Underdog

I haven't done much drawing so thought I'd revisit Drawspace and see what's up this week.

Here's my two submissions with an "Underdog" Theme.

Nonet

First chamber music class of the season. Teacher's trying out a Martinu Nonet. I think the first movement is doable. It was fun. Also sight read a little modern piece which wasn't too hard. I enjoyed playing after being off all summer.

Balkan Camp

Just spent 3 days in Rock Hill, NY with Earl, his sister and cousins at the Eastern European Folklife Center Balkan Camp Workshop. It was our first time there. We flew up to Baltimore to Earl's sister's home and then drove about 6 hours to the campsite The food was very good. Plenty of salad and many good diet choices (besides the evil stuff). Also provided late night snacks. They served baklava twice and even had a lamb roast party with grilled vegetables, hummus and baba ghanoush on the last day.

The Iroquois Spring camp had excellent facilities. The showers, etc. were actually in the back of each cabin. There were parties all night long. We were very lucky and got some cooler weather. It has been a very warm summer. I did some dancing and tried playing the Bulgarian tambura which is tuned like a guitar and played like a mandolin. Earl participated in several ensembles. He's in the videos below.

July Update

http://travelgalitz.wordpress.com/2010/07/27/a-touch-of-shanghai-expo/

This is the last post for my China trip.

Summary: This was my third trip to China and I thought I'd try something different from the normal tourist route--a homestay in a modern industrial city of China plus a month of studying Mandarin.

Things Discovered: Doctor/Dentist visits were very easy and cheap.

Things I knew about in advance, but still had difficulty coping with: Smog

Things Enjoyed: Calligraphy studies

Things Missed: Enough time to visit the nearby historical and scenic regions

Chinese Calligraphy - 4th Lesson

It's been fun living and studying in China this past month.

Monday through Friday - I have 4 hours of private mandarin lessons. Then I have calligraphy class every other day.

Here's a sample - the first character in each row is the teachers. He circles the ones he likes.