Day three, haven't been fired yet.

If you had asked me 2 months ago if I saw myself spending most of my summer living in a dorm with a bunch of opera singers working for a dance program closer to home than I've been all year, I would have told you no.  No, I did not see myself doing any of those things.  It's a good thing no one asked me. 

I arrived Tuesday in Chautauqua, NY after a whirlwind packing/moving/cleaning adventure back in Greensboro.  The short story is this:  My voice teacher's wife (henceforth referred to as "Boss Lady" or maybe just BL.  That's not offensive, right?) has worked as Program Director for the Chautauqua Dance program for almost 20 years.  She needed a new assistant this summer and RW (voice teacher) thought I might be a good fit.  Within 10 hours of his asking me my plans for the summer, I was hired.  So here I am, and here I shall be until August 16th.  At that point I will drive back to Greensboro, and begin moving into my new (to me) condo I'm sharing with my girl Sarah.  So before I could leave, I had to get everything out of my apt at Lincoln Green and into storage so it could hang out there until I get back in August.  It's going to be an insane weekend when both Sarah and I get back from being out of state for two months and attempt to move in that weekend before classes begin the following Monday.  But for this incredible opportunity to be so close to home (3 1/2 hours), work 40 hours in a beautiful area and a laid back environment, how could I pass it up?  Well I couldn't, and I didn't. 

It was a bit overwhelming when I arrived.  I had been so focused on The Mikado, then packing, then the days at the beach, then more packing, then moving, then cleaning out the apt, then driving here that when I actually arrived I realized I still had no idea what to expect.  (If you know me, you know I'm not too good when it comes to the unknown.)  So here I am, exhausted from the last few days, and the long drive, and walk into the common room and see a bunch of singers my age (younger really) who are all living the dream in their own way, and I have to say "Hi, I'm Bridget, I'm working in dance, but I'm actually a singer.  I'm living in NC but I'm really from Syracuse." and I get a glossy stare back because that's a lot of information to share, but I'd prefer that to hearing over and over again that I'm in the singer's house and, well, singers can be kinda crazy and a little loud from time to time, lol.  Yes.  I know this.  Anywho, long story still long, it was a lot to take in all at once so after some unpacking I opened a bottle of wine (cleaned out a Harris Teeter of my favorite vintage) and proceeded to settle in.  A few phone calls later, I was feeling good and accepted that this is indeed where I will be for the next two months and that is okay.  It'll become more okay when I get to go home tomorrow and squeeze some babies and see my beeches and talk to my friends who probably think I've fallen off of the face of the planet.  (I'm still here!  I got your voicemail/text message/facebook message, and I will reply eventually!) I will apparently be watching a hockey game in the evening, and as I know next to nothing about hockey, it should prove to be interesting.  I'll also get to see my future roomie tomorrow as she stops in Syracuse on her way to Canada eh?  :) 

The job on the whole is great.  The only tough part is not really knowing what I'm doing until I am handed a task.  Today I was handed a multitude of tasks and I completed each of them so I'm starting to get a feel for what it is exactly that I do.  I can't explain it, the BL who's been there nearly 20 years couldn't really explain it, so don't expect an explanation.  What I can say is on my first day the BL told me to take a leisurely lunch, and to come back "I don't know, in around an hour?"  I helped make some beds for the faculty that were arriving late at night, made some schedule templates, made a bulletin board, and toured the grounds.  Today, however, I had some real work to do and it was nice.  I felt helpful and like a part of the folds of the program.  I'm gonna be just fine but I have to remind myself this isn't teaching.  My job is not to be in charge of everything in front of me, and it is certainly not to have all the answers.  My job is to help do the time consuming tasks so the BL can have the answers and keep the program running smoothly.  So when I'm sitting at my computer zoning out while I mess around with importing pictures and labeling names wondering if I should be spending my time doing this, I have to remember that yes.  This is my job this summer.  To do the time-consuming, sometimes mind numbing, tasks and that when 5:00 hits, I leave it all there and come back to it tomorrow. 

I am not poo poo-ing being a desk job person.  I'm saying being an administrative assistant at a summer program is a far cry from being a voice teacher.  And it is a far cry I think I will enjoy for the next two months.

Real-World Application

Moving opens your eyes to all sorts of things you never knew about yourself or other people.  When you help a friend move, you sort of get a glimpse into their inner workings.  You can see how they work under pressure, how they handle stress, their ability to go with the flow, their level of organization... You also learn things about yourself when dealing with a move.  A lot of the things I already listed, plus some interesting physical boundaries you thought existed, that may no longer exist.  For example, I never realized the real-world application of marching backwards, or the possibilities of learning to walk forward in a kimono.  When you're carrying an awkward dining room table backwards that does not allow your legs to extend underneath, you either biff your shins relentlessly, or you pop up into relevé, keep your legs in line and march backwards at 8 to the 5.  (I have to give a shout out to the Northstars Marching Band.  I never marched on a field a day in my life, but I did the block warm ups every night.  Thanks Northstars.)  In a similar fashion, when you're carrying a two-drawer file cabinet forwards with no room for leg extension and it's too wide to crab-it, you put on your mental kimono, keep those knees together and take graceful tiny steps with minimal bouncing.  (This one usually involves some artless Japanese giggling, for effect.) 

My most surprising real-world application came from a yoga pose.  I am not a yoga guru.  I've done it maybe 15 times in my life, including a semester of modern dance, and the 6 movement classes at my program this summer.  I can rock out a mean sun salutation, however, and this knowledge became increasingly apparent when I was cleaning out my trunk before I brought a load of stuff over to the storage unit.  There I am reaching into the far recesses of my trunk, trying to get these CDs out I haven't listened to in years, if ever, and I'm about ready to climb in the damn thing because my back is hitting the top and my arms are too short, but if I climb in, the trunk will close on me and then I'll be stuck in there because I can't remember where the escape hatch is, and it's really hot and maybe I'll suffocate, or maybe someone will hear me, when I remember - downward facing dog bitches.  I hated this move the first time I learned sun salutations. My arms would shake, I'd start to slide, I found no peace in this position the instructors insisted on spending long periods of time in.  This time around, I realized it's not about pushing myself forward onto my hands, but about centering myself, relaxing my hips and letting my weight balance more towards the middle.  This little adjustment allowed my back to arch just a little bit more, giving me the leverage I needed to reach the back of my trunk, saving not only myself, but an unopened copy of Die Winterreise, an old recording of mine, a Shinedown CD, Act I of Frida that didn't even have me singing on it, a copy of a church's Christmas CD, and some disgusting looking unmarked CD.  Thank you, downward dog, for these wonderful treasures.

So marching band and yoga come to my rescue offering the tools I need to succeed as an independent adult.  But let's cut funding for music programs, and force-feed proofs, theorems and equations to meet the state standard in our schools.  (now there's a segue for ya.)