Luckily I have iCloud which helps me remember everything I've been doing in the past almost-month!
So without further ado, Blog Post number 5 (Warning: it might be really long).
Since I started at King David, I really hadn't done very much in the way of things that I could get really passionate about. However one day, Nomsi said that it would be a good idea to show the teachers a little of what I could do. So I started planning some Klezmer composition lessons for year 6 to 8. I loved composing when I did it for IB music, and Klezmer, being the traditional music of the Jews, was an excellent way to make that composing relevant to a Jewish school. I also thought that the kids would be old enough to create a decent piece of music, plus I had taught kids that age for about 5 years at my Sunday School in Cambridge. After I made a PowerPoint to use for the lessons, I had a few meetings with Adam Yee, the head of music at KDS, and he helped me understand how best to teach about Klezmer and composing. His words of wisdom (which I will impart on you as well because I'm so generous) were, "Let the kids do the learning. Don't just throw information at them."
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| Initial lesson plan for Klezmer Composition Lessons |
The year 12 presentation evening was held at Monash University. The orchestra were sat on stage in rows (I know, it was weird), with the violins at the front. This was quite nerve-wracking because the auditorium seated about 300 people (very approximate), but it was also cool because you couldn't tell who were the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd violins, so the hierarchy was completely dissolved and a feeling of equality and unity prevailed. Can you tell that I'm turning into a Communist from living here? We played the Harry Potter theme tune as all the year 12s paraded onto the stage in their robes, and everyone thought it was very funny. After speeches by a few year 12s and a rabbi, we played a Porgy and Bess medley. It was so long that you could practically see our biceps expanding from holding the instruments. All the speeches were really well done, and very thought-provoking too. I just think it must be nice to be at high school with the same people for a long time and be really close by the end of it, so that you can all really be there for each other during final exams- I never had that.
As well as the violin stuff, I've also recently started helping my cousin Eva with her piano practice. She (like every other kid I've ever met who plays an instrument) really dislikes practicing, so I go over there every so often and make her repeat each section a million times until she's learned it. For some reason she enjoys this, and we have a lot of fun together. You realise when you're teaching an instrument to someone else just how much work goes into it... I've been playing my instruments for a long time so I'd completely forgotten all of that.
From the 5th to the 12th of December, it was Chanukah. Usually in England my family has parties most nights of Chanukah but because I am now living with my grandparents who don't normally celebrate, I initiated the festivities, due to feeling that our traditions are important for us Jews.
Each night Nomsi and I lit the candles, and I said the blessings. It was quite different to being in England with my immediate family, where the children would light a certain number of candles each and my brother Zak would usually accompany a few renditions of 'Maoz Tzur' or 'I have a Little Dreidel' on the piano, before someone enquired about presents. However lighting the candles just the two of us was a great time to pause and reflect on life, the universe, and everything. Some very interesting discussions were had.
I did have Chanukah parties on two of the nights though. On the second night I went with my uncle and aunt (Pete and Ella) to my friend Ben's Chanukah party. There were a lot of people there who I didn't know (as usual) and a few KDS people. All the people my age were outside, and after some small talk we all began to fervently debate politics for a few hours because one person said that he was slightly right wing (the nerve!).
On the sixth night we had a party at Nomsi and George's with almost the whole family. I designed and sent out the invitations, bought a Chanukah CD and some hollow dreidels filled with candy to use as party bags for the kids, and bought napkins, cups, and straws in the traditional blue, white, and gold. Nomsi cooked all the food and made sure I didn't go overboard with the decor. It was a great evening, the kids played dreidel as much as possible with the 12-or-so bags of chocolate gelt we had been given by the aunts and uncles, the food was delicious, and we had a little sing-along at the end of some well-known Chanukah songs. We also did this fabulous hair train:
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| Cousin hair train at the Chanukah party |
Another thing that happened recently was that I finished working at EthicalJobs, which was sad but I know that it was a great experience to have had this year. I got to meet some of the most left-wing people ever, and learned a lot about the organisation of a company, whilst being able to help myself to the abundant tea, fruit, and chocolate that was constantly available. (Feel free to quote me for advertising the company, Michael). Not to mention the delicious sandwiches we made together every Wednesday- where everyone had a different vegetable to cut as thinly as possible before we all stood round to carefully place everything in order onto the bread. A few days after I left EJ, they had a Christmas party. We ate consistently for about an hour, then the dinner arrived. I chatted with everyone about things I'd never have talked about whilst I was working there, and played with the 2-year-old boy that someone had brought along. All in all it was a great way to end my time at EthicalJobs.
A few days after the EJ party, I had a meeting at Wesley College which is a private school in Melbourne, that has a studio school called Yiramalay in the Kimberley, WA. After the summer holidays here, I'll be going to the school which is for aboriginal children, which will be super interesting because the kids come from their communities to get a western education (they finish by completing VCE, the IB, or some other qualifications that I've never heard of). All the teachers are really nice though and the Aboriginal people always get a say in whatever goes on (some of the teachers are aboriginal too). To give you a rough idea of where I'll be travelling to when I go there, here's a map:
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| It's quite far away. |
So the purpose of the meeting (I thought) was for me to ask about the school and discuss what I'll be doing there, but when I arrived, there were two other people there and one of them kept asking me questions like, "Why do you want to come on the programme?" "What extra-curricular interests do you have?" "Do you do anything other than music?" which was a bit strange, but when I got an email a few days later saying "Congratulations, you have been accepted onto the Wesley/Yiramalay programme!" it made sense. It had been an interview, which made me think, "What if I hadn't passed the interview? What would I do with half my gap year?" Anyway I got in, so that's what I'll be doing from February until July!
A couple days ago I went to Pilates with Nomsi, my cousin Avi, and my auntie Cari. I haven't been since I first got here so it was really nice to go back and do an intense physical workout. After that, I took Avi to a Lindt cafe where we gorged our faces with chocolate pastry things which completely undid the Pilates (Avi ate his whole eclair before they even gave him the fork), and then bought lots of chocolate from the shop. I'd highly recommend for anyone in Melbourne to go.
I should be paid for all this plugging..
And now we're up to yesterday. Yesterday, as most of you will know, was Christmas. I've never really celebrated Christmas before except for once when mum made a Christmas lunch. Staying with my grandparents has the advantage that they are highly sociable people, so we went to four different houses to celebrate. The first house was of their friend, whose son's girlfriend had a KITTEN. Needless to say I didn't really talk to anyone but her and the kitten. That may have also been the first time I've ever received presents on Christmas! The second house was of my uncles Jonathan and Chris. They had some friends over as well as us so we had a very nice lunch. Normally on Christmas they go out for Yum Cha but didn't this year which made me sad because I've never had it before so I will bug Nomsi to take me another time. The third house was of a large Macedonian family (the sort of family who don't really know how they're all related, so just say they're all cousins). They were all very friendly, and one of the uncles kept offering me more champagne. Finally we went next door to the neighbours- a woman called Ericka and her two little daughters. I played with the daughters and then sat down with the grownups and discussed the meaning of life. Then we left at about nine, and I fell asleep almost as soon as I got into bed.
There you go - a substantial post to get you through the week, you're welcome. Now I must go pack for the beaches of Mount Martha!
