So today was the day of reckoning, for more than one reason.
Part I: Meet-the-Teachers session at KoolPurple school in the morning. Getting lost on campus was such an oddly unfamiliar feeling. Unlike NUS, this school has no signs and I bet it was purposely built to ensure that non-students and staff get lost. Other than that it wasn't too bad. The motormouth plays the oboe (I knew it!); the strings coordinator is a double bassist and she's the one that has been teaching the cellos, which is pretty amazing because I thought it would be more different - cello and bass..
They pay well, but they require teachers to do so many things - so many forms to fill, reports to write, and I don't see how you can squeeze scales pieces and theory into 30 minutes, which is the maximum time they allow for each student. They seem pretty eager though - especially the double bassist, who asked if I could teach vibrato and position shifts. (There! I knew it had to be different somehow..)
So I landed the job, which means more responsiblities - we have to give internal tests too. and award certificates. and teach them to play in ensembles - and less of my desired bummer life.
(But of course my inner slavedriver/mugger/workaholic is doing cartwheels.)
Part II of the Day of Reckoning was the Caran d'Ache showcase (? - I don't know what it was actually.) Stick thin models holding pens and bags and whatnot - half of the people were looking at their skin not the products. Quartet hopping has it's perils, because you play with people different from what you're used to. Different seating, different repertoire, different sounds, different everything. Not to mention loads more female energy. But it wasn't so bad after all, despite the whole having to 'look ladylike' thing which I think I will never be successful at doing.
We should form a union of cellists to protect us from having to wear skirts just for aesthetic reasons.
