Hey peoples,

So I have officially started school at DePaul and I must say that it is quite different than undergrad! Full time music grad students take 6-8 credits a quarter, which compared to my normal 18 credits a semester is pretty tiny! Seeing as my horn lessons alone are 4 credits a quarter, I only need to take one 2 credit course to be full time. This gives me plenty of time to do what they expect me to do, which is...drumroll... PRACTICE! This quarter I will also be playing in the orchestra, chamber winds, and a woodwind quintet. Luckily, as a grad student I can take all of those ensembles for 0 credit, which means I don't have to pay, which then translates into more money from my loans being able to pay for important things like rent and cooking gas. Speaking of cooking gas, we finally turned it on in our apartment, so no more TV microwaveable dinners!

I'm looking forward to starting lessons with my teacher for this year, Oto Carrillo. Unfortunately, I and alot of the other music students at DePaul have been unable to meet with our studio teachers so far as they are currently on tour in Europe with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Actually, that's kind of a sweet reason not have a lesson first week! "Yea, you know, I would have my lesson and all, but my teachers in Amsterdam being a badass... "

I started looking for a job in Lincoln Park last week at some retail establishments that had Help Wanted signs on their doors. The worst part, is that I was looking for these places on foot during practice breaks and I don't know the area super well yet. So I ended walking in a lot of circles and going north when I should have been south, all sorts of directional miscalculations. I don't have a locker yet, because they cost $20 to rent for the year and up until this weekend, well I didn't have $20 to spare... you people from UNCG will appreciate that 20 bucks for a locker is ridiculous! In my opinion, free is a much better deal... But anyways, I'm marching around Lincoln Park with my horn case and my music bag, complete with lunch cooler inside, because I'm too afraid that my stuff will get stolen if I leave it in the music building. I don't think that I am exaggerating at all when I say that I walked about 3 1/2 miles with my horn on my back and my bag on my shoulder. If I didn't look homeless enough to sufficiently freak out the managers I handed applications to, then hopefully I will look homeless enough to persuade them to give me a helping hand in life, and a job!

It's been raining a lot the last few days, which just makes everything in the city look really sad and dirty. We're doing our best to stay dry when we go out to practice, but the sidewalks and the streets really don't direct water into any sort of drainage systems, so it just kind of fills up the street. I think that some nice waterproof galoshes may be one of our next investments, if anything just cause they look so cool!

Well, you've wasted another completely good evening (or morning) reading my blog. Until next time, don't drive like my brother!


Auf Wiedersehen,

Phil