Adventure Time (in Bulgaria) with Meri and Philip

Some exciting news!

2011-07-25T14:46:00.000-07:00

Beginning during the rehearsal week at UCI prior to the trip and following us across the sea to Bulgaria were two dedicated reporters from right here in SoCal. They were there to catch the very best moments, such as the first bleary eyed steps off the plane, tripping down cobblestone streets, and of course the concerts . If you've been dedicated enough to read the blog all the way 'till now, you will definitely not want to miss seeing this documentary. Tune into KOCE (the program is called "Real Orange") tonight at 5:30 pm or 11:30 pm to see the first segment of the tour documentary. (Why does this sound like an ad? :) )

The fearless duo interviewing our concertmaster.

Journey's End

2011-07-05T15:54:00.001-07:00

Wow, last post for the trip. After a week of nonstop action and fun, our time has officially come to an end. Since the last post, we've both finished the flight from Sofia to Frankfurt and transferred to our flight to LAX. While in the Frankfurt airport, Mr. Austin, who had filmed our Plovdiv concert on his camera, set up his laptop so some of us could watch our performance. Despite the audio quality of the camera and laptop, our playing still sounded quite admirable. After the hour or so layover, we boarded our last Lufthansa plane bound for home. Many of us said that the first thing we wanted to do when we got home was sink our teeth into an In-N-Out burger. After a week of Bulgarian food, many of us were ready to get back to our American roots. Now we're on the plane, about four or five hours from our destination. From there, we'll pick up our baggage, find our parents, and head back home.

It's a few hours later and we're back at home. I would have posted this back at the airport so as to officially end the blog while still with the whole group, but my computer reached critical battery levels as soon as I turned it on and automatically shut down. Everyone made it through passport security and customs just fine. The cellos and other large instruments even got to bypass the long line for customs because of our instruments (so if you're having trouble choosing an instrument, pick cello! =P). Then it was all goodbyes and sadness as members left the airport one by one. Now, Meri and I are extremely tired and jetlagged (please forgive any grammatical or spelling mistakes in these blog posts) and are ready to relax for a few days before I head off to cello camp. To all of you faithful readers who have made it this far, thank you for sharing in this once of a lifetime experience and for your undying support. Off to the next adventure.

-Philip

.....

2011-07-04T19:17:00.000-07:00

It's 5:10 AM at the Sofia airport. In the few hours since the last post, enough has gone on to be worth another block of text. After dinner, a DJ got some music going in the ballroom for people to dance to. Such dancing went on till 10:30. Those of us who did not wish to participate occupied our time getting ready for the long night, passing around my cello, or playing games. When the dance finished, all the kids were called into the ballroom for a final briefing. Flight 2 (my group) would stay in the ballroom until the bus arrived to take us to the airport at 3:30. Flight 1 would sleep normally until their bus came at 12:30. For us Flight 2 people, the hours between 11:00 and 3:00 were pretty close to absolutely dead. A few games of chess, some pictionary, music, or talking about music filled the time for those who stayed awake. After four mind-numbing hours, we packed up and headed for the airport. The usual airport business commenced, including a full pat down (with hands, not scanners) for about half the group. Now we're waiting at the gate until our plane arrives in 45 minutes. Till next time.

-Philip

The Last Days

2011-07-04T11:10:00.000-07:00

I've combined yesterday with most of today because yesterday was actually pretty uneventful (driving back from Varna). Here goes:

With our tour completed, today we drive back to Sofia (and back to our first hotel, hurrah!). Our final meal in the Grand Hotel Varna was met with about as much enthusiasm as the others, though the reassurance that it would be the last was comforting. Afterward, we packed up our junk and checked out of the hotel. Our return trip to Sofia went uninterrupted for about an hour when we ran into rain. Although far from a rainstorm, it was enough to make running from the bus into a convenience store mildly irritating for those who dislike rain. We stopped for lunch in a city that we passed on our way to Varna, Veliko Tarnovo. We ate lunch in a hotel restaurant, which was quite enjoyable. An assortment of hot soups, some more interesting vegetable dishes, and baked potato halves constituted this meal. Small groups of people headed off to the attached gift shop which was very cramped and contained lots of body lotions, perfumes, and other such products made from Bulgaria's trademark rose oil. The group was organized into our chaperone groups, and we headed a short way into town for some more official shopping. We visited a handful of shops and souvenirs for friends, family, and ourselves. Some of these souvenirs were absolute bargains while others seemed strangely overpriced.
With our tourist nature appeased for the day, we got back on the buses to finish our long bus ride. A few hours later, we made it back to out beloved Kempinski Hotel, and green apple juice has never sounded better. After dinner, we were told that we had free time until curfew at 11:00. Several people promptly made for the pool, others to the gym, and others for their rooms. Ironically enough, the pool and gym closed about 10 minutes after dinner got out, so those activities went out the door. Instead, most people either went to the lobby or to hotel rooms and played card games.

Next morning...

For our last full day in Bulgaria, we visited the Rila Monestrary, hidden high upon Rila Mountain. This morning was pretty standard (besides everyone's heightened satisfaction for the food after our Varna experience). At 8:30, the buses departed for the short two and a half hour drive to Rila. (After a trans-Atlantic flight and a bus ride to Varna, two and a half hours was nothing). When we arrived, camera's whipped out of pouches and purses to capture the stunning beauty of the main courtyard. The dormitories went up about four stories, encircling the main church building. Within this main sanctuary was a massive gold-leafed altar which covered the entire back wall. While inside, we also saw the current resting place for the Bulgarian King Boris' heart. Our guide told us the story behind King Boris and why only his heart was buried in the monestary. Outside, high arches covered in iconography depicted various Biblical scenes. Overall, the experience was quite awe-inspiring.
Afterwards, we headed a short ways down the mountain and stopped at a restaurant for lunch. Here we ate the usual tomato and cucumber salad, grilled chicken or fish, and an interesting pastry-like dessert. We were shocked when we saw a plate going out with a full fish on it, head and all. Apparently, the fish were local trout probably caught in the stream adjacent to the restaurant which were then cooked and served whole. Pretty nasty stuff. The chicken, on the other hand, was quite appetizing as were the potatoes that came with it.
After lunch, we loaded back onto the buses and headed back to Sofia. The staff had arranged for dinner to effectively be a surprise party for Mrs. Stahr. All the students signed a violin provided by Maxim's father (like, signed with a pen on the wood O_O). A brass fanfare announced the VIP's arrival and, after a few speeches and ovations, we ate dinner. The hotel even provided a special strawberry cake so we could celebrate the Fourth of July. Our wind players played a few patriotic pieces, and a smaller group played some jazz pieces arranged by one of our saxophone players. After the celebrations were over, Melissa announced the evenings arrangements, and then let us loose. We're now waiting for our bus for the airport, which is coming in six hours Those of us who get the 6:00 AM flight are being encouraged to just stay up all night as to avoid an unnecessarily short and painful sleep. I'll hopefully post some more when we get to the airport or something.

-Philip

PSYO: The Brave and the Bold

2011-07-02T13:34:00.000-07:00

Bravery is an interesting thing. For some, bravery might be heading off into a dangerous or scary situation, for others it might be diving headlong into the unknown. For the contingent of PSYO guys, bravery was walking back into that dreaded cafeteria for breakfast. After a surprisingly good night's rest, we boldly went where no PSYO student would ever want to go again. Although some thought afterward that the quality of the food was even worse than dinner the day before, it was definitely a matter of opinion. To the hotel's merit, they offered slightly modified versions of otherwise American cereals. Although these modifications did cause the cereal to become gooey after a few minutes of saturation in milk and practically without flavor, it was (in my opinion) quite appealing in comparison to some other offered foods which looked quite terrible and tasted even worse. Quite surprisingly, our already late departure time of 10:15 was moved back to 11:30, offering us a very relaxed and free morning. We utilized this time playing and watching pool and ping pong (made all the more entertaining by malfunctioning equipment) and, for some, the beach.

When it came time to depart, the group assembled in the lobby of Reuben and got on the buses for a trip to lunch. Lunch was held on board a (stationary) pirate ship called Mr. Baba (no clue where the name came from). Despite my very un-Asian distaste for fish, the fish soup that they served to begin with was bearable. While waiting for the main dishes to arrive, a group of dancers and musicians, dressed in traditional garb, served as the meal's entertainment. When they came to the lower deck where we PSYOers were eating, they even pulled in a few kids to add to the fun. The rest of the food, which consisted of chicken, fish, and strawberry yogurt, was quite pleasant.

We hurried out of Mr. Baba's and into our buses, because apparently the local police were scheduled to block the road next to our performance venue in order to allow the whole group to cross the street with instrument and bags. When we arrived, the police were there sure enough, and our rather dramatic crossing of the street made us feel very important. We had a quick brush up of a rehearsal, stashed our goods downstairs, and then headed off (already) to dinner. Although many were appalled when they heard dinner was being served at “the hotel”, it turned out that dinner was actually on the beach which stood on hotel property. Whew. Dinner was a definite contrast to the other meals from the hotel. Although some of the food still tasted rather foreign, several of them tasted genuinely edible. A passing breeze and the soothing sun made dinner the most positive experience of Varna up to that point for myself.

We headed to our transportation when dinner was over, and returned to the concert hall, changed into our classy black concert clothes, and got ready for the finale of our tour. I won't go into much detail regarding the character of the audience, as it was pretty much identical to the past two. People on the sidelines, sold out seating, etc. I'm very pleased to say that the Varna concert was quite possibly the best of our entire tour. We ended up playing all four of our encores, Hungarian Dances 1 and 5, Trepak, and Hora Staccato. During Hungarian 5, the audience started clapping with the music (resulting in much laughter within the orchestra), and then Maxim even began conducting the clapping, resulting in even more hilarity. By the time we had left the stage, we had received at least five standing ovations from the audience. After a refreshing reception (and lots of pictures), we left for the hotels. Our tour has officially ended, but we can be certain that it ended with our absolute best.

-Philip

Sorry that there's still so few pics up. Wifi last night was so slow that Gmail took over a minute to load, so I figured uploading pics would be a lost cause. The internet seems to be a bit better tonight, so hopefully I can get some stuff up soon.

https://picasaweb.google.com/philipsheegog/MrsTangSPictures?authkey=Gv1sRgCL3IzOTcyvWOqAE

https://picasaweb.google.com/philipsheegog/Bulgaria630?authkey=Gv1sRgCNmwpcnRmfWBEQ

An Unexpected Twist

2011-07-01T11:36:00.000-07:00

Wow, the day isn't really over and there's so much...interesting stuff going on that I feel compelled to write while it is still fresh in my memory. Today was our last day in the Kemplinkski Hotel in Sophia before our epic trek to Varna (which, for those of you who don't yet know, is on the other side of the country). Although we were sad to say goodbye to our much-beloved green apple juice and delicious cold cut meat, the group was full of excitement for our trip to the tourist seaside Varna. Next thing you know, we're checked out, in the buses, and ready to begin the scheduled seven hour drive. A few pit stops allowed some of us to observe stray dogs and interesting (and somewhat scarily large) insects. About half way through the drive, we stopped for lunch at a beautiful restaurant that contained some incredible woodwork and picturesque scenery (see pictures for more details). The food was excellent and the ambiance pleasantly soothing. Despite this soothing environment, Ryan and I dangerously attempted a complex mental math problem which, considering that we've been out of school for several weeks, was quite mentally taxing and frustrating (we eventually did figure it out, to much rejoicing).

After lunch, we loaded back onto the three buses and started the second half of the trip to Varna. A few scary road encounters, a U-turn or two, and a small army of restless legs later, we finally arrived at our destination. Although the name “Grand Varna Hotel” might lead one to picture a huge beach resort on the edge of the sea with children frolicking through the water and the sun shining on their cheery faces, this is not what we found. Due to the traffic and unexpected delays, we pulled into Varna ninety minutes later than scheduled. Dark, rolling clouds had cloaked the sky and we could sense the coming rain as the humidity increased. The Grand Varna Hotel is actually several smaller hotels in relatively close vicinity. Due to space restraints, the group had to be split into two of these hotels, the women would stay in the “Dolphin”, while the gentlemen would stay in the “Reuben”.

All the buses went to the Reuben first, as that was the location of dinner. To begin with, the buses arrived at different times, those who arrived first entered the “restaurant” to find flocks of people milling around the entrance. The situation quickly escalated into a tense attempt to stay organized and together as mingling with the native population made it very easy to become separated and lost, something no one wanted happening. Fortunately, all members were accounted for, chaperone groups stuck together, and everyone was able to sit down calmly for a nice, warm meal. Or so we though. Trying to describe the food of this restaurant requires an entirely different palette of words than what I have been using to recount our previous meals. One member perhaps accurately described it as “a failed attempt to copy American food”. Another, describing the crowded conditions, as “controlled chaos”. Overcooked pasta, dripping french fries, meatless ribs, tough chicken, and flat out bad ice cream made up the majority of our meals. As if the food itself wasn't shocking enough, my chaperone group sat outside due to lack of room inside and, some twenty minutes into our meal, the music suddenly burst into unexpected and completely uncensored profanity. In English. Of course, its us, the tourists from America that don't speak Bulgarian and understands English that happens to be outside when that happens. But the day isn't over yet.

We gradually made our way to the lobby so we can check in, and, after receiving our key cards, Ryan and I made our way up the the top floor (by stairs, because the elevator was so slow) to our room. Though the room seemed nice enough, the couches in the lobby provided more comfort than the rock-hard beds, and a strange brown substance was spattered over our curtains. Despite these things, the room seemed...decent. Back downstairs, the whole group waited for the buses to arrive. It had started raining (with some lightning, too) so the buses were having to drive in closer to reduce the running distance. Bus 1 came and went with no issue, Bus 2 loaded all the girls and took them off to Dolphin, and Bus 3 randomly passed the hotel and required some staff to run out and catch it. Within the next hour, though, the entire group had gotten their luggage and was checked in, which brings us to the present. As of now, 9:30, a small group of us are upstairs playing some cards to pass the time, while others must be up in their rooms. Although our initial impressions of Varna have definitely been less than pleasant, we're guaranteed to remember this day for a long, long time. It's the unexpected stuff that makes memories, and this day has sure been full of those.

-Philip

Pics are up for June 29 (The Most Epic Day). Still trying to get more uploaded, as well as the pics that chaperones and staff have taken.

https://picasaweb.google.com/philipsheegog/Bulgaria629?authkey=Gv1sRgCNa4x_mm9_r24QE#

Plovdiv

2011-06-30T13:23:00.001-07:00

Can't really think of a cool, dramatic way to start this post, so I guess there won't be one. The morning was pretty normal, except for the fact that Ryan and I awoke at more normal times, showing signs that we are finally adapting to the time change. After breakfast, we had to pack our concert clothes and instruments because we were spending the day in Plovdiv, a city about two and a half hours away. During the ride, I was able to show Ryan the movie Mr. Bean's Holiday (which, if you haven't seen, I highly recommend, especially if you need a good laugh) which he heartily enjoyed. About an hour and a half into the bus ride, we made a quick stop at a gas station/snack shop. Several people bought drinks, ice cream, or chips to help satisfy their culinary cravings.
After arriving in Plovdiv, out first order of business was to visit the uncovered remains of an ancient Roman city and a recently uncovered Roman amphitheater. The amphitheater, which we visited first, was huge and quite awe0inspiring. Our trusty brass section performed a few pieces they had worked up while several of us non-brass players were momentarily employed as human stand clips (used to keep music from blowing away in windy conditions). The group played admirably, utilizing the natural acoustics of the amphitheater, which is situated between two large hills. After the amphitheater, we headed to lunch, which was held in a lavish house from the 19 th century. The food was pretty much the same as I've described each day, with the exception that there was more meat than usual. The people at the table I was at tried to create a chromatic scale using glass bottles and varying amounts of water inside of them. Although the project was uncompleted, it was pretty fun to be a part of (there should be a video of this on Picasa).
The conclusion of lunch marked the beginning of our tour of the Roman ruins. The tour lead us through a commercial district of Plovdiv all the way to the concert hall where we would be performing in a few hours. Upon arrival at the hall, we snagged our instruments and concert clothes and had another quick rehearsal. Fortunately, the acoustics of this hall were much easier to adapt to and the group sounded even better than in Bulgaria Hall (in my opinion). After rehearsing, we were directed across the street to the building where we would be eating dinner. What we weren’t expecting, however, was a sizable amount of rain. Without ponchos, our little band of musicians quickly made out way across the street, attempting to stay as dry as possible. Dinner was also fortunately more meat heavy than previous meals, though some of the meat tasted strangely spiced or over salted. We headed back to the hotel with happy stomachs and, after changing into concert attire, headed out into the hall. Unfortunately, the humidity seemed to have spiked when the rain hit earlier, so everything was uncomfortably moist and extra sweaty.
The space in which we performed was very small for a concert hall, seating only around five-hundred or so. Regardless, we had another full house with more people standing on the sidelines to watch and listen. The actual performance was just as good as, if not better, than last evening's performance and, after three encores, the crowd was still chanting for more, even after half the orchestra had left the stage (much like last night). With a successful second performance down, we headed back to our buses to begin the drive back to Sophia. We're currently about thirty minutes into the ride, and all but around three of us are fast asleep. Some remnants o jet lag, bad sleep habits, and just plain exhaustion have taken their toll, though I guess that that's not necessarily such a bad thing. Well, that's all for today, hopefully I'll be able to track down Meri's camera soon, there are a ton of pictures from today, including a ton from the amphitheater.

-Philip

The Most Epic Day

2011-06-29T13:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I accidentally just lost about half a page of what was going to be the blog post for today, so now I'll have to retype it all. =(

This morning began very similarly to yesterday, so I won't go into too much detail. Ryan and I both woke up at 4:00 (again) and then tried to go back to sleep into around 5:30 (again) at which point we both just lay awake, unable to fall asleep, until 6:00 (again) when we finally decided to get up, shower, and waste thirty minutes until breakfast opened. Talk about deja vu. Breakfast and the green apple juice was as delicious as yesterday (we love the green apple juice so much that we even named our chaperone group after it, “The Green Apple Squad”). After breakfast, we drove off to our rehearsal. Though the rehearsal was slightly frightening because several things were definitely not where they should have been, we managed to get through in one piece.

Back at the Grant Hotel Sophia for lunch again, though this time we ate inside (yesterday we were on the patio). Lunch consisted of (gasp) more vegetables, some meat with a strange, slimy texture, fried calamari (only some ate that), and a pudding-esque dessert. Several tables had some more fun making the crystal glasses ring, even experimenting with different liquids. After lunch, we picked up earpieces and short-range receivers to aid us in the upcoming walking tour to the Nevski Cathedral. Although I'm positive that our guide had many wonderfully educational things to say, unfortunately we were equipped with short-range receivers, and as such Meri, myself, and the rest of the people towards the back of the group heard choppy audio or nothing at all for about three quarters of the walk. Despite this minor obstacle, we reached the Nevski Cathedral, which happens to be the second largest cathedral in this geographical area. Our guide gave us a brief overview of the exterior and the painstakingly detailed interior. When we headed back to our waiting buses, it started to rain lightly, giving us another prime example of Bulgaria's unpredictable weather.

We headed back to the hotel, where we had ninety minutes until dinner and the evening's concert. It was during this period that I learned an extremely valuable life lesson. Due to the absence of an iron in our room, I attempted to purify my concert clothes from wrinkles by steaming it in the bathroom (turning on hot water and letting the steam take out the wrinkles). When I came back twenty minutes later, not only did I find my clothes still wrinkled, but the steam had condensed on everything in the bathroom, leaving it covered in a think shell of water, and the tub half full of water (due to a bad drain). After this adventure, Ryan and I headed down to dinner where we got stuff that you can probably already guess (pretty similar to last night's dinner).

In concert attire and with instruments in hand, the whole group once again made their way to the buses to be shipped off to the concert hall for the opening concert of our tour. When we arrived, huge TV cameras, mics littered around the stage, and the news that the concert was sold out was slightly intimidating to say the least. Fast forward two hours and the concert is finished. I can't even fully describe how excited the audience was. Here's a few examples: both sides of the hall were packed with people who, because there were no more seats, had still bought tickets so they could stand through the entire concert, several kids in the balconies started dancing when we were playing Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean, and after two encores the audience was still standing in ovation after we had left the stage. It was pretty amazing. And, if all that wasn't good enough, it turned out that the son of the composer of a piece we played was in the audience, as well as several members from the U.S. Embassy, as well as (to top it all off) the King of Bulgaria. Wow. During the reception, I was able to secure an audience with the King along with Ryan where we not only shook his hand, but also had a quite lengthy conservation about PSYO in general and our plans for the future. After so much excitement, we got back on our buses and came back here, to the hotel. It's now fifteen minutes past 11:00 PM and today has got to have been one of the most incredible days of my life. Off to bed.

-Philip

https://picasaweb.google.com/philipsheegog/Bulgaria629?authkey=Gv1sRgCNa4x_mm9_r24QE#

Second Day in Sophia

2011-06-29T06:16:00.000-07:00

This isn't breakfast.

Wow, Day 2 and I'm already falling behind on this stuff. Sad face. Anyway, after a very restless six hours of sleep, myself and my roommate, Ryan, got up because the sun fully risen by 5:30. We tried entertaining ourselves till breakfast by watching TV, but most of the channels were either sappy dramas dubbed in Bulgarian or news channels covering very boring topics. We held out until 7:00, at which point we flew down the elevator and entered the breakfast buffet, and what a breakfast it was. To begin with, there was an assortment of breakfasty meats (including really thick bacon) and your typical continental breakfast choices, like eggs and toast, only they tasted a ton better. Then, there was an omelet chef who had an awesome accent to complement the very little English that he spoke. Next was the fruit bar, which, aside from the grapefruit, contained exceptional specimens of peaches, oranges, pineapple, and watermelon. Finally, as if that wasn't enough, there was the drink bar. Three uncommon juices, green apple, peach, and pineapple, pretty much stole the whole show that morning (especially the green apple). I don't know how they made it so good, but those juices were pretty addicting.

The delicious chocolate pudding.

After loading ourselves onto two buses, we made our first trip to Sofia Hall, the venue of our first performance, while snapping pictures of various historical buildings, strange street signs, and McDonalds billboards. Once inside the hall, we rehearsed, yay. The hall is very different from UCI or Segerstrom in that it's pretty small for a concert hall, seating around 1,500, and has very little reverb, meaning that there is no echo to help cover up mistakes or slight timing mishaps, and that the acoustics we had gotten used to over the season were now making us a very uncoordinated group. Regardless, the rehearsal was productive, despite the majority of the orchestra being dead tired. After the rehearsal, we walked to the Grand Hotel Sofia, where we ate lunch. Unlike breakfast, the lunch food was much more Bulgarian and vegetabley-tasting. There were, however, delicious cups of pudding, crystal glasses which we utilized in a musical manner, and little glass soda bottles.

Museum of Natural History

Zombie orchestra

After lunch, the orchestra was split into two groups in order to make our afternoon excursions more manageable. One group would start at the Museum of Natural History, while the other would start on a walking tour of Sofia. My group started at the Museum, which contained a plethora of ancient artifacts, some dating back to several thousand years B.C. The most striking part of the museum's artifacts were carvings made of wood, gold, silver, or other various materials. Some of these carvings, usually of religious purpose, were so finely detailed that I could barely make out the lines, let alone fathom how an ancient civilization created such pieces. After the museum, our Bulgarian guide, noticing how zombie-like the group was becoming, decided that those who wanted to could take an abbreviated version of the walking tour which the other group had done first. Being good students, both my sister and I went. Instead of the normal two-hour trip, we only made one stop at some ruins of the ancient Roman city some ten feet below the current ground level. Several walls, as well as the frame for a gate, were visible at the location where we went.

We returned to the bus, headed back to the hotel, and went to dinner. Like lunch, the dinner food was more Bulgarian, though less vegetabley than lunch. Of particular note was the lasagna, which was cheese based. Although very rich, the cheese tasted quite good amongst all the layers of noodle. Several guests whom Mrs. Stahr invited spoke, talking about their lives in Sophia and giving some handy life lessons. With the conclusion of dinner, myself and Ryan headed back to our room and, after some evening socializing, went off to sleep once again.

-Philip

Pictures

2011-06-29T05:49:00.000-07:00

While Meri and I have been taking dozens of pictures each day, we can only post so many per post (or else the aesthetic value of the post would be as good as none). However, for those who want to see the entirety of the pictures and videos that we've taken, I will be posting links from here on out at the bottom of each day's post that lead to photo albums from each day. Beware, there might be some bizarre shots and videos in the mix. =P

Airport/Day 1:
https://picasaweb.google.com/philipsheegog/Bulgaria626authkey=Gv1sRgCJC63d3poNPq1wE

https://picasaweb.google.com/philipsheegog/Bulgaria627?authkey=Gv1sRgCMDWpaujm9jJ4QE

Day 2: https://picasaweb.google.com/philipsheegog/Bulgaria628?authkey=Gv1sRgCN3U78W4wKHUxQE

-Philip

Another Perspective

2011-06-28T21:01:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let any and all readers know that there is another blog being written about our trip which will likely prove to provide another perspective on our stay here. I encourage you to check it out. =)

pacificsymphonyblog.org

The Adventure Begins

2011-06-28T09:07:00.000-07:00

Note: Friends, family, and anyone else reading this. Sorry for the delay in posts, there wasn't any Wi-Fi in the rooms so I had to figure out how to hard-connect to the hotel's network, hence the delay.

Bulgaria: Day 1

Finally time for our long-awaited trip to the far side of the world. Yesterday (well, technically two days ago since I'm typing this up in Bulgaria and the time change basically ate another day) saw us off to the airport, where we rendezvoused with Allison and the other cellos/horns/bassoons/trombones. Then, we got to wait for the rest of our group to arrive, killing the time with some Rat Slap, 13, and Pictionary. A couple hours later, we had our entire group through security and waiting at the gate. We had somewhere around an hour or two before our flight left, so several people found wonderfully overpriced airport food, while others watched Unknown (Liam Neeson) on Mr. Austin's laptop. When the wait was finally over, we boarded the plane and prepped ourselves for the twelve hour flight.

All I can say about my initial impressions of the plane is “wow”. Being my first time on a 747, it was quite exciting to both myself and Meri and see two columns of seats, as well as the staircase leading to the lower deck. Each seat had a touchpad screen which could be used to browse through dozens of movies, hundreds of CD's, and a bevy of TV channels, all included with the flight price. As if the entertainment wasn't enough to keep our little minds amazed the entire trip, the food that we received was equally impressive, or at least dinner. Dinner was a selection between a pasta or chicken entree, a roll, fruit cup, some salad, and a brownie. Meri and I both got the pasta and were immensely impressed. The rest of the meal was just as good, the salad was crisp, the brownie was fresh, and the fruit was very sweet. The majority of the flight felt pretty much the same: some people were sleeping, others were incredible still not sleeping, a handful of lights in the darkened cabin were lit, and the constant drone of the engines annoyed me to no end. During the flight, I invested two hours into The Adjustment Bureau, a movie released last year if you haven't heard of it. The movie delves (lightly) into the issue of free will (versus Predestination...) and perhaps how those set along a predestined path can “overwrite” that path with our free will, or something like that. It was a very interesting movie that provided a little more meat to the thinking watcher than your average hack and slash flick. I also got through about three quarters of Rango which, despite the slightly negative things I heard about it, I found quite entertaining and funny.

Well, time shift ahead half a day +ten hours for the time zone and we're in Munich. Our legs rejoiced as we walked down the jetway and into the German terminal. We checked out some very expensive gift shops, saw an Asian cuisine, and laughed as my cousin got ripped off by the horrible airport currency exchange rates. The next flight was considerably shorter and less lavish, though it was still fairly enjoyable. Finally, after around thirteen hours of air time and twenty-five (I think) hours later, we arrived in Bulgaria. After claiming our baggage, checking to make sure none of the cellos were damaged, and exiting the airport (while being filmed for TV broadcast), we met our Bulgarian couriers who drove us to the hotel where this blog post is being typed. We checked in, got our keys, and promptly went to sleep.

-Philip

T-Minus One...

2011-06-25T19:43:00.000-07:00

Ahh, last day before our expedition begins! Unfortunately, it turns out that we have to get to the airport an hour and a half earlier than expected because I have a cello. Lame. And, we cellos have to put those incredibly ugly "fragile" stickers all over our beautiful cases. Double lame. =( Despite such things, we are both super pumped for this trip and excited to be so close to departure. Blog posts should be coming en masse very soon, so hopefully we can satisfy all you readers' voracious appetites for all things Bulgaria. Back to packing!

-Philip

Rehearse, Rehearse, REHEARSE!

2011-06-22T21:56:00.000-07:00

Yes, we have had rehearsals everyday this week, and slowly but surely getting back to a descent level of playing. Some of my friends are commenting on how long the rehearsals are, but if you think about it, 20 hours of rehearsals really isn't that much to get ready for our first international tour. At a tour dinner on Monday, Maxim was telling about all the publicity we're getting already. It's a little scary!
One thing that has made this week a bit crazier than expected was my grandfather's passing. He passed away on Saturday morning, and everyone (my mom and her siblings especially) has been working very hard to get the service together before we leave on Sunday. God is good all the time, but He has been especially gracious during this time, letting the church and cemetery be open, the pastor available, family being in the area. Even the day and time he died couldn't have been better. So the service is tomorrow is tomorrow and the burial on Friday. Then we're full steam ahead to Bulgaria!

Pictures!

2011-06-18T17:20:00.000-07:00

I just figured out how to add pictures!

Day 1

Self Explanatory

A replica of the Little Mermaid statue in Solvang.

Day 2

Three Kids on a Rock

Mom and Philip with the Olallieberry lemonade.

Uncle Dana and Jevi.

Day 3

A novelty at the Holliday Inn Express.

The hill. Those tiny people are us.

Vicory!

It was a large hill

Winchester Mystery House.

At the aquarium.

One of the many posters in the Hot Pink Flamingos Exhibit.

Baby Seahorses!

The Neo Cube! Look it up; like Wagner, its harder than it looks!

You already have pictures from day 4. :)

~Meri

The Long Road Home

2011-06-18T16:46:00.000-07:00

Day 4: June 17

Walt's Barn

Yesterday was our last day of vacation. We left our hotel earlier than I wanted to leave, and I promptly fell asleep in the car. From what I understand, I missed driving and more driving. A quick stop in a slow drive thru, and we were on the road again. At long last we came to our first stop: Robert Caur Violins in LA. Thus is where both my violin and Philp's cello were bought. We ducked in for just a minute to resharpen Philp's endpin (that dangerous weapon!). While we were waiting, a young cellist came in to report that her bridge (the fragile wooden piece that props up the strings) had been knocked out by her brother. He accidentally hit her cello with an exercise ball. Let us all take that lesson to heart: no throwing balls in the house! Happily the rest of her cello was not damaged.

A hop, skip, and a jump away (comparatively) was Walt's Barn. Yes, this was Walt Disney's barn that has been relocated from his property to Griffith Park. Unfortunately the barn was closed, but we could see it through the fence. Dad has been up there before, and said it is a small museum that tells about his railroad hobby and has some original pieces. Then back in the car.

Our final stop was the Griffith Park Observatory. It was really exciting getting to "stand on top of the world" from up there, and also see the Hollywood sign. We watched two planetarium shows; one on a general history of astronomy, and a second on the aurora borealis. The second was really interesting since I didn't really know what caused the northern lights. It was also very funny because since the vikings thought the northern lights were the valkyries carrying away the souls of lost heroes, the presentation played Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries which PSYO played last year. All I have to say about it is that it is alot harder than it sounds. After learning about sun spots, meterorites, the planets, cloud chambers, and eclipses, we left.

After searching for a place to eat for a very long time, we found ourselves at a Panda Express in Fullerton. Panda has never tasted so good! Finally we made it home safe and sound.

Fatigue, Fish, and Feet

2011-06-17T22:44:00.000-07:00

Day 3:

Our last few hours in Pacifica were spent waking up, eating breakfast, and scaling a miniature mountain for a picture. This quest, which was originally intended to be a simple little walk up the hill turned out to be a very fatiguing hike and took in all probably half an hour from start to finish. While trekking back down the hill, my siblings and I were educated in the velocity-slowing properties of deep sand. After this adventure, we set out in our trusty van for yet another expedition on the road. Our destination: Monterey. After spending an extra forty-five minutes stuck in traffic in the Santa Cruz mountains, we reached our afternoon's entertainment, the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Our family had visited this aquarium thirteen years ago, but, seeing as I was all of three at the time, I was able to take in the sights and sounds as if for the first time. We were able to see pretty much every exhibit during our time there, including: a giant octopus, a scary amount of jellyfish, moray eels, rock crabs, skeleton plankton, tiger sharks, bat rays, sea stars, the whole lead cast of Finding Nemo, sea otters, anchovies, sardines (not in a can), flatfish, and the like. One of the featured exhibits was on Seahorses, so we got to see an especially large amount of those. Unfortunately, one of the other featured exhibits, which lures in unsuspecting tourists with its catchy title (Hot Pink Flamingos), not only contained very few hot pink flamingos, but also was filled to the brim with environmentalist propaganda that looked like it could have come out of Communist Russia. O_O Not cool. Besides that sobering exhibit, the rest of our aquatic experience was very enjoyable and educational.

We dragged our exhausted feet back to our car, found our hotel, and unpacked for the last time. I was able to make a pretty cool makeshift bed out of a reading chair combined with two small couches intended to go with the room's main beds. After kicking back for a few minutes, we found out that X-Men: First Class was playing in a nearby theater...in half an hour. So off we go gallivanting to the theater with empty stomachs and tired feet. After the movie, we retired back to our hotel room, added onto our collection of “Day in Review” videos and then drifted off to sleep...

-Philip

Of Rocks, Ollalieberries, and Spicy Rigatoni

2011-06-15T23:48:00.001-07:00

Day 2:

We had a late start (us kids, that is), but eventually got down to our “deluxe continental breakfast”. Lovely waffles, orange juice and pastries awaited. After eating breakfast and cleaning up, we all headed across the road to the beach. Dad had gone down earlier and said the view was crystal clear, ocean as far as the eye could see. But by the time the sleepy-heads rolled out of the inn, a lovely haze had descended upon Cambria. We got to sit on a bench overlooking the rolling waves and a couple with two young girls while we did devotions. After that, we headed down to the shore itself. There were some very tempting, large rocks not very far out in the water. Philip and I ran out there, and eventually Ariel joined us. Though we got very wet, we had a very fun time out there.

After drying off at the inn, we drove into Cambria. We walked about the town a bit, found a garden shop, a thrift store, and a gallery of paintings. Then we went to Lynn's, a restaurant our aunt had told us about. The food was excellent, especially the spicy pickles, and the owner gave us a history lesson of the owallieberry. Then it was to the road again. We passed the Hidden Valley Ranch and a lot of hills, cows, and grape vines. A few hours later, we reached Pacifica, where we would spend the night. Funny enough, this is the same hotel we stayed in last time we came to Pacifica! We walked around the Farmer's Market and gift shops before going out with our friend, Uncle Dana. For dinner we went to “Nona's”, a diner-type restaurant. Philip ordered the spicy rigatoni...and it was SPICY! Not unbearable, though. Then we went to Uncle Dana's house, got to see all the neighborhood animals, took a tour of his house, including his impressive airplane collection, and then went back to the hotel. After a little while, when Ariel and I were started to drop off, we said goodbye till next time.

If anyone is interested, at our church's high school group tonight they had third annual No Talent Night. Since we couldn't be there, Philip and I (with Ariel's help) made a video for some friends to dance to. They didn't know what we had put together, but I'm sure they were good sports about it. Here's the link if you want to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU6--gKMyPo .

Well, it's time for bed. Tomorrow: adventures at the aquarium!

~Meri

This is not Bulgaria

2011-06-15T17:22:00.000-07:00

Well, as you'll probably be able to tell, this blog post is not about our time in Bulgaria because, in fact, we are not there yet (and will not be for another week and a half). This post, and most likely the next few others, will be documenting the Sheegog family's vacation up the Californian coast. And, because we had already made this blog, we thought we might as well share our discoveries and adventures with all of you.

Day 1:

We left at ten o'clock yesterday morning and drove for three hours north until we reached our first stop, Pea Soup Anderson's. This restaurant is one of the two in the State (and the world, for that matter). The food was quite excellent. The soup, although similar to its canned cousin, was far superior in both texture and flavor. In addition, the soup came with “chocolate milkshakes” which were more akin to Wendy's Frosties (and, as you can see in the pictures, Dairy Queen's Blizzards).

After our stomach's were quite happily filled to the brim with chocolate and processed peas, we crossed the freeway and took a small road out to the Danish town of Solvang, which happened to be celebrating the one-hundreth year since its founding in 1911. As mom astutely noticed, half of the twon squares, malls, libraries, and whatnot were named after the famous Danes, Hamlet (prince of Denmark, from Shakespeare's play) and Hans Christian Anderson. Seeing as one of those two men is merely fictional, the whole town was sprinkled with tributes to the great writer. We even visited a Hans Christian Anderson museum which contained at least 10 different copies of each of his stories on display, in addition to an entire glass case full of books and articles about “The Little Mermaid”. We ended our visit in Solvang by purchasing some authentic, freshly-baked Danish cookies for several special people back home.

Second stop down, and several more hours of driving await. Well, actually on one more. On the way to our final destination of the day, Cambria, we made a stop in San Luis Obispo for some food and entertainment. After seeing my first genuine “gaming lounge”, we watched Super 8. Spoiler alert. Super 8 was fairly entertaining, if not slightly predictable and mellowdramatic. Although the alien seemed more like a strange hybrid of a cave troll's face and the body build of General Greivous (not in metal, of course), it provided ample suspense and several of the obligatory “shock” moments. It was good, but no Inception. After the conclusion of the film, we hopped next door to Californian Pizza Kitchen, where we refilled our still-happy stomachs with pizza and a delicious chicken salad.

Leaving San Luis Obispo, we finally approached our resting spot for the night, Cambria. Although I'm sure the drive was absolutely gorgeous, I cannot accurately describe it as I was asleep for the vast majority of that drive. Despite my absence of mind, we safely reached our hotel, the Sand Pebbles Inn, without incident.

-Philip

The Countdown Begins!

2011-06-12T23:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I suppose we've been counting down since we found out last year that we were going on this trip. But now we are actually counting down the days-14 left!

Let me take a step back. Philip and I are in the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra (PSYO) which is going on tour to Bulgaria. We are giving three concerts while we are there, but we also get to do a bit of sightseeing, too! You ask, "why are you going to Bulgaria of all places?" That is an excellent question. Maxim Eshkenazy, conductor of PSYO, is a native Bulgarian, and Mrs. Elizabeth Stahr, a member of a Pacific Symphony board, thought it would be great to take the orchestra there for the first tour in the group's nineteen year history. After two years of planning, fundraising, and tireless work, we are all going!

Rehearsals start up again next week so that we sound as good as Maxim has been telling everyone. The orchestra has also been invited to an "authentic Bulgarian dinner" where we'll sample food, hear cultural music, and get to socialize with our orchestra mates and chaperons.

That's all for now. More posts and pictures will follow!

~Meri