First Week of School!

Every kid needs an awkward-face, first-day-of-school picture, right? Too bad my face is awkward no matter what day of school it is!

The first week of school at University of Houston has come to an end! It's been interesting to make the switch from BYU-Idaho to UH because first of all, UH is about three times larger! Besides that, all sorts of religions, nationalities, and other walks of life are represented in their full beauty! It's a great experience to get to know other people and learn about them.

Classes are going well. I have an Introduction to Musicology class where we study how to research and write about music. There is a lot of reading and writing for that class, but we have a good teacher and he really knows his stuff. I also was required to enroll in the Music Theory review class because I need a little brush up. The class is really moving quick and there's hardly a moment to breathe! Between the two classes, I can easily fill my day with homework and study.

I also had my first conducting lesson this week with Dr. Hausmann. I really like him a lot. He is an accomplished conductor and has already been so helpful. One non-musical lesson he has already taught me was about humility. I don't think he meant to do that, but about four or five times in our lesson he mentioned how important it is for conductors to have humility when the stand up on the podium. He has a philosophy that conducting is a lot like dancing. I like that idea because as a conductor, you really need to feel the music inside before you can interpret it on the outside - just like a dancer. Dr. Hausmann will also conduct the choir that I will sing in on Monday nights. We found out that our fall concert is going to be November 13 -- the day Kayla is due to give birth!! What do you all think I should do?! I mean I really love my wife and I would sure like to be there when she gives birth, but a concert sounds like a lot of fun!! :o)

The only frustrating thing about this past week has been the bus systems. I ride the public busses into Downtown Houston, then I transfer to my choice of three other bus routes that will get me near the University. The problem is trying to figure out which of the three routes I should take to get me there the quickest. Needless to say, I've spent a lot of time waiting for busses that just barely pulled away right before I got to the bus stop, etc. I think we've got the schedules figured out now, though, so maybe next week will run a little smoother.

Well, that's the update for the first week of school.