Sorry for the delay between posts - after the excitement of our Silver medal in Cincinnati, we had an early rise and a day of travelling to get to San Francisco.
To be fair, the organisation of the World Choir Games was exceptional - the only thing that hampered events was the heat, but that was managed as best they could. Most buses we travelled on were air conditioned, the buildings also and the organisers made sure there was water available all the time.
To our beautiful guides, Scott, Janice and Virginia (and Janice's husband Rocky) - we thank you so much - you took care of anything we requested (must have thought these Aussies are hard work!) and your care and love shown was amazing. We miss you so much already and want you to come visit us in Australia!
The organisers even had someone in the lobby making sure our bus arrived and loaded our bags onto the bus - and at the airport there were guides everywhere helping us along the way! Exceptional!
Interesting thing about American airports - massive security - we all were body screened for a domestic flight! But on the other hand, they allow dogs to walk thought their airports on a leash! Not that the two are connected, but there is that astounding "contradiction" again - or maybe its just me.....
Just before boarding the flight to Salt Lake City - there was a request from the desk clerk for a quick song - reluctance was the first reaction, but with Christies prompting Amelia Holds started us on Waltzing Matilda - greeted by some nice applause. In fact, one of the people in the lounge at the time posted about it on our Facebook!
After a very quiet flight - I would say 90% of us (me included) had a lovely 2 - 3 hour sleep. Salt Lake City is exactly as you would expect - lots of salt lakes! Looked like we were flying over the northern parts of Adelaide and the salt flats near Bolivar. A quick change over and off to San Francisco.
When we arrived in a very much cooler San Francisco (at last!) - we flew into the Oakland Airport and were greeted by Bill, one of the billeting Dad's - who made sure we got the the BART - and onto the train(s) that we needed to meet up with our host families at the Rockridge Train Station - without him we would have taken a lot longer. For baseball fans, the Oakland Stadium (home of the Oakland A's) was just near the train station we first got onto - and a game was in progress - good thing we didn't try and negotiate it when the fans were leaving!
Our host families greeted us warmly and whisked the Choristers away. I think most were looking forward to a ride in a car, a home cooked meal and their own bed! Christie, Karl, Jenny and Greg headed to their hotel - a most beautiful old Hotel called the Berkeley City Club Hotel - a quaint building with an interesting history. Here's a link for those interested! http://berkeleycityclubhotel.com/
After seeking the quietest room available to us for Christie - to allow her to prepare fully - she reported a "resident" adjacent to her screaming and ranting for an hour! How disconcerting! Christie spoke with the management and the situation was resolved for the evening, and Christie was able to be moved the next day!
Christie, Karl, Jenny and Greg attended a welcome function at a gorgeous home of one of the sponsors of the Festival. Everyone was introduced, and we met with Stephen Leek (whom wrote several of the pieces we perform including Ngana and Currawong Dreaming) Christie renewed a few acquaintances she had met in Canada with the Aurora tour, and we were all welcomed and had the opportunity to share stories about ourselves.
We gathered on Monday morning at 9.00am for the Massed Choirs rehearsal - in all, there are 19 choirs taking part in the 9th Golden Gate Festival in two "groups" - Children's Choirs and Youth Choirs. There are several competitions within each Group, and we are in two of them.
After enjoying our lunch break, provided by our lovely host families - we prepared for the Opening Concert where each Choir did one song. The songs performed were certainly varied in style from Gospel to Acoustic Abstract - interesting! We performed Ngana, with Stephen Leek (the composer) watching on. I took careful notice of him during the performance and he seemed to be nodding in approval. He spoke to Christie and the group afterwards and seemed genuinely pleased!
Some stand out performances we saw were from the Amoy Phoenix Flower Youth Choral Group from China - the cutest outfits and performance! A very small group of 8 singers formed the Choir of the East Mikeladze Central Music School from Georgia (formerly part of Russia) - they sang a toasting song - and one of the young boys (maybe 11 - 12) had the most amazing strong deep voice we had heard. They received an immediate standing ovation at the end of their song. Really great!
After the concert, the host families collected the Choristers again to take them home for dinner and other activities - the movies were mentioned, so I am sure there will be other stories to tell.
What an exciting beginning to your trip! I'm so glad it's going well and that you're experiencing so much excitement (and cooler temps!... can you send some our way? LOL)
ReplyDeleteRocky and I miss you all so much as well! Perhaps January 2014 is a possibility? ;-)
You've all made a fan of us, and we'll be following your blog throughout your current tour and beyond!
Much love!!!
I had to refer to my old atlas to work out where you were. I did get a little lost . I have grown up hearing of these famous places in America but geography was never my strong subject. Nor was English and Shakespear. Don't quite know why I mentioned that.
ReplyDeleteYou have travelled right across USA from coast to coast. Although tiring it is just terrific for you all.
With the experiences you have had I think a book may be in order.
A special thank you to all those people who have assisted you during this tour. I am sure there have been many lifetime friendships created during this time.