, and I drove for nearly 10 hours (after Claire and I drove for 2 from Harrisonburg) to get to southern Indiana where we stayed at a hotel for the night. We resumed the last couple hours of our drive in the morning when we finally reached my apartment in Bloomington. Fortunately, I live really close to the school of music, so it's only a 5 minute bike ride and maybe a 10 minute walk. My place is pretty sufficient for a single: just a living room space with a kitchen and my bedroom. Jonathan came on Saturday afternoon with the Lo van carrying the majority of my things--thank you!

Bloomington is very much a college town. It's pretty evident wherever you go. Then again, I have not been to very many different parts of town. The downtown area is pretty neat, though. I have been in the habit of going to a particular shop to borrow the wireless connection there. Internet in the evenings has been my respite. I'm still trying to figure out what business I need to take care of here. It's hard to keep track.

The campus is beautiful. The architecture is remarkably attractive for a college campus and creates somewhat of an ivy league impression. That was an unexpected bonus. Perhaps it feels a little too quadrilateral, but nevermind...

Orientation has been somewhat of an information overload, with the different meetings to cover what should be done and with test-preparation/test-taking over the past few days. I'm glad to have passed all of them, and as a result, I won't have to take any remedial classes. I've got 11 credits signed up for this fall: piano literature of 1850 to present, survey of operatic literature, accompanying, and piano lessons.

Otherwise, it has been hard to transition from a place of familiarity and friendship developed over 5 critical years (of growth) to a place where none of that is here--miss you all. The days have been feeling pretty long with my not having classes, my running back and forth to take care of miscellaneous errands, and my not knowing many people or this place very well. I just want the semester of classes to start so I can get some direction from my lessons.