First Daze of School;)

What a whirlwind day: school uniforms, Harry potter keys, “Sir”, general music, and sweating like crazy in a new suit. I can’t wait for my first paycheque; I’m finally getting paid to do this stuff! But this ain’t concert band, snare drums, flutes and tubas anymore, Erika has her hands full of that in Kelowna; my year at North Leamington is all about general music. I have one year 7 class, two year 8 classes, and three year 9 classes at the jr. high level. Each class takes mandatory music twice a week and they’re definitely keeping me busy. At the high school level, years 10 & 11 music is an elective and I teach one group of year 10’s five times a fortnight. To graduate high school music they have to perform 1 solo, 1 ensemble piece, write 2 compositions and write 2 exams for theory, history and listening. The exams are Nationally marked at the end of year 11 including the recordings of their performances... a bit different than Canada eh?? It was funny when they gave me keys for the different classrooms because they’re like the ones you buy for a treasure chest or ancient attic – I feel like I’m unlocking Pandora’s box before every lesson.

Our school also has an Arts college attached for years 12 & 13 (similar to grade 13 in Ontario or CEGEP in Quebec). In music we cover some 1st and 2nd year university material. I though I left 20th century music behind in Victoria, but our first semester is on 12-tone music, minimalism and Webern... let’s just say I have some review/relearning to do – I’ll try not to fall asleep this time through. I’m about a day ahead of the Music Tech class. They compose/analyze music for movie soundtracks, create 8 track MIDI files and record live music performances overtop. Apologies for all the teacher talk, but it’s a bit different than what I had expected to teach in Canada. The next couple months are going to be a pretty steep learning curve!!!



This past weekend I went to the cathedral in Coventry. It’s a massive building bombed by the Germans in WWII. I can’t believe they could build these humungous stone structures 100’s of years ago. The wooden cross was erected the morning after the attack constructed of wood splinters from the demolished ceiling. Locals make fun of me because they see these buildings everyday, and I’m always so impressed and want to stop to check them all out. My last picture is of my roommate Sarah and I. We had just finished a staff meeting and ended up in one of the local pubs for a pint of beer. In England, it’s almost customary to have a pint of beer whenever you go out for dinner. The lagers are quite refreshing so I’m a big fan of English customs. Sit me down to a meat pie and pint of Fosters any day!!!