My (sad) last school day

Already the last week of school has started for me (primary school is going on until the 20th of December). I'm so sad !!!
I met Mr. Mitchell who asked me to write a page in German about my stay here (also published in this Blog) and in PMU we had our little group performance. It wasn't our best performance and apparently I got too loud, but oh well. Theo improvisesdwith Bryan a first century rapand the whole class just cracked up laughing !!!
With Bel Canto I attended a shared Lunch where we gave Mrs. Densem flowers, wine called "Bel Canto" and a card and sang the Blessing. I don't think she was the only one who cried...

In Period 2 on Tuesday the 6th of November we had our last rehearsal for the Year 13 Leaver's tomorrow evening which mostly contained of sitting... The last Calculus lesson was quite fun (I was almost the only one actually trying to study for the exams !) In Outdoor Ed we started watching "Touching the void" about 2 mountaineering guys who in real life went up there, one of them broke his leg and when they both thought the other one dead the period was finished... great.
At the Spot we planned our little christmas party with secret santa (I had Laura) and straight after school I went to the Mall to get presents for her and Katarina.
And I also learned how to play "Waltzing Mathilda" on ukulele !
 

Following my usual wednesday sleep-in we finished our ODP movie, this film is so emotional ! (well, had to watch last 3 min. in tech suite at Interval...)
Mr. Petch was so nice to burn me a CD with my 2 compositions and the Instrumentation. Thanks a lot for that !
After SMP Mr Atlas offers to help me with my audition pieces, so GREAT !!! I am planning to audition for the Robert Schumann Hochschule once I'm back in Germany to get singing and theory lessons whilst I am still at school and later a secure place at the university. It would be so awesome to get in !
This evening I went to the supermarket to get crackers and a dip for tomorrow (orchestra Lunch) and then at 6.50 back to school. While waiting for our 1-song-performance for the Year 13 Graduation Ciara introduced me to "Angry birds" and "Cut the rope" on her tablet and time was going by fast enough.
The orchestra also played "Meditation from Thais", but in the programme they had printed "Medication"! So funny !!!
After quite a while we then sang "Shepherd's Pipe Carol"
and could go home where I showed the church-homegroup Daniel's opera recordings.

It is my last day at school today and I am really sad that I have to leave my favourite school and all my friends behind.
I forgot to make my Lunch yesterday so I had to do it in the morning as well as washing my hair because we'll have another concert tonight, but I am still almost in time at Form Class !!!
Because the Year 13s had left school already I had no maths and just walked through the school and took about 200 photos everywhere I could. In no subject did we still learn stuff !
There was an assembly in Period 3 for information about the NCEA exams and the next school year, I will miss everything so much !!!
Orchestra Lunch was in the M-Block quad and even the Year 13s came in again to say goodbye with many hugs and some tears.
Mr. Truman allowed me to stay with them for the whole next period instead of going to the Drama games (I only came in for a group photo) and also told me that I got Excellence for my Blood Brothers performance !!!
After looking back a few times I walked home very slowly.

At the Year 11 Pricegiving in the evening I sang the last time with Senior Chorale. We sat in the audience and watched till we sang Waltzing Mathilda and (instead of Fellerfrom Fortune because Seraphin, our piano accompanist, couldn't come) the beautiful Earth Song... a very good song to end my last concert....

Under the cabbage trees

Hey,

here are the highlights of the opera "Under the cabbage trees"

by my friend Daniel Sun featuring Theo and me

at the Night of Original Music.

The opera is about a girl whose father is dying from cancer, there is a boy who likes her (but she doesn't even know he's there) and her friend lost her cardigan. It is set in Burnside High School.

Hope you like it,

Franzi

Hi,

hier sind die Höhepunkte aus Daniel Sun's Oper

"Under the cabbage trees",

gesungen von Theo und mir.

Die Oper handelt von einem Mädchen, dessen Vater an Krebs erkrankt ist, einem Jungen, der sie mag (sie weiß gar nicht, dass er da ist) und ihrer Freundin, die ihre Strickjacke verloren hat.

Die Handlung spielt in der Burnside High School.

Hoffentlich gefällt es euch,

Franzi

Play for the Queen

Now the November has started the days are growing really hot although I even wear my summer uniform !
And then we had to play tennis in ODP! Kata showed me how to,
I was actually not bad and it was really quite fun.
My Integration Mocks test in Maths went quite alright, at least
I achieved quite well.
There was also a rehearsal for Daniel's opera planned at Lunch, but noone else turned up so I could just lie in the sun at the Spot (where my friends and me always meet).
After school I got photos and signatures from everyone in the International Department. My flag is so full already !!!
It was too hot to do something other than reading in the garden and having a picnic outside.

On friday the 2nd of November I won the Drama warm up for the 2nd time with
"10 big buddhas" !! James conducts Feller from Fortune, a really fun piece to sing, and now we finished everything else in Music
I rerecorded my violin composition.
In Outdoor Ed we had a little barbecue, it was just toooooo
hot for sports !
After school Bel Canto recorded the 2 songs composed by David Smith ("Dreamers of the world unite" and "New Zealand !
New Zealand !").
The piano lesson was cancelled this week, but after my violin lesson I was alone at home anyway because the others were at Operation Friendship which was too far to cycle to...
I read and typed my SMP portfolio.
Daniel sent me two other songs from his opera to sing on sunday if possible... great... but I love challenges ! I think I can do it !
When my family came home at 10 we had some small fireworks in the garden ! The festival was about Guy Fawkes who had tried to kill the king with a bomb but it didn't work and he was executed, and that's a festival ! Terrible story !
I learned the new songs the whole evening with Tim on the piano and I could almost sing them already.

My saturday started with a 12 to 12.30pm rehearsal at the CBS Arena, where we would play with the CSO, many little kids and some adults, Selena, Lawrence, Yanlu, Katarina and Hannah (all from the school orchestra) one verse of "God save the queen". It is the english queen they are singing to, because tonight would be the concert for the last night of the Proms.
After our 20minute rehearsal we stayed till 1.15pm to listen to the adults play. Backstage we then met my SMP teacher Mr Atlas with his wife Amanda, both have very beautiful and strong opera voices, who were going to sing tonight as well. :)
The concert started at 7.30pm and we were supposed to wear blue/red/black or white and some people were REALLY dressed up british ! With flags, stripes, hats, facepaint...
We could sit in the audience for the first half and all were supposed to sing a few songs together, but I didn't even know them... The 2nd half started with our little piece. It was a world record of so many people (about 30) playing together at once in the CBS Arena this year... great record. :D
After that we went back to our seats and watched Ravil and Amanda Atlas and the CSO perform.
The bus did not take me home before 11pm.

my violin teacher sitting amongst the CSO

Startled I woke up at 9 on sunday morning by Beth playing her trumpet in my room, well, that's a wake up call !
And so the probably busiest day began with a piano lesson at 10.30am, where I got a new piece, "May it be" from Lord of the Rings, to play.

my great piano teacher Joanna

Shortly after that I walked to Daniel's where I rehearsed with him and Theo for the opera. His mum makes us nice lemon tea, sandwiches and sushi and also drove Theo and me to the Court Theatre at 3pm to see a Masterclass with Amanda Atlas and the other 2 singers from this concert on wednesday, VERY good ! It's unbelievable how much better they sounded when this guy only told them how the other person in the opera would react and gave them the right pictures in their mind !
Afterwards we could talk a little with the performers before Theo's parents came and gave me a lift home where I got changed, ate a bit and was already off again with Lisa to Edgeware to pick
James up.
Daniel's concert was to be at Rangi Ruru Girl's School. When we arrived at 6.20pm we were earlier than everyone else except the Tech Crew students and helped to set up.
When all performers were there we started a short rehearsal of the opera and Sophia's Agnus Dei and discussed the staging.
All of the Mitchells come exactly at half past to watch (I already got nervous).
It was really a great concert! The opera came first (no communication was allowed with Theo because in the opera I don't know he's there, but the audience didn't know that so it must have looked a little awkward and insecure... well, never mind).
A rock guitar followed and it was... loud.
"Even such is time" from Alice, "Sanctus" and "Agnus Dei" from Sophia (we went completely out of time with each other, it was SCARY ! But somehow James got us together again in the end, puhhh... by the way, he's a great conducter !) Unfortunately Sophia started coughing so I was the only soprano...
Interval: nibbles prepared by Daniel's mum :)
Quite a few people told me I was pretty good. :)
Daniel talked a bit too much, Julia started dancing on Tim's lap and everyone adored her and Isla Norman sang really good !
This night of original music (meaning: every single piece was self-composed by a Burnside High music student) ended at 9.40pm and soon the Mitchell's went home (it was very late already for the little ones), but I went in Sylvia's car with the other performers to McDonalds at 10.30pm or so where I had a frozen Fanta and we talked mostly about music and conducting.
I had to be home at 11pm so we slowly found our way back after curving through whole town, what an adventure !

Daniel Sun

the opera with Daniel (middle) and Theo with Grace on the piano

Agnus Dei, the Year 12 chamber choir with James as conductor

James Buchanan (and Tim in the background)

Even more singing

Yes, more singing !
It won't be long now until the end of school and the start of the exams, but at the moment we still have a few concerts to prepare. It's now Monday the 29th of October 2012 and the week started for me with an Interval rehearsal of  Earth Song with Senior Chorale and the following Stage massed rehearsal with everyone involved in the Choral Extravaganza which I unfortunately had to leave every now and then to get changed to black for my Drama performance of "Blood Brothers" that evening and to check if it was already time for me to appear at that rehearsal.
Until 5pm we had our last Drama runthrough (SLOW !!!) with a bit of short feedback from Mr. Truman and pizza afterwards. And I still feel very unprepared as I'm sure everyone else does as well...
Our performace started at 6pm after many warm ups and group activities. Most of the time backstage I was reading and was not at all nervous !

my Drama class after a successfull performance

I think I acted my scenes quite good and will hopefully get excellence for it. My feedback was very positive, especially that my narrator is very creepy and clear to understand as it is supposed to be !
At home I get a bit stressed for I still have to learn the Magna pieces by heart for tomorrow (in japanese ???) and also Daniel asked me to sing 2 songs from his self-composed opera "Under the palm trees" (incl. a duet with Theo) at his concert on sunday ! But that doesn't leave me much time before the rehearsal tomorrow... STRESSING !!!
That will be a great week: I had my Drama performance today, Choral Extravaganza tomorrow, I'm going to a concert on wednesday, saturday I will play for the queen (everyone who wanted to, the music ris really eally easy !), on sunday is Daniel's concert and wednesday and thursday next week we'll sing in the Year 13 and 11 price giving... HOW ???

On tuesday we learn to brake and reincarnate bike chains in Outdoor Ed and afterwards  again I again went to a rehearsal at Interval with Bel Canto on stage.
At Lunch I attended a short rehearsal with Gabriel (he can't play the pieces yet !) and then to Magna on stage. After school Daniel rehearsed with us for his opera, Sophia comes for a short while and Grace and Theo, but Beth is sick. I learned a lot but I'll still have to practice a lot !!! I love the music of the two songs but the words are sometimes a bit funny ('My father is dying and he never taught me how to barbecue...' or 'The soft hair at the back of her neck excites me...' :D )...
After my singing lesson I biked straight to school at 6.45pm for the Choral Extravaganza.
Massed we sang "Dream with me" by Jackie Evancho, then Bel Canto  had its turn at the end of the first half (I think my solo went quite well and was loud enough as well ! I was a bit worried about that...) The 2nd half started with Magna Voce (not too embarrassing luckily and I could stand next to Ciara for first time !!!), then Senior Chorale before we ended with 3 massed items which we sang still in Chorale uniform.
That was my last real concert with Bel Canto !

with Mrs. Densem, conductor of Bel Canto and Senior Chorale

Mrs. Renaud, head of music

I woke up for the first period for Sophia's composition rehearsal and those few people who were there as well went to sleep in the practiceroom...

We danced in drama and went to sleep under the bright sun on the field instead of playing rugby with 11s...
In Bel Canto we learned 2 new pieces for a recording on friday of alternative anthems which were really quite easy but also nice and the school even got paid for it !
Mr Atlas is sick so Beth takes the SMP Masterclass for today, but Gabriel doesn't turn up (not that I wanted him to...) so only Julien sings and then we can go home.
It's too hot to go fencing today and I have to be ready for the concert tonight in time anyway and I need to learn Maths (we have an Internal Exam tomorrow) and rehearse Daniel's pieces...
I got picked up at 6.40pm by Beth and Hattie, and we drove to Cashmere church where Mr Atlas' wife gave an opera concert with Barcarolle, the Flower Duett, Mi chiamano Mimi, I could have danced all night, Habanera... It was really good and (what of course everyone asked me) she had a good pronounciation in german !
Many people were there, I even met Luke Di Somma, the conductor of the CYO, and he recognized me !
It was definitely a very nice evening.

Solo Performance Exam

This is the recording of my music exam though it is not the best quality and my voice will have developed quite a bit more by now.

I am singing: "Song to the moon" from the opera Rusalka,

"Ships of Arcady" by Michael Head, "Die Nacht" by Strauss and

"Only Love" from the Musical The Scarlet Pimpernel

with Irina Maksimova on the piano.

Enjoy !

 

Hier könnt Ihr Euch das Video meiner Sologesang Prüfung anschauen, auch wenn die Aufnahme im Blog 

nicht gerade von bester Qualität ist.

Ich singe: "Arie an den Mond" aus der Oper Rusalka, "Ships of Arcady" von Michael Head, "Die Nacht" von Strauss und

"Only Love" aus dem Musical The Scarlet Pimpernel, 

mit der Begleitung von Irina Maksimova am Klavier.

Ich hoffe es gefällt euch !

Mein ganz persönliches Fazit !

Mr. Mitchell, Direktor für die internationalen Schüler und Studenten der Burnside High School, hat mich gebeten einen Bericht über mein Jahr in Neuseeland zu schreiben.

Es sollten ca. zwei Din A4 Seiten sein.

Der Bitte kam ich sehr gerne nach.
Nur ist es unmöglich ein ganzes Jahr, das so aufregend und ereignisreich war, auf nur zwei Seiten zusammenzufassen.
Ich habe mir wirklich Mühe gegeben, aber der Bericht kann trotz seiner Länge nur einen ganz kleinen Eindruck wiedergeben !
Neuseeland, die Burnside High School in Christchurch, meine Freunde/innen und meine neue Familie ist das Beste was mir je passieren konnte !!!
Aber lest selbst...

http://learn.burnside.school.nz/course/view.php?id=536

Kia Ora
Hallo, mein Name ist Franziska Fait. Ich bin 15 Jahre, wohne in Duisburg und besuche noch die 10 Klasse eines Mädchengymnasiums. Ich war für ein ganzes Jahr als Austauschschülerin an der Burnside High School in Christchurch/New Zealand. Dort wurde ich, für meine Unterrichtsfächer in den Jahrgang 12 und für Mathematik in Year 13 eingestuft.
Man hat mich gebeten etwas über mein Auslandsjahr 2012 zu schreiben. 
Doch gleich zu Beginn solltet ihr wissen, dass dieses Jahr viel schöner, viel aufregender, viel spannender und noch unglaublicher war, als ich es je mit Worten beschreiben könnte. Deshalb kann ich nur jedem anraten selbst das Glück am schönsten Anfang der Welt zu suchen und zu finden!
Trotzdem werde ich versuchen meine eindrucksvollsten Erlebnisse und die Erfahrungen, um und in der Schule, hier zusammenzufassen.

Warum Neuseeland ?

Ich bin schon immer gern mit meinen Eltern in den Urlaub gefahren. Am spannendsten waren die Reisen in fremde Länder. So entwickelte ich meinen Wunschtraum, auch habe ich in meiner Schule mit einigen Schülerinnen gesprochen die ebenfalls eine ausländische Schule besuchten. Mein Interesse war geweckt und wir gingen zu Veranstaltungen und Messen die über Auslandsaufenthalte für Schüler berichteten. Aber warum gerade Neuseeland?
Das lag an mehreren wichtigen und unterschiedlichen Faktoren.
Natürlich haben englischsprachige Länder einen ziemlich großen Vorteil in der Hinsicht, dass ich mich durch mein jahrelanges Schulenglisch in dieser Sprache etwas sicherer fühlte. Außerdem sollte es sehr weit weg von Deutschland entfernt sein. Wer will schon drei oder viermal von seine Eltern oder Verwandten besucht werden, sollte man sich für ein Nachbarland entscheiden. Tatsächlich könnte man kaum auf ein entfernteres Land stoßen. Auch aus diesem Grund wurde Neuseeland das ideale Ziel für mich. Für meine Eltern war erst einmal der hohe Bildungsstandart wichtiger. Die wundervolle Natur dieses kleinen Landes ist fantastisch, vielfältig und auf jeden Fall überwältigend! Ich habe nirgendwo so klare Seen und tiefgrüne lebendige Wälder gesehen. Hier sonnt man sich an goldenen Stränden und kann  im nächsten Augenblick auf Berge, Gletscher und Vulkane steigen oder Pinguine sogar im Urwald beobachten. Alles Schöne unserer Erde, liegt hier auf engsten Raum zusammen. Wohin man auch geht, überall spürt man den Respekt für dieses spirituelle, Heilige Land und seine ersten Siedler, die Maori! Mit ihrer reichen und naturverbundenen Kultur beginnt in Neuseeland ein ganz anderes Leben.
Ebenfalls ein wichtiger Grund für mich, war es natürlich auch, dass der epische „Herr der Ringe“ Film hier gedreht wurde und man auf seinen Spuren wandeln kann.
Neuseeland, das Land der langen weißen Wolke, ist ein Traum!
Ein Traum, der nur mit der großzügigen Hilfe von unbeschreiblich tollen Menschen greifbar wurde. Die Burnside High School unterstützte mich bei dieser Verwirklichung sehr, indem sie mir ein Musikstipendium zuerkannte. Auch meine Agentur half mir mit einem Stipendium! 
Auf diesem Wege nochmals das allergrößte Dankeschön der Welt!

Freunde finden

Dazu genügt eigentlich nur ein Wort: mühelos !!!
Die Menschen hier sind so nett, aufgeschlossen und hilfsbereit, dass man als „Neuling“ sehr schnell Kontakte knüpfen kann. Alle sind höflich zueinander, mit ihrer lockeren und freundlichen Art.
Ein Beispiel?
Schon am ersten Schultag, als ich alleine auf einer Bank saß,
kam ein Mädchen zu mir und fragte: ob ich nicht mit ihrer Gruppe die Pause verbringen und essen wollte.
Heute ist sie immer noch eine meiner besten Freundinnen!
Ich glaube, solange man Freunde finden möchte ist das überhaupt kein Problem
und wahrscheinlich sogar viel leichter als in Deutschland!
Da die Burnside High School so groß ist kann man viele Kontakte mit den verschiedensten Leuten knüpfen, die miteinander die gleichen Interessen teilen.

Schule und Hilfestellungen

Neben der Musik war die Schule und meine neue Familie der Inhalt dieses Jahres. Auch wenn man es nicht für möglich hält, ich habe den neuseeländischen Unterricht und den gesamten (Schul-)Alltag geliebt!
Im Jahrgang 12 hat man jeden Tag 6 Stunden Unterricht und eine Stunde Lunchpause. Ich erhielt den Unterricht in den von mir sechs ausgewählten Fächern. Diese Unterrichtsfächer hat man dann auch an 5 Tagen in der Woche. Es ist also sehr wichtig, dass man richtig wählt. Das man Interesse und Spaß an den jeweiligen Fächern hat. Ich wählte: Drama, Outdoor Education, Musik und Performance Music. Letzteres war eigentlich mehr eine Stunde zum Selbststudium. Da konnte man musikalische Dinge üben und einstudieren, oder sich  z.B. auf Prüfungen bzw. Auftritte vorbereiten. Englisch und Mathematik sind Pflichtfächer! Ich würde jedem Schüler anraten, der nach Neuseeland möchte, Outdoor Education zu wählen. Es macht unwahrscheinlich viel Spaß, denn man erlebt den Sport in seiner schönsten Form. Es fördert den Gruppenzusammenhalt und man bekommt so die Möglichkeit viel von der Umgebung zu sehen und zu erleben. Überhaupt hat der Sport an der Burnside einen sehr großen Stellenwert.
Nicht nur die Akademischen Fächer sind zahlreich, auch der künstlerische, wissenschaftliche und sportliche Bereich ist sehr gut. Überhaupt ist das Fächerangebot so vielfältig! Was eigentlich bedauerlich ist, denn man hat natürlich keine Chance alles auszuprobieren. Man kann allein durch die Vielfalt der Angebote schon leicht den Überblick verlieren. Zum Glück wurde ich vom International Department gut beraten. Meine Richtung stand aber auch im Vorfeld schon fest, klassische Musik, Gesang und Orchester. Eine Besonderheit des Neuseeländische Schulsystems ist es auch: das ein schneller Wechsel innerhalb seiner eigenen Leistungsstärke nach oben oder unten möglich ist. Sollte man mit einem Fach nicht so gut zurechtkommen, ist ein Wechsel dieses Unterrichtsfaches zum Halbjahr ebenfalls möglich.
Mit nur sechs Wahlmöglichkeiten muss man sich leider gegen vieles entscheiden!
So wird aber erreicht, dass sich die Schüler schon früh in eine Richtung spezialisieren können. Damit hat der Schüler die Möglichkeit sein eigenes Talent zu fördern und seine Stärken auszubauen. In Deutschland wird eher auf eine brauchbare Allgemeinbildung gesetzt, alle künstlerischen Fächer stehen da eher auf dem „Abstellgleis“! Mein persönliches Fazit kann dementsprechend nur sein, dass mir das neuseeländische Schulsystem viel mehr liegt. Denn hier kann ich meine musikalische Begabung stärken und meine Interessen mit dem Schulalltag verbinden.

Lehrer/Schülerverhältnis

Die neuseeländischen Lehrer sind generell sehr freundlich, hilfsbereit und haben immer ein offenes Ohr für die Belange ihrer Schüler. Das Lehrer-Schüler-Verhältnis und das Schüler-Lehrer-Verhältnis ist hier viel respektvoller, aufgeschlossener und auch gelassener. Man grüßt die Lehrer im Supermarkt und man bekommt sogar auf Nachfrage gern mal ein paar Privatstunden. Zweimal pro Woche hat man auch die Möglichkeit von Schülern aus der 13. Klasse Nachhilfestunden zu erhalten. Das International Department vermittelte auch Stunden mit anderen International Students, die schon ein wenig länger hier an der Burnside High School sind. Überhaupt sind die Mitarbeiter des International Department super nett und immer sehr hilfsbereit. Einmal pro Term wurde jeder von uns interviewt, um festzustellen ob alles in Ordnung ist. Sie sind auch für die Vermittlung der Gastfamilien verantwortlich und versuchen die Schüler einer Familie mit gleichen Interessen
und Vorlieben zuzuteilen.
Die Burnside High School bietet auch am Ende des Jahres einen ganz besonderen „End of the Years“ Trip an. Ein Highlight und eine sehr nettes Angebot der Schule zum Abschluss des Jahres.

Gastfamilie

Ich hatte viel Glück mit meinen Gastfamilien! Auch wenn ich die erste Gastfamilie wechselte, weil wir irgendwie nicht zueinander passten, mochte ich sie doch sehr. Nach dem ersten Term, zog ich zu einer Familie die meine Interessen stärker teilten, die mich liebevoll umsorgten und einfach nur wundervoll sind. Auch hierbei erhielt ich umgehend Hilfe und Unterstützung von meiner super tollen Organisation und von Seiten der Homstay-Koordinatoren aus dem international Department.

Musik

Der Musikunterricht ist in Neuseeland oder zumindest an der Burnside High School sehr anspruchsvoll und akademisch angelegt. Neben 2 Kompositionen und einer Instrumentation lernten wir Tschaikowskys-Symphonien mit moderner, neuseeländischer Musik zu vergleichen und noch vieles mehr. Ich habe sehr viel dazu gelernt! Alle Schülerinnen und Schüler in den speziellen Musikklassen sind hier so ungemein talentiert, es ist unbegreiflich! Außerdem war ich wirklich erstaunt, dass jeder mindestens ein, oft auch noch ein zweites oder drittes Instrumente spielen kann! Zu meiner musikalischen Ausbildung gehörte es auch, Mitglied im Bel Canto Chor sein zu dürfen.
In diesem einen Jahr sind wir wie eine Familie zusammengewachsen und es gab nicht ein Problem in unserer Gemeinschaft!
Wir probten 3mal die Woche und auch manchmal am Wochenende für unseren großen Auftritt beim Big Sing, einem Schulchorwettbewerb.
Unsere harte Arbeit hat sich ausgezahlt!
Wir wurden zum besten Chor Neuseelands gekürt und durften als Belohnung für die Mühen mit Doppelt-Gold und einem Platinaward nach Hause reisen. Es war ein unglaubliches Erlebnis und ich werde diese emotionalen Momente nie vergessen!
In einem Ensemble mitzusingen/-spielen zahlt sich aus!
Das kann man auch über das Orchester sagen. Zuerst einmal war ich sehr erstaunt, da dieses Schulorchester für mich so professionell klang!
Es war wirklich fantastisch mit so guten Virtuosen spielen zu dürfen!
Als Höhepunkt reisten wir für 10 Tage nach Melbourne, Australien!
Eine Orchesterreise der besonderen Art.
Wir spielten mit dem Melbourner Symphonic Orchestra zusammen.
Ich habe es geliebt und würde jedem empfehlen für Chöre wie Bel Canto, Senior Chorale und natürlich auch für ein Orchester vorzusingen/-spielen!
SMP, das Specialist Music Programme, förderte mich musikalisch enorm. Jede Woche trafen sich die Besten Schüler einer bestimmten Instrumentengruppe (bei mir war es der Gesang) für eine Masterklasse. Abwechselnd sangen wir vorbereitete Lieder und die anderen gaben ihre Kritik/Statement ab oder gaben Tipps zur Verbesserung. Und obwohl es für mich manchmal etwas „furchteinflößend“ war, war es eine super Erfahrung und eine der besten Hilfestellungen, die man bekommen kann. Außerdem lernt man selbstständig mit einem Pianisten zu proben und sich vorzubereiten.
Es war eine wirkliche Ehre für mich ins SMP aufgenommen zu werden, sowie auch in alle anderen Ensembles! Natürlich bietet die Schule auch Jazzbands, Kammermusik oder andere musikalische Gruppen an.
Es ist für jeden etwas dabei!

Empfehlungen
Ein Jahr in Neuseeland  verbringen zu können ist ein Traum, den ich sehr gerne wieder träumen würde! Ich fühle mich immer so glücklich wenn ich an mein Leben im Land der Kiwis zurückdenke. Es war eine tolle Erfahrung und ich spürte wie man wächst und selbstständig wird. Die Sprache ist auch überhaupt kein Problem mehr, es ist schon eher schwierig für mich wieder deutsch zu sprechen, zu schreiben und zu denken! Ich werde meine Zeit an der Burnside High School, die Familie und alle meine neuen Freunde nie vergessen.
Ich hoffe doch sehr, dass ich bald wieder einmal zurückkommen werde.
Nicht einmal, immer wieder!
Für das bisher beste Jahr, dass mein gesamtes Leben prägen wird und vielleicht schon den Grundstein für meine Zukunft gelegt hat, möchte ich allen von ganzen Herzen danken! Allen die mir geholfen, mich unterstützt und die mir diese tolle Zeit ermöglicht haben.

Die Burnside High School ist eine ganz besondere Schule, in einem ganz besonderen Land! Ich werde es für immer lieben und diese Erfahrungen immer in meinem Herzen bewahren.

...ich weiß nicht wie soll ich ihn begehen den Weg in die Heimat zurück,

fand ich doch hier das vollkommene Glück!

Für noch mehr und genauere Informationen, über mein Jahr in Neuseeland,
schaut doch bitte auf meinen Blog. www.franzi-amanfangderwelt.blogspot.com
Ich hoffe, ich konnte euch einen kleinen Einblick geben, nun findet euer Glück,
es wird euer Leben bereichern!

Haere ra

Namárie… mellon

 Franziska Fait

Facepaint

Friday the 26th of October was quite a merry day until we had to listen to the life story of an ex burnsider who died a few years ago from his mom... it was almost too depressing...
At Interval I went to help April write her german essay before rehearsing with the the choir and after school the massed items on stage with a mini orchestra.
After my piano lesson I went straight to the International Picnic with my whole family. There were mostly new International Students, a few choir people who had just stayed at school for fun and a few host families... I had fun eating and talking with Katarina, Charlotte M., Maggie or even Maja's host father from 5 to 7pm before biking to my usual violin lesson at 7.30pm. I got 5 new pieces, how am I expected to learn them all in a week ???

with friends of my 3 sisters (right)

Charlotte, me and Katarina

With the grandparents's help (who had just arrived for that purpose) we prepared for Julia's birthday party tomorrow morning with serviette flowers, helium balloons and other fairy / princess stuff everywhere.
We all woke up early and I did the facepainting for Julia,
Katy and Beth and a bit later at Julia's 4th birthday party for the other children as well (I'm very proud of my tiger !!!)
from 10 to 12am.

Superman, the hardest challenge

Julia's fairy cake

I was early at school for the Drama rehearsal, at half past 12, but noone else  was already there so I sang  a few operas for 20minutes till Mr Truman arrived with the key and the others came (too late). We needed a 3hour rehearsal and because I am only in the last 3 scenes I had nothing else to do but sit and watch for most of the time. Just when I went backstage he gave us 5 min. break... great. My scenes afterwards went quite allright, hoping for the best.
After discussing with my mum if I should send a parcel or not
(I won't fit everything in my suitcase when I have to go back, but parcels are even more expensive as a 2nd one!) I watched the movie "Born of hope" (AMAZING !!!) produced by the Free Online Cinema when babysitting with the grandparents.

After reading for most of sunday morning I was at the next Drama rehearsal at 2pm and could leave at 3 because my scenes came first because (he had a bad conscience that he let me wait yesterday the whole time...).

At home I skyped with my sister Janine and her friend and they played on guitar and sang for us. New Fans ! Yeah JaiMi !

In the evening at 5.45pm I went to school again, this time to a Senior Chorale rehearsal. Lisa had baked nice banana bread and we had a shared dinner, but not much vegetarian food to choose from... Afterwards we rehearsed the massed items till 8.30, then a few of us stayed 20min longer to sing Sophia's composition for Daniel's concert on sunday (it was the first rehearsal and most of us only sightreading, well, we still have a whole week), apparently I'll do the soprano solo...

It was pretty late already when I got home but couldn't stop reading "Daughters of Fire" for quite some time...

MTB and Awards

I got merit in violin exam ! JUHUUU !!!
Also I achieved one part of my maths exam and I could still get excellence for my O'Connor presentation...
Gabriel rehearsal at Interval.
Today, Tuesday the 23th of October, I played my first scene in Drama for the others of the class and am almost the only one to know my lines...  And our performance of the piece "Blood Brothers" is in less than a week!!! Because noone seems to be prepared for that yet we'll have to have an extra rehearsal on saturday for 3 hours. I only hope they will learn their lines soon because that would be important to everyone.
At Lunch I had another girl as my new Maths tutor, but she was also very nice and helped me a lot.
In the early afternoon we had a rehearsal for tomorrow evening, the Performing Arts Awards Ceremony, just learning how  and when to get up and down the stairs again...
Mr Petch helped me with violin composition before I went to the gym to meet the rest of my mountainbiking group after school. In the 30 minutes I almost fell asleep, but soon I got a hired bike and helmet and we started riding up a veeeery thin track. It was stony, had lots of mud puddles, with many tight curves and so steep at some places ! I was quite anxious at first, got off quite often at steep places without even trying to ride my bike over them. The way down was worse. The road was pretty exhausting and I had a feeling my breaks didn't work properly, but still I did not fall down once ! We met a few cows and lambs that were really cute ! It only started to make fun at the very end... I was pretty slow and probably the only one of them who hadn't been mountainbiking yet.
We were back at school at 6.15pm, I had cut both sides of my leg and it hurt quite a bit and began to feel a headache from too much sun...

On wednesday I went to a Magna rehearsal in Period 1 though I don't like the songs and simply am too tired. These songs were kind of boring, the sightreading easy, only  that we have to learn it by heart...

At Lunch I met with Andrew, James and Jordan to record my instrumentation. We had a few difficulties with getting everyone together and then to stay in time, but the 3rd recording was quite good. I got excellence for it!
In PMU we then got a new task: to perform a group piece next monday... great... will probably sing Barcarolle with Jacinta and Alice on the piano, and some violin piece by Schostakovitch with Theo and Chan Woo (piano).
I was back from fencing that evening at 6.10pm, got changed at once and after a hasty little dinner I was out of the house only 20 minutes after my arrival there.
At the Performing Arts Awards Ceremony in the Aurora Centre I was given a badge and certificate for having been a member of Bel Canto and for having won the Big Sing. Only because I haven't been here for at least two years now to earn these awards... but I am still pretty proud of my badge !!!

On Thursday I sang the "Barcarolle" for the first time with Jacinta and Alice, it's easy! Afterwards to the Tech Suite to correct the bowing of my instrumentation with Andrew's help.
My 2nd MTB trip started at the beginning of Lunch and I drove with Mr Finley's ODP class up to the "Sign of the Kiwi" somewhere in the hills. We biked a shorter tricky track 3 times and always had to bike up the road back to the vans. It was much trickier this time and got even more exhausting when we drove up to the very top of the hill to ride down again, My hands were so tired that I couldn't really use my breaks fully in the end and I rather walked some parts of the track... at least I didn't fall ! Scary...
On the way back I sat next to a Brasilian guy called Riccardo and we talked the whole time about playing a good piano... nice !
Back at school at 6.00pm, exhausted, I thanked our guide and walked home with the 2 other german girls.
I actually tried to make a German potatoe salad for the International Picnic tomorrow with waterless cucumber... till 12.30pm ! Wasn't the best result, but at least I tried !

Rehearsals, Shows and Parties

On Thursday the 18th of October 2012 we learned for our last topic in ODP how to change and repair MTB wheels.

Surprisingly easy...

Maja

In English we got a horrible poem about killing a boar and I just couldn't stand reading or analysing it so I was allowed to write about another one. Thank god, it was really a terrible one !
Afterwards we had a practice with all the choirs and reduced orchestra, it is such a strange feeling not to play and there are only 3 first violins left ! Ciara is pretty happy about singing with the orchestra instead of playing in it, but I was sad now the CYO rehearsals stopped as well... and now they play Thais what I did for my Solo Performance Exam !
In Music we only revise, at that day about Tchaikovsky's "Pathétique" before I went home to start drawing Claire's bday present picture, it shows a girl in blue-green with horn-headphones, perfect !
On Friday I got an invitation for the Performing Arts Award Ceremony next week and I had to buy one for myself for $6 although I will get a price !
We finished earlier with Bel Canto so that we had unusual free 10 minutes Lunch which I spend with Ciara, Claire and their friends.
Instead of ODP we had another massed rehearsal with the string octet and Claire (only brass instrument), Aurora Voices and Malestrom. It was quite fun although I don't feel prepared for the concert yet.
I also sang my LotR songs for the first time for Joanna, my piano teacher, whilst playing at the same time. That is so hard ! For the violin I got new pieces as well, now that I have finally finished Thais. They are much easier, but also faster and more rhythmic... but there is a whole page double stops which is pretty difficult !
I'm just home in time to watch the end of Marry Poppins before I started using Beth's metallic blue-green pencils for Claire's picture... to paint that will take me hours !
On saturday I got woken up at 9.30 to go with Lisa and the kids to Rangiora's A&P Show where one could see farm animals in far too small cages, bleeding sheep when men were shearing them in competition, distressed sheep when they were herded by dogs... :( I didn't like these sights, but other than that it was fun with a bouncy castle, slush ice etc.

After being back at about 2pm I got a book voucher for Claire and later 2 picture frames as well as a present for Julia and Johnny Depp's biography for only 3 dollars !
After several hours I finished my painting at 8pm.

   

When my family went on a train (for some of them it was the first time) I finished Claire's presents, played on my violin... Tim brought souflaki for Lunch and ginger beer and afterwards I started James's bday picture.
In the afternoon I biked to Claire's party (because of unsteady weather it doesn't happen in the botanic gardens but at her house), it didn't rain though... it was actually really warm !
It was a hat party like in "Alice in Wonderland" with tea and cakes before we tried to build playing card towers or invented funny stories.
In the early evening, back at home, friends came for a picnic. The father brought an air gun. I was also allowed to try to shoot with Tim and the dad at tins and bottles from about 10m distance and I was actually quite good ! I almost hit every time in lying or standing except when we began to go on to little tiny bottle lids... Wouldn't have thought it would be so much fun !!!
On Monday I finished James's painting, it actually looks a bit like him...
We also went to fly a huge helium clownfish balloon at Tims work with the remote control.

Fran

 Lisa

Tim

James