Celebrate Singapore!

Yesterday I was invited to celebrate Singapore's National Holiday, similar to America's Independence Day. My friend Adrian, a conducting student here at the Con, invited me to join him and his friends for their special celebration. I must say, I was truly honored to be the only non-Singaporian individual, save for the owner of the apartment, there! How special am I!?!

Besides the apartment being fantastic, we had a lot of amazing Singaporian food. Adrian and his friends delighted to sit me down in front of the computer to watch videos on Singapore's history, culture, and especially food. I feel like I belong to their culture now! That's what I love about this scholarship...I'm seriously meeting people from all over the world, and learning about their countries! It's like I've gotten scholarship all over the world!

Did you know that Singapore has over 4 million people living within its borders, yet it is smaller than Los Angeles?! Talk about crowded cities! However, since the 1960's, when Singapore gained its independence, it has truly become an economic mystery. Poverty is low, incomes are high, and political strife is not very common. Plus, it's summer...all the time! Hmm...I know where I'll be living for the rest of my life! Ha ha!

I'm also really glad to have made some new friends. These people are so much fun! They remind me a lot of my friends back at home: friendly, funny, and outgoing. Yay!

I just finished practicing for about two hours! Surprisingly, my voice is doing alright! I thought I was pushing myself too hard, especially since I didn't get much sleep last night, but it feels pretty good. I've got six songs memorized now, and am beginning work on a piece by Reynaldo Hahn. I love his music! So pretty. I'm on a mission to memorize at least two pieces per week. I would love to do three, but we shall see.

Unfortunately, my teacher for the ensemble class won't be in until next Monday! Ack! I really hope things work themselves out. I just feel like I'm going to be stressed out later if I don't figure out what I'm doing now. *sigh*

Marie is cooking fish tonight! Yessss, so good. I am so blessed to be living at their home! God takes such good care of me...