I made it!

(written at 9:15 a.m. on Saturday)

I’m writing in bed, from my hotel room in Calgary. Internet access is $12.95 a day here (yikes!), so I’ll wait to post until I can find a Starbucks or something later on. Calgary seems like a great city, and I’m sorry I won’t get to spend more time here! My hotel is lovely, with six huge feather pillows on the bed. I was hoping to sleep in today, but apparently, when one is used to getting up at 5:30, 8:30 is sleeping in. Oh, well.

The flight up was great, and I even checked in here in time to catch the lighting of the flame and Pavarotti singing in the opening ceremonies. Right now, speed skating is on (have I mentioned that I’m a total Olympics junkie?). It’s always interesting to watch Olympic coverage in another country. The last time the summer Olympics were on, we watched them mostly from Edinburgh, Scotland. It’s interesting to see the sports we never get to watch in the states, and to hear the different colours (a little Canadian spelling for you) of the commentators.

I had a lesson yesterday afternoon before heading to the airport. Being with a new teacher means approaching things from a slightly different way, of course, and I wasn’t sure whether I should take my audition pieces to the lesson. Banff only requires two arias, so I certainly had other things I could have sung. Not everything we would go over could be implemented before today’s performance, and it’s possible that thinking about new things might get in the way. I didn’t really decide until I was asked what I wanted to work on. “Why not?” I thought. “I can always choose to ignore the advice tomorrow if I don’t think it will help.” So, I started with the 20th century English (“Things Change, Jo,” from Little Women) and then we worked on “Smanie”. I made the right choice! We had a great lesson, and the changes (most of them minor) were easily implemented and totally fixed a couple of issues I’ve been wanting to deal with in both pieces. I plan to do some mental rehearsal this morning, and make sure my monologue is ready to go. I’m also drinking LOTS of water and tea, as Calgary is extremely dry! My breakfast (oatmeal – yum!) should be arriving in about half an hour, and then I will have plenty of time to have a long shower, warm up, and get ready for my audition at 2:15.

Looking out my window this morning, I saw that one of my favorite Canadian restaurants is right across the street, between here and the audition site, so I think I’ll be stopping there for a late lunch before heading back to the airport. A quick but pleasant trip!