Half-Year Recap (Part One)

Greetings dear readers!
After a busy few months, I'm glad to have the chance to sit down and update you on how things have been going in London. As always, there's a lot to catch up on, so let's get straight into it.

Vanessa's visit

As mentioned from my previous post, my girlfriend Vanessa flew over to London to join me for the Easter holiday. Annoyingly, the Piccadilly line - which goes directly to Heathrow Airport - was on strike the day of Vanessa's arrival, which meant I had to pay extra for a return trip to Paddington via the Heathrow Connect. But it was great to have her by my side again after doing long distance for seven months, and even though she was only here for two weeks, it was better than nothing. After all, it is common knowledge that London is an expensive city, and I certainly didn't have space to accommodate her at the house I am staying.
 That being said, we were only in London for about five days; the rest of the time we were in Europe. We had a wonderful time travelling to Berlin, different parts of Holland, and Paris, although we both encountered some difficult moments there!
 But the main thing for me, besides getting reacquainted with places I had already been to, was that Vanessa was able to meet most of my friends and family in the UK and in Europe.   

My time at Queen Elizabeth Girls 

At the start of the last week before half term break, i.e. nearly two weeks ago, I was summoned for a word by the deputy headteacher and told that my services would not be needed after half term. This is because, similar to back home in Australia, the higher year levels (10 to 13) will be finishing early after exams, so the other language teachers, who all take at least one or two of those classes, will take over my classes. 
 The first feeling I had when I heard this was one of relief, as the workload had been starting to get the better of me. I can appreciate now just how INSANE the workload is for full-time teachers in England, and although it has been tough, I will look back on my extended stint at QEGS with fond memories. Besides teaching some wonderful students, I also had my first experience of the dreaded OFSTED, sat in for parent-teacher interviews and participated in the school's Commemoration Day services.  Although there are quite a number of people to thank, special mention must go to Helene, the deputy head of languages who was effectively my boss, without whose help I would have been completely lost, and Denise, whose experience and support was critical throughout my time at the school. 

Choir Stuff

 Shortly after Vanessa's departure, the London Philharmonic Choir (LPC), which I joined last September, performed Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach at the Royal Festival Hall. This was my second time performing the piece, the first time being back in 2013 with MUCS. While it was probably slower than the first performance, it felt more intense, and it certainly helped having our resident German member Susi Underwood to sharpen our pronunciation. The reviews, of the choir at least, were gladly very favourable.
 A month later, we had a concert at the same venue performing two of Sir Karl Jenkins' works - The Healer and his Requiem, being conducted by the composer himself. It's fair to say that Jenkins' music doesn't appeal to everybody, especially among LPC members, but there were parts which I enjoyed, especially the Japanese haiku movements in the Requiem featuring the haunting sound of the shakuhachi flute. 

 The LPC's next concert is on Tuesday under the baton of its president, Sir Mark Elder. It will be a semi-dramatised performance of Weber's Der Freischütz, which unfortunately I won't be able to attend. My final concert with the LPC before I return to Melbourne will be on July 24 at the Proms, during which we will be performing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at the Royal Albert Hall. That is going to be some departure!
 As much as I have enjoyed my time with LPC, I look forward to singing again with my friends at the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic (RMP) choir and being back in time for what should be my first-ever Messiah concert as a performer, hopefully the first of many!

Before I finish, let me just quickly say I can't believe how fast time has flown! We are technically now into summer here and I'm amazed (and grateful!) I didn't come down with hay fever during spring. Look out for Part Two soon!

Cheers and God bless