Show is in one week :O

Hey guys :)

There's only one week left until the big night! Well.. more like 6 days- our show is on Saturday, February 9. There are so many things to do, and so little time! I have never been a part of a choir that moved this fast before. The choir that I was involved in all my life (Opera California Youth Choir- OCYC) practiced from September to June for one show. That's ten months!! Here we have a month to learn and perfect a show just as long and involved as OCYC's. At the same time, though, I'm having so much fun. Everyday is such a thrill.

The most stressful part, to me, is the pressure to be the best you can be every single day. Up With People doesn't give you a part and say "this solo/ dance line is yours. ". Everything is subject to change.  So every rehearsal, every performance is almost like an audition. Even though it's stressful, I think it's good motivation to try my best every time.


I'm nervous for the coming week. Michael told us that our time here in staging has been 75% but our actual level of stress and readiness for the show is about 3% and that  everything will just shoot up this following week. I'm nervous but really excited too. For the week, but also (and mostly) for Saturday.  (ahhhh!!!!)


Today is our free day with host families. Feels so nice to just have a day off and sleep in :)
If you want to see pictures, check my Facebook! I realized it would be redundant to post them here as well as Facebook.


Love,
Jessica

What am I doing here exactly...?

I don't think I ever told you guys what we were actually doing here in Lakeland, so I thought I would take the time to briefly do it now. :)

For the first month, we're staying in Lakeland, Florida for "staging". This is the time to not just get the show together and learn all the music and the dances but also to get to know everyone and prepare ourselves for our journey ahead. So basically, we have workshops where we learn different things. We have an education workshop where we learn about accepting different cultures, about ourselves, about traveling in general, about how to document our 6 month (5 month?) journey, and other things like that.  We also have a vocal workshop where we learn how to use our voices and all the songs, of course. Lastly, we have a dance workshop where we stretch and do some aerobics before learning the choreography to all the songs.

This week, beginning Tuesday, was when all of this really started. Monday was modules day, which is essentially an audition day. Basically we went around all day and auditioned for different people. For example, for the dance module, we were given dance steps which we had to do in front of them who then judged us and decided from that who would be in which front dance. We had a speaking module (audition), a vocal module, a dance module, and a tech (behind the scenes lighting and sound) module.

So we have a full day from 8 in the morning to 5:30pm, and by the time we're done eating and showering it's 10 and I'm too tired that I end up just knocking out.

I stupidly thought that I would have a lot of downtime here. How very wrong I was. But don't get me wrong...I'm having so much fun! I'm doing everything that I love to do: singing, dancing, meeting new people, and soon, traveling! I can't wait!!!!!!!

first host family pics (part 1)

The pictures I promised yesterday...

excuse the mess....my room mate and I are in the process of unpacking...but this is the view of the room when you first walk in.

Another view of the room...

This room was originally Jessica's room (the girl who lives here)....she so generously gave up her room for us and is sleeping in the attic for the next few weeks. Thank you Jessica, again!! Anyways, she has her name (or my name) all around the room so it makes me feel even more at home <3

The awesome living room.

The indoor swimming pool.

The club house

the trampoline and the lake

 A little miniature door for Lindsey (the dog) LOL

This is Lindsey. SHO CAYUTE

 

 More pictures later. bye for now~

My First Official Day in Lakeland, Florida

Dear family and friends...

Okay so...

Today was an amazing day.

We didn't do much, but some things happened today that kind of really restored my faith in humanity.

The people here are so nice. SooooooooOOOOOoooo nice! I forgot how friendly people could be. Especially after meeting the people who work at the United Airlines...those people just make me angry. Must they ignore people? Must they always answer questions with frustrated grunts and eye rolls? Anyways, people here are not like that at all. They're all very welcoming and friendly. I met a lot of people ALL around the world today, including people from China, Japan, Norway, Denmark, Australia, and Mexico. 

Oh, and I met my host family today!!!!!!!

I'll be honest- this part was the part I was most scared for. But I really did not need to be scared at all. My host family is AMAZING. They are incredibly generous and so so so laid back and kind. Oh, and they have a 12 year daughter whose name is.....drum roll please.............Jessica! YEAH I KNOW SO COOL :O. 

I think I hit the jackpot in terms of host families. Our host family has an indoor swimming pool, a lake right beside their backyard, a clubhouse, a waterslide, AND a giant trampoline. I KNOW. <3<3<3

sorry I didn't post any pictures...I was too lazy to take pictures today haha. my bad. I'll post tomorrow. :)

Love, Jessica

Hello there :)

Hey guys!

So I guess this is my first post.

I'm basically going to write about my journey at Up With People so you guys all know what I'm doing these next 6 months...:)


I'm leaving TOMORROW. Oh my goodness. Time flies.

Well that's all I have to write about today. I'll try to post as often as possible.  :)


Love,
Jessica