jill.musick

My senior year in high school, I played Respighi’s ‘Pines of Rome’ with the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra. The music I played 6 or 7 years ago was still vivid in my mind as I accompanied the senior class of BFA to Rome. Though I am now miles away from Elgin, the music which once drew my imagination to faraway lands continues to play in my mind as I cross the threshold of imagination into real, solid places, separated by the mere veil of time from the history I once pictured.

The pine cone doesn't fall far from the pine tree.

Throughout the week, I noticed the wonderful aroma of the pines surrounding every major sight. It was easy to see why Respighi was so inspired by these majestic trees dotting the ancient ruins of the once-great city.

Pines around the ruins of an amphitheater

The first movement of Respighi’s work is called Pines of the Villa Borghese. While we didn’t actually visit the upper-class village (Borghese means Bourgeois, or upper class), we did visit the Ostia Antica, which is a set of ruins of an entire city. As we walked by ancient homes, I could almost hear the games of ancient Roman children playing outside with birds calling to one another in the pines above. It was quite funny – I took a break from walking around and just rested on the ground, looking up at the trees. I could hear some distinctive bird calls, and they may have been some of the same ones Respighi imagined for this movement!

Beautiful pine with some cheerful birds

Our own kids playing under the pines (with fellow sponsors Valerie and Jill supervising the mischief)

The second movement is Pines of the Catacombs. We had the privilege of visiting the largest catacombs. It was a moving experience. It was started with two Roman soldier martyrs. Early Christians used to meet in the catacombs because they were underground and therefore safer to conceal their worship when it was illegal to be a Christian. They were not, however, used as hiding places. The atmosphere was somewhat somber, as Respighi depicts in his composition. Yet for the early church, it was a place of hope.  They were anticipating resurrection; in fact, catacombs were called dormitories because the inhabitants were only “sleeping.”

Catacombs to the left!

The third movement is called Pines of the Janiculum. The Gianicolo is a hill with a temple for a Roman god Janus. Though we did not go there on the Rome trip, we did see the Pantheon. Romans collected various gods and worshiped them all in this temple. They added Jesus as one of the gods to be worshiped, but eventually the Catholic church made it into a basilica. The architecture of the building is fascinating – perfectly cubic dimensions, with a half sphere from the inside. It has quite a different history than the catacombs!

Pantheon

At the triumphal arches, my thoughts were drawn to the compelling 4th movement – Pines of the Appian Way. I could almost hear the moans of the slaves and the trumpets of the victorious Romans as I walked down the pine-lined road toward the arch. This arch was right next to the Colosseum.

Triumphal Arch

When an emperor went out conquering other people, he would take a bunch of spoil and slaves. He and his generals would parade the conquered slaves into town with incense, cheering, trumpets, and a good ole’ hullabaloo.

Tour guide Mario explains the significant of the Triumphal Arch

Paul mentioned the triumphal procession in relation to our standing with God. 2 Corinthians 2:14 says, “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.”

So basically, God is the great emperor who went out and conquered our nation. We as people can fall on two sides – those slaves who are going to be put to death as part of the victorious celebration of Christ’s victory, or those who share in His victory. That can either be a pleasing aroma or the stench of death.

For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

There is much more to tell about the Rome trip, but for right now I need to get some sleep!

Sept. 16-18 was our annual Teacher Retreat. Normally, it’s geared toward teachers with a specific focus in mind, but this year it was open to all staff. Rather than focusing on teaching-specific professional development, the retreat was a jump-start into a year of thinking reflectively about personal development.

Staff gathered together in this room to think, reflect, and learn

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

I had taken the Myers-Briggs twice before, so I was not shocked to find out my personality type. For the initiated MBTI people, my personality type is INTJ.

For part of the time, we started reading a book on being healthy as a whole person. All the BFA staff will be going through the book this year.

We also had free time, during which I ran, did lesson plans, read a couple books, and took a nap. Some interesting photos from my run:

Mountains at sunrise - did I mention this retreat is in the Swiss Alps?

A family herding cattle down the road

The life of the shaggy Swiss mountain cowboy (or cow-man and cow-girl)

Glorious sunrise!

Budenfest is Kandern’s annual food stand festival. The BFA community and the German community both look forward to this 4-day event as good food and drink abound. See my posts from 2009 and 2010 for more info about Budenfest.

On Saturday, Stadtmusik Kandern played in the town square. As usual, we played before the Mayor gave his short speech and opened the beer keg. Drinks and good will flowed freely.

Can you spot me behind the tuba?

Free locally brewed beer for everyone

After running the half marathon last Sunday, Emily and I visited the booths to pick up some sustenance after our grueling run in the sun.

Emily chose Bratwurst. Yum!

I chose the Schweinehaxe - a large hunk of pork on the bone

Primitive meat calls for a hands-on approach to eating. Note: This photo was clearly staged. I did not eat the Schweinehaxe with such a frightening ferocity.

For dessert, we opted for the Strübli, or German funnel cakes. The fried doughy deliciousness topped with powdered sugar was quite satisfying.

Emily enjoyed the Strübli immensely.

Monday was the last day of the festival, so Emily, Emily, Kristi and I obtained dinner at Budenfest.

Emily Kremer and Kristi Dahlstrom

White Sausage and Soft Pretzel - typical food from Bavaria

Zwiebelwaie - a thin, crispy pizza crust topped with white sauce, onions, and bacon

After eating, we sat down and watched people before getting dessert.

This child was taking good care of his balloon animals

This boy repeatedly tossed objects into the street as unsuspecting pedestrians paraded down the way

People had some interesting dogs, too. This one looked like a cross between a canine and a bat.

When it was time for dessert, Kristi and Emily got a funnel cake.

Emily Kremer waits in excitement as her batter is fried

Yummy! Emily Kelly may or may not have helped herself to a few pieces of funnel cake...

Emily and I decided it was time to split a waffle drenched in chocolate sauce.

We may have to make these at home soon.

Emily give a Hi-5 to the modern art down the street from our house

It was a delicious evening, crowned with a beautiful sunset.

The sun sets above the ivy-covered walls

You may remember that last year I ran the Basel marathon. I’m not much of a racer; normally I just like to run long distances. The marathon was my way of officially marking that I had covered the distance of 26.2 miles, or 41k.

This year, I did not feel the need to prove to myself that I could run that distance, so I wasn’t planning on entering the race. Then a bunch of people at BFA decided to run the 1/6 marathon and 1/2 marathon, so I decided I would be a social racer and run with them on the half.

This crew arrived earlier in the morning to run a 7k, which is 1/6 of a marathon (except for Jenna on the left who arrived early to register for the 1/2)

Here is the half marathon group. From left to right: Me, Lizzy, Jenna, Emily, Lauren

Part of the fun of running this race was just running with friends. Emily, Lauren and I ran together for a good part of the race.

At the starting line, ready to get going

I enjoyed running around taking goofy pictures with Emily's camera. I think some of the other runners wondered why I was laughing so much.

We split up after a hill slowed part of the group down and gave another part a second wind.

Still together here - Lauren and I made a goofy face. Emily was in her zone and didn't realize I was taking a picture

Then Lauren and I ran together for the rest of the race. According to our official race times, we finished about 40 seconds apart, although I split off from her at 19 kilometers to sprint into the finish.

Emily came into the finish with a stylish heel-click, but I only caught the tail end of it on camera.

Coming in for landing

It was a hard race for all of us. We didn’t start until 11am, which meant we were running during the hottest part of a very hot, muggy day. But overall, it was good to run with friends.

My roommate Emily had her birthday a week and a half ago, so this is just a very late blog post about it.

A couple weeks before her birthday, Emily jokingly mentioned that she celebrates her birthday for an extended period of time each year. This year, she said she wanted to celebrate it for 2 weeks.

The week before her birthday, I started singing her ‘Happy Birthday’ in bits and pieces. The first day, it was just ‘Happy Birthday.’ The second day it was ‘Happy Birthday to you,’ and so on and so forth.

On her actual birthday, I taught my entire guitar class how to play ‘Happy Birthday’ on the guitar. We marched over to the Nurse’s Office with guitars in hand. Students in other classes stared out their doors, wishing they could go on a field trip with the cool guitar class.

We filed in and gave our first official performance to Emily. It was a stirring rendition of ‘Happy Birthday.’ At least it made Emily smile.

Emily is always excited to have visitors

Later that evening, I took Emily to dinner. She’s the adventurous type, so she tried something on the menu under the ‘beef’ section. The waitress asked if she knew what it was, and we said no. She then informed me (in German) that it was cow stomach, sliced into fine strips and served with sauce. Emily said she was ready to try something new, so she ordered it!

As a nurse, she was fascinated by the villi in the stomach lining. We both agreed that the flavor would have been better if the sauce had been creamier, because having a sour sauce reminds us of stomach acid. Other than the flavor of the sauce and the rubbery texture of cow stomach, it wasn’t so bad.

Emily smiles with her plate full of hash browns and cow stomach

But I did let her eat half of my sausage…

A good German meal: potatoes, green beans, and sausage topped with caramelized onions.

It was a day of firsts for Emily, and it was my first time knowing her on her birthday. I’m thankful for my roommate!

This week, Marit and I drove into Switzerland to pick up our rental string instruments. We crammed 5 cellos, 4 violins, and 2 violas into my room!

Instruments for both returning players and beginners!

Intermediate Orchestra and Band start tomorrow (Monday). Marit will be teaching the Beginning Orchestra on Tuesday mornings, and I’ll be taking care of the Beginning Band, which is currently two students: a trumpet and a flute. I’m excited for the new challenge, and grateful that Marit is here to teach the beginners!

In preparation for the upcoming week of school, 6 of us decided to get away and hike up to the castle ruins of Sausenburg to camp for the evening. Ok, it wasn’t really preparation… we just wanted the adventure.

Hiking up. Emily was actually flying - here she is in the Superman pose about to take off.

As we hiked up, we could see clouds gathering. We made a fire despite the foreboding rain clouds.

Collecting bark for the fire

Upon reaching the castle, we scaled the walls, set up the tent, and meandered around.

That little red speck on the wall on the right is me.

As the sky went dark, a few of us sat at the top  of the castle tower and watched the lightning show, God’s fireworks display.

Emily Kelly captured this electrifying moment. The lightning was probably somewhere over France or Switzerland.

When the rain finally came down, we decided it was time to retreat… into the cave of the castle!

Our head lamps provided an eerie light

We did Mad Libs, listened to jazz on Lexie’s speakers, and ate snacks. When the rain let up a bit, we dispersed to various places to sleep.

That's the cave. I slept in there. In the dirt. It was nice.

In the morning, we went up the tower, although we couldn’t see much of a sunrise.

Good morning!

Then we hiked down, showered, had coffee and crepes at Kristi’s place, and I made it to church in time to play violin for the service!

I’m afraid I will start taking it for granted that I live in such a wonderful place, full of forests and paths and castle ruins. I truly am blessed to be here, and even more blessed to have friends who share these memories.

It’s Friday night. We made it!

Monday: New Student/Parent Orientation.

I hung around the school getting ready for the week. Marit Swanson had arrived from Wheaton the day before, so I was showing her around. She is here to teach strings with me, and I am incredibly thankful she’s here!!!

Tuesday: Opening Ceremonies.

This is the day we kick off the school year. To start the day, however, I woke up at 5:45am and took my little brother David to the airport. The last remnant of family was gone!

Then I arrived at school at 8:15am to drop off ice cream for later and to help the seniors get in line with their flags. Every year, the seniors each carry one of the flags representing the countries the students are “from” – by passport, birth, or lived there at one time. As a senior class sponsor, I was a part of that process this year. Fellow sponsor Andrea Field and I collected the flags on the stage as they walked across.

She had wanted the American flag since elementary school

Korean boys

Excitement/nervousness for the entry into Seniorhood

Slovenian. And proud of it.

After the ceremony, I hunted down the keys to the middle school car while the high school students said goodbye to their parents (it reminded me of my tearful goodbye earlier that morning – I got choked up just watching them). The middle and elementary school students went to their respective campuses in Sitzenkirch and Wollbach. Read this blog post to find out about some of the moving process involved in changing campuses this summer!

Then the high schoolers had a meeting. Partway through this meeting, the head sponsor of the senior class began to feel sick due to the heat. I was called to the nurse’s office and got instructions on leading the senior class meeting that was to occur in 20 minutes.

So 20 minutes later, I led the Senior Class meeting. Actually, I delegated several different announcements, so it wasn’t a huge deal. My last announcement was pretty exciting, though. “Your sponsors love you sooo much, we got you ice cream!” The students cheered.

Then I ran upstairs and ate a quick lunch. Marit and I drove over to the middle school in Sitzenkirch (it’s awfully hard to get into reverse in the VW Golf…) with only minimal problems (I’m not sure whether or not I was speeding, since the spedometer didn’t work).

Ruth explains the student handbook and introduces extra-curricular activities

I was in charge of explaining all the musical activities, including Seussical the Musical, available to the middle school students. Unlike the high school extra-curricular time, there was no way for students to sign up for auditions immediately following the explanations. Marit and I left the sign-ups and information sheets in hopes that later in the day when they signed up, they would remember what to do. With a bit of guidance from their hard-working homeroom teachers, most of them managed to get their names on the right papers.

My jumbled notes. This is probably how the information appears to a middle school mind.

Upon my return to the high school campus, I had about 20 minutes to just sit and breathe. Then it was up and off to the races again. The high school had a quick run-through of the school schedule. Each class is 7 minutes long with 5 minute passing periods. This gives the students a chance to find their classrooms and meet their teachers. So I met my guitar students and found out why they want to take guitar (fun class, want to play for their friends, want to play worship music, etc.). Then a quarter of an hour later I met my orchestra class and found out what they did this summer (several beaches were involved – in Israel and Korea).

Then at the end of the day, we had auditions. Only a couple kids showed up for that one, so around 5:15 I finally left the school.

Emily saw me walking out of the school and said, “You look half alive. I’ll make you dinner.”

Thank you, Emily! The blueberry pancakes were great.

Wednesday: First Day of Classes.

In Guitar class, we had a short discussion on what it means to worship. I’m thankful I have this class 1st period – we get to do devotions each morning, and what a great class!

High School Orchestra was exciting – I have 2 cellists and 5 violinists in the class! It’s the biggest class in the school day I’ve had yet!

After school we had lots of auditions. Some were for pit orchestra, others were new students for lessons, and others were hoping to join an intermediate band or orchestra. I’m excited about how the pit orchestra is shaping up! Seussical will have a big supporting sound from the pit!

Thursday: A Normal Day.

Guitar, orchestra, and auditions. Same as yesterday.

Friday: First Weekend Starts.

After school today, we had Chillen & Grillen time at the high school. The kids played sweaty games in the gym, then game show / youth group type activities in the auditorium, then ate hot dogs and hamburgers. It’s a way for students to mingle. I also tracked down a few last violinists and ascertained their situation with regards to orchestras (aka I twisted their arms and told them they would never play an instrument again unless they joined…. just kidding!).

And now I’m going to lie down and watch a movie.