Last Minute Thoughts (from this side of the ocean, anyway...)

So I keep hearing Mr. Teague's voice in my head. That happens a lot, actually, but this time it's saying... "Now go to bed early. Get plenty of rest, tomorrow's going to be a long day. And you need to at least act wide awake when you get to your host family's house on Sunday morning.

Well, my suitcase, carry-on bag, 3/4ths of my closet and a big pile of... technology are all over the family room. It's not Saturday yet. Not for... five minutes or so...

So rather than pack and go to bed, I'd like to share a few thoughts that are swimming through my head currently...

1) Ben's previous entry brought to mind something I think I said during rehearsals. One of the things I'm looking forward to the most is experiencing this trip through the eyes of our students (and some of our staff members!). I've been blessed to make this voyage to Germany three times now. I know how absolutely amazing the people are, how beautiful the cities are, how exciting it is to perform for those audiences. I'm much more excited about seeing how our students react to all of that for the first time. It's like Christmas morning as a parent, but different!

2) The band has really come together this week. The first sounds we made as the Honor's band... hmm... It was obvious that most minds were on the fact that school just ended. By the end of that rehearsal, however, things were already starting to come together. By the end of today's run-thru? Spectacular! Let's take this thing on the road!

3) Technology. One of the reasons I'm late in getting my stuff together is the detour I made to my parents' house tonight to teach them how to use a webcam and Skype so my wife and I can video conference with them and our two year old daughter while we're in Germany. And despite the fact that it took a little longer than I expected to my them feel comfortable with it, the truth is it's SO EASY to keep in touch and to share experiences we're going to have on this trip. A big thumbs up and HUGE kudos to Mr. Teague for setting up a student blogging team. We did something similar on our last trip to Europe in 2005 but it included lots of late nights of wandering around the Austrian Alps looking for unsecured wireless access. Students had to email reflections or pictures to Mr. Teague who then had to edit a website. Now, all the staff and our student bloggers can be posting non-stop from their cellphones, host family computers, Internet cafes, and who knows what else. My only suggestion... Take the time to just enjoy the trip. Look at the beautiful countryside without a camera view finder or cellphone held up against your face. Our friends and family want to know what we're doing, but they also want us to expereince this great trip!

Ok, enough for now... now it IS Saturday. Let me end with this... I'm really proud of the work we've done this week to come together as the District 99 Honors Band. I'm proud to be part of the team and honored to be sharing all of this music with these incredible young people!