Well, after I left off yesterday, I went back to the mall across from the hotel and sat in my usual spot with an awesome wi-fi connection and people-watched. That is such an interesting thing to do here. Then Simon, Nicole and I (the others from the U.S.) went on the trek to attempt to find the “Titanic” restaurant. I read about this restaurant online, and thought it would be a fun experience. Well, one of the first problems when finding something in this city is that street signs don’t really exist so you don’t know what street you’re really on. We took the directions that I wrote down, and tried to get there, but no such luck. Then came the fun part of asking for directions, or for a map- and it was hard to find someone that spoke English. We went into a hotel, and asked if they spoke English, and then amazingly enough, they had a map! It was interesting to see other parts of the city, and see large billboards advertising the organ competition. We finally gave up on finding the restaurant, and came back to the hotel and went to the same restaurant we went to the night before- the one with an English menu! In this restaurant, we saw a lady in short leather shorts, with a pet rabbit with a coat on, and then a purse that she carries the rabbit around in.. definitely comical to say the least!
I didn’t sleep a whole lot last night, I’m not sure if it was the noise, or jet lag. I slept for a few hours, and woke up at 1:45 thinking it was morning- partially because of the light coming in from the mall across the street. Needless to say, I had a hard time falling back asleep, but finally did. Russians must really enjoy partying, as there was some really loud music playing down there early this morning. The first activity this morning as going to the Music School to practice- yay! I hadn’t touched an organ or piano since Saturday, and was kind of worried I’d forgotten to play. Simon and I ventured out with our assistant Alex, and another competitor from Japan to the school. We took a bus, and then walked a ways to get to the school. I spent an hour in a practice room and then got some time on the organ, which was really small, but hey- it had more than one keyboard and pedals so I was happy. Alex’s father came and picked us up and brought us back to the hotel. Upon walking into the hotel, we were stopped by one of the employees who wanted to copy our passports. Ok, seriously people, how many copies of my passport do you need? They had my passport for quite awhile on Saturday, so who knows. I guess they just want to be safe, but gee. Next time they ask for it, I’m going to bite my tongue.. it’s probably best to just say “ok.”
Simon and I went on a trek for lunch, and ended up finding a cute German restaurant with Wiener Schnitzel. The menu was posted outside, and was in German and I felt so excited that I could actually figure out what some of the stuff was! It was delicious, and gave Simon his first taste of German culture. I’m sort of becoming thankful for my little bit of German, as one of the TV channels is in German and I can sort of figure out things, which is really nice. I’m still surprised by the lack of people around here that don’t know English!
Tonight is my final practice time- 25 minutes, before the competition, which I think starts on Wednesday. I’m a little concerned since we haven’t had much practice time, but it’ll be ok. (I hope!). Simon and I will be taking a bus to get there, so we’ll hope that we find our way :)
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