Fourth Week: West Coast Brass Band Contest

This week, the Brass Band Contest at the weekend stood in center of everything.
Tuesday: Today I had the last chance to practice at home before the contest. I got through my whole solo and thought about all the dynamics and rallentandos I want to do.
Wednesday: Because our teacher Ali wasn’t at school this morning, Diane told us the way Kiwis speak in everyday situations. It was pretty helpful and from now on I sound more like a kiwi. After school I had the second practice with my piano player. I went to her home after school and we discussed everything apart from practicing it. I felt pretty comfortable after that, and I had a chat with my piano player which was nice as well. After that I had a long evening free of every duty because I had already practiced.
Thursday: The last rehearsal with the Brass Band before the contest. After that I met my schoolmates at the royal pub. When I finally got home after several beers and a lot of ping pong, snooker and dancing it was half past 2.
Friday: No wonder that I felt pretty tired when I got up at half past seven, even earlier than normal, because I had to pack all the stuff I’d need at the weekend. Also concentration at school was difficult today. At 12:15, just when the school lesson had finished, I started my trip to Hokitika. Matt from the Brass Band came to the entrance of Nelson English Centre to pick me up. After picking up two other guys our party was complete and we got on the way to Hokitika. In Murchison we stopped for a little snack and something to drink. At quarter past five we finally reached the little tourist village on the west coast of New Zealand. Our hotel, the Beachfront, was just 50 meters from the coast and the weather, which is known as the worst in New Zealand was just wonderful today. While travelling we had seen a beautiful sunset. After the first beer in the bar just under the hotel, we ate tea in the local pool club. After checking some other bars we finally got back to the Hotel. Because I hadn’t had enough sleep the night before I went to bed already at half past eleven.
Saturday: After some orange juice for breakfast we had a marching practice, by the way the first with no absences. At 11:30 we lined up at the start of the marching course with the other five bands. I gave Joe, our conductor, who didn’t play with us my camera to take some pictures during the course. The funniest thing was the massed band marching the course back, with a march I had never seen before. It was just great to march with so many people together, lead by the New Zealand Army Band Drill Instructor. At the end of the course, we were welcomed by a local politician.

4. Week

After a sandwich and a drink, I went for a nap to be ready for the Intermediate Slow Melody Contest. When I got to the venue, a little cinema, which was just a big room with a beamer and some Armchairs and Couches. I was the first person to start at two o’clock. Asking the people there, where the warm-up room was, a lady showed me to the back of the house. So I warmed up between the house and a shed full of everything you can imagine. Bikes, tools and a lot of waste. A man, who heard me, offered me then a band-room for warm-up. This is something unimaginable in Switzerland, but that’s just the way people on the west coast are: relaxed. And that’s probably why I could play my solo pretty relaxed. I just had fun and could present the jury a pretty good version of “Demelza”. To my surprise I won the intermediate slow melody competition. There were only four people participating in this section, but one of them was a professional, so I was very ecstatic (thrilled).I was now hearing other solos and recognized that in the regent theatre, the other venue, everything played was recorded. I talked to the soundperson and she offered me to record my solo as well, if I had my pianist and wanted to play it again here. But I didn’t have the time now. I got back to the Hotel for the band practice for the contest in the early evening, which consisted of a hymn, “in perfect peace”, the stage march, we played “Barnard Castle“ and the test piece, which was “Variations on laudate dominum”. We were able to present the jury in the Regent a pretty good version of the three pieces. I went back to the hotel to change clothes and went out eating with Adrian, which plays the trombone and two people from Blenheim, 17year old Hanna and her mother. We ate in an Indian restaurant and I really liked the food there so I pigged out. It was just good fun to talk to these people and not only speak English but also enjoy their company. While her mother got back to her hotel, we got back to our hotel with Hanna and talked a lot about the army band and other things. I agreed to go over to Blenheim one day to take part in a rehearsal with the Air Force Band. After accompanying Hanna to the hotel where the Blenheim people were staying, I heard Liz playing in her Room. When she saw me, she just asked me a question about a piece we would play at the Sunday entertainment contest. I began to explain her and asked her, how long she had been playing for. She said only for one and a half year and she had only 4 lessons until now. I started to explain her some music theory and I offered her to give her a lesson. She agreed thankfully and she said she would tell me, when she had the time. She can’t at all times, because of her family and the according duties. As she wanted to sleep, I met the other people from the band in the bar in the ground floor of the hotel. When it closed, we went on in the bar opposite of our hotel, where a live band played, unfortunately deafening and making every conversation impossible. But I enjoyed it still and Patrick from Christchurch offered me to stay at his house, when I’ll go to Christchurch to hear the nationals. He also said I could join a practice with the army band, where he plays professionally.
Sunday: Timetable today: getting up at nine o’clock, leaving the hotel room by 10 and band practice at 11 o’clock. Between that I heard two quintets and some soloists in the air and variations competition. At about one o’clock in the afternoon we had to present our 30 minutes entertainment show. Once again I felt that we played better than in every rehearsal before, but perhaps it was just the feeling to play in this pretty big regent theatre. In every case I was pretty happy about it. After hearing the other bands and the band results I had to say goodbye to all my new friends. And once again I got offered to play along in a band practice; it was Chris, who invited me to Blenheim to have a practice with the Marlborough District Brass Band, an A-grade band, which means a really good band. I could also probably play at the nationals with them, but they already have enough tenor horns and perhaps it’s better for me to just go and listen at the nationals. I’ll have more freedom and no duties this way. The weekend was finished with a really nice talk during the trip back to nelson. Because Matt had already left earlier, I travelled with Peter Goodman, the Euphonium player of the Nelson Band, my horn-section mate Sue and the second lady who had accompanied other people at the solo contests. We just laughed about everything and enjoyed the English language, which meant that they said some usual expressions that don’t make sense logically. The dinner in Greymouth by the way was the first thing I ate today. So I had been starving and was pleased that the others wanted to go to a restaurant. Back home at quarter past ten I was exhausted and went quickly to bed.

Third week

Sorry for being late, but finally the third week is online... Monday was pretty usual, so i start with Tuesday: Today I met Rosie after school. We went to cinema together. Unfortunately she had to do homework and wanted to be at home already at half past eight, but it was a nice evening anyway.
Wednesday: The Yoga class after school was unfortunately cancelled. So I got home earlier than I expected and began practicing with my instrument early.
Thursday: Today we made a little movie in the afternoon class. We were re-enacting a TV-Show. We had two reporters, one sports-anchor, the weather-guy and me, the anchor. Our teacher Sarah recorded the whole story with the digital camera. If my classmates let me, I’ll put the video on the Blog, but perhaps they won’t. After school I went to the salsa class for the third time. It was fun, and I decided to go out dancing tonight after my Brass Band rehearsal. It was really strange, when I got to the dance club. There was only the light of the emergency exits and music from a battery-powered cd-player. While I was looking for people from school dancing on the dance floor, a guy talked to me and immediately recognized me as a Swiss person because of my accent. It turned out, that he was a guy from Switzerland who settled down to New Zealand six years ago. He, Carlo, is also a student of Catherine, our Salsa-Teacher and felt that I was a little bit lost, because I didn’t know anybody in the bar. So I started to talk to him and he introduced me to other students from Catherine. In the end it turned out, that my home, which is 40 minutes walk from the bar, is on his way home, and that’s why Carlo could give me a lift and I didn’t have to walk. Awesome.
Friday: After school (which finished at quarter past twelve, as usual for Fridays) I went with some other students and our teacher sarah to a thai-restaurant for lunch. The food there was really delicious, and I cost only nine NZ Dollar. Comparing to Switzerland really cheap. And because they knew we’re from the Nelson English Centre they even brought us free coke. At half past one, I met our teacher Ali and other students for an op-shop and second-hand-shop tour. Op-shops are shops similar to second-hand shops, but the difference is, that people who work in an op-shop are volunteers and everything to be sold is spent from people who doesn’t need it anymore. That’s why the shirt I bought was only four dollars. And the money raised by the op-shops goes to charity. After the shopping tour I got home and baked another lemon-cake. I took it with me to the social salsa dance this evening. First I wanted to go on foot, but as my host mother Jude heard it, she thought it would be too far away and she finally drove me there. I really enjoyed this evening and met a lot of new people, all Catherine’s students. The only pity was, that I didn’t understand “BYO”, means Bring Your Own, and the other people understood that as bring your own alcohol. But Catherine told me everybody will bring something to share, and that’s why I baked the cake. But never mind, I finally got some wine from one of the others, I felt just a bit silly. After dancing, especially with my dance classmate Mayumi, I went to a Pub in Nelson, together with Carlo, and enjoyed freestyle-dancing J. After that, I was able to go home with him, as the day before.
Saturday: Today I slept in. Perhaps it’s a bit unusual for New Zealand, because I felt, that my host parents were a bit surprised by it. So I got up at half past eleven and ate something before going to the band rehearsal at quarter to one. At one o clock I first practiced my solo with the piano player and the Band rehearsal followed at half past one. Today the people from Christchurch who are going to help us out for the contest, had come, and it was really great to play with them. I found that the whole band sounded much better and so I enjoyed the practice until half past five accordingly. Our Solo Trombone told us after the practice, that he’s going to play with the Nelson Symphony Orchestra at the Nelson School of Music this evening. That’s why I only went home for dinner and then went to the City again. And what a surprise! While standing in the queue for tickets, my salsa-partner Mayumi appeared with her host mother and host brother, because her host father was one of the violin players. It was really nice to meet these people and talk to them. We finally realised that my friend and bandmate Christoph from Switzerland will be living with them. Due to the lots of people I met I found someone to take me home and again I didn’t have to walk.
Sunday: The Band rehearsal started today already at ten o’clock. And because he had to be in the City already a bit earlier, Peter Goodman, the guy who had been giving me a lift for the last rehearsals, dropped me off at the band room already at half past nine. Enough time for me to have a serious warm-up. After some practice, we ate a pot luck lunch (lunch by sharing food brought from everyone). A great choice of different things came together, and I stuffed myself. But after lunch we only had to practice marching, so it wasn’t too bad. When I got home at half past two I felt terribly tired and lying on my bed I fell asleep very soon. Then I spent Sunday evening again blogging and chatting with my mother.

Second Week

Monday: Today I rode to school with my bike. A helmet, which is compulsory, and a lock, I got from my homestay family. Today, a new student from South Korea, Pil, joined our class. After school I went home pretty fast to write my Blog for the last week.
Tuesday: In our morning classes we had the first part of a series of tests to look at our English improvement. This test takes place every six weeks, so it was the first time for me. After school I was pretty tired and slept for half an hour. Then I begun to write all words which were new for me in a book. Like this I can better revise them. After watching TV I practiced Tenor Horn for a little while and then watched the “Step Up” DVD. It was then after midnight, when I got to bed, but despite this I couldn’t sleep. So I begun to read the book I borrowed from school, Jules Vernes “Around the World in Eighty Days”.
Wednesday: Today we finished the series of tests with the listening and conversation-tests. When school was finished I joined the yoga-class for the first time. It was pretty exhausting. But I hope, that’s normal for the first time. After dinner I first wanted to join the youth group of the church, but I was a bit late and finally decided not to go. Next weekend probably.
Thursday: Our afternoon class was the last one with Tim, because he is going to leave us and goes back to England, where he comes from. Today I had the second salsa-lesson. It was pretty good, I felt I already danced better than the first time J. Probably still “not so good”, but I was happy. After the Brass Band rehearsal tonight I wanted to go dancing with some other students, because every Thursday we meet at the Little Rock, a dance club in Nelson. Unfortunately I didn’t bring my passport and so I couldn’t stay there (I could get in because there had been no one at the doors when I had come). The police must be pretty strict here. But I can still go next week. That doesn’t matter anyway, because there was only my salsa teacher and no other students. Still, I was a little bit disappointed.
Tim and John...Tim and me... Friday: This lunchtime I spent, like Tuesday and Wednesday with three Asian girls. It was pretty funny, but a bit special for me. I don’t know what they think of me, perhaps it’s just the different cultures. In the afternoon I got home and slept a little bit. Then I went on reading my book.
Saturday: I didn’t do a lot of things today. I just went to the supermarket to buy the things I needed to bake a cake and after that, I went running. It was a pretty long course, it took me about one hour and fifty minutes, and I was pretty tired after it. I first wanted to go out tonight, but because Marc didn’t want to, and because I still was tired from my run, I stayed at home.
Sunday: This morning I went to church. It was once again a good chance to meet other Kiwis. And I saw Rosie again, the girl I already met a week ago. We talked a lot together and Jude, Ralph and Ashley had to wait for me to go back home. Finally we arranged to meet on Tuesday. I’m looking forward to meeting her again and I’m curious what it'll be like. Between the church and the brass band rehearsal I baked a cake for Jude, because it’s mother’s day and she, of course, is my hostmother. The band practice started again with marching, but then it started to rain and we went inside the rehearsal room to go on. In the evening I chatted with my mum and updated my blog with these lines.
The cake a baked for Jude...Jude and "her" cake...

First week

I arrived in Nelson on Sunday evening shortly after eleven o’clock. Jude Green, my host mother, was already waiting for me. In fact, it was the second time she had driven to the airport already, because she naturally thought the plane would be on time. Then she was informed about the delay and went home once again. When I arrived in Blenheim, I called her and she could imagine what time we would arrive in Nelson. I was really happy to be at the end of my journey after such a long time. All in all, I arrived in my “new” home (21c Paremata Street, Atawhai, 7071 Nelson, New Zealand) about 42 hours after my departure from my “old” home. So I was pretty tired, but happy to be there. I talked a little bit with my new family and then went to bed.
View from my room...Interior of my room...

- Monday: For my first day, Jude drove me to school, so I didn’t have to look for it. I first was introduced to some important people at school, and then Marlene, the registrar, showed me the rooms that belong to the school. The rooms are in two buildings. Uptown, were the office is, and Lambretta’s, where the rooms are above a café called like that. At 9:45 I joined the morning class leaded by Ali, a teacher from Scotland. In my morning class there are eight students. Two from Taiwan, Jane and John, two from South-Korea, Eunji and Charles, Laura from Columbia, Keiko from Japan and Michel and me from Switzerland. I spent lunchtime with some other students in Uptown, I just bought some bread and a Hot-Dog for today. From now on I’ll take something with me, like the other students do. I.e. instant soup or Noodles. In our afternoon-class we were only three students. Charles, Michel and Me. We have a real funny teacher, Tim, from England. After school, Jude came to pick me up and show me some places in the city. Then we went home. I spent the evening with talking to my new family but was tired very soon and went to bed early.

- Tuesday: Today I took the Bus to school. I already told my host family that I would like to ride a bike to school, but they didn’t have a bike for me, so I should buy or borrow one. My morning classes begin at 9 a.m. and finish quarter past 12 a.m. The afternoon classes are from 1.15 p.m. to 3.15 p.m. After school I stayed in school because there’s wireless internet. The evening was about the same as yesterday. I got tired very fast. Perhaps still the jet-lag.

- Wednesday: Today I went shopping after school. I bought a Vodafone prepaid card, because I think that’s cheaper than always using my Swiss card. After that I went to the library and looked for a book recommended by Ali, but unfortunately the book was already borrowed. I went to the supermarket to buy some instant soups and noodles. At the same time Jude was at the supermarket too, so she gave me a lift home.

- Thursday: After school I joined the Salsa Dance Class. It was really funny and it’s an opportunity to be able to learn Salsa Dancing for free. This one hour practice seemed to be over just after we had begun. Tonight the first Brass Band rehersal was on my programme. Andrew Clark, the person I had contacted already from Switzerland, picked me up and drove me to the band room. It was great to socialize with so many Kiwis. After the practice I signed up for the Slow Melody Contest in Hokitika. In this town, the West Coast Brass Band Contest will take place as well, where the Nelson City Brass Band takes part. I also agreed to play in a quintet for the contest. After the practice I got a uniform and everything I’ll need for the contest.

- Friday: Today I only had school lessons in the morning. At eleven o’clock we said goodbye to the leaving students. One of them was Jane from our class. In the afternoon I updated my blog about the journey. After that I went shopping with Charles and got home then. Today and also yesterday I walked to school. It took me about 40 Minutes one way.

- Saturday: What a beautiful day. There were absolutely no clouds and it was pretty clear. When I ran to the Centre of New Zealand, I took some pictures. One of them is now my Desktop-Background:

When I got back home, I talked to Marc, he showed me his boat (not the one on the picture...), his car and his rifle and then we went to the city in his car. He showed me around a bit and bought a newspaper for me, where I found an advertisement for a Bike. In the afternoon I called the owner of the bike, who was an old man, and then Marc drove me to his house and I finally bought the bike. From now on, I can go to school by bike. In the evening I wanted to practise and watch a film, but I was simply too tired and went to bed very early.

- Sunday: Today I went to Church (Atawhai Community Church) with Jude, Ashley and Ralph. After that we spent lunchtime at the pastors house. This is not normal, but today a pastor from England was here and that’s why the local pastor invited us for lunch. In the afternoon I had a band practice. Today we started with street marching, because we’ll have to do that on the contest as well. When I got home, Ralph cooked spaghetti Bolognese for me. Fortunately I don’t have to wash my clothes on my own, because I found the clothes I wore this week on my bed. Jude had washed them. In the evening I watched a bit of TV and went to bed, once again pretty early.

Journey

So, here I am, finally, in Nelson!
My travel to New Zealand started very stressful. As I'm always doing, I didn't expect it would take me so long to prepare all my baggage. In the end I was very glad my father helped me to pack all the stuff i prepared into my backpack. If he hadn't helped me, I definitely would have had a big problem. It was not only my father, but also my mother who supported me very well. I wish to thank them for everything they have done for me, I really appreciated it. When I was going to the airport by train, my home said goodbye to me with a beautiful sundown and a great atmosphere.Also, my father accompanied me to the airport and helped me with all the luggage. Concerning luggage: I was really happy that I could take all my stuff with me without paying any fee. The allowed weight was 20 kg luggage and 7 kg hand luggage. Unfortunately I read something different in the internet and just packed all the stuff I wanted. At the end I had 27.5 kg lugagge and exactly 7 kg hand lugagge, but fortunately an overweight of 8 kg was allowed. :-)Now I was ready for the first step out of switzerland. Unfortunately the space for my legs was a bit limited, but apart from that i had a great flight to Dubai.
Here's what they offered us to eat:I never ate in an airplane before, but I think it tasted good.In Dubai I had to wait a couple of hours for my following flight to Auckland, with a stopover in Melbourne. I was not sure where everything is, but finally I found the right gate and the right airplane. The upcoming flight till Melbourne was about 18 hours. After watching films, sleeping and eating we finally had a save landing in Melbourne. Here I had to go out of the plane, pass the security and wait for the boarding time for the following flight to Auckland. Here I had to take all my luggage and move it from the international airport to the domestic airport. Now my overweight was going to be a problem. But tired from the long flight I decided to just pay $20 overweight fee. ( Allowed would have been 3 kg, and every kg above costs $5).Now it would take only one hour and twenty minutes to my destination Nelson. But unfortunately the flight was delayed more than an hour. The plane should have started at 4:20 PM but when the plane took off, it was nearly 6 o'clock.
Also the weather was not very friendly and when we were on the runway, it even begun to rain.
If there hadn't been any clouds, I would have had a beautiful view on my flight. Even though there was a beautiful scenery above the clouds.

When we flew above Nelson, there was unfortunately fog and mist. After two tries to land, the pilot decided to land in Blenheim, where the next airport was. So we landed in Blenheim and went to Nelson by Bus. After some time and 120 km we finally arrived in Nelson about 11 o'clock in the evening. According to the plan we should had landed in Nelson at 20 to five :-(. The main thing is we got there without any damage, we had just to cope with the time-delay.