Wicked Welly Weekend.....

Another week gone. Again I was suprised that I had arrived at Friday in what seemed like no time at all. Throughout the day I found that I was smiling to myself because I knew that this weekend was going to be awesome!

Friday evening we set off, with great anticipation, to see a performance by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra!! We were able to get good seats at a 2-for-1 price and couldn't wait to attend this event.

In a word: amazing. Opening with one of my favorites, Mozart's Symphony No. 38 in D major, we were showered with delicate, seamless notes, rich in acoustic flavor from a small group of musicians (about half of the entire orchestra). I've listened to Symphony No. 38 so many times over the years since I was a young musician but to hear it played by this group was nothing short of breathtaking. I don't think I've ever heard anything so beautiful in my entire life. It took me back to the years that I played the flute in elementary/middle/high school. And I was reminded of the most terrifying moment of my life thus far. As a freshmen in high school I was chosen to play a solo for an upcoming concert. I was terrified. No, petrified. My hands shaking even as I thought about going to class and having to play it for all my peers to hear. I even tried to get out of playing it, pleading with my teacher to assign it to someone else. In the end he never did. So there I was, the night of the concert, completely beside myself with fear. I remember walking out onto the stage with the rest of my peers, the glare of the spotlights in my eyes. We sat down and my mind went blank. The moment I had dreaded for months had arrived. We were about to start the song that contained my solo. No, we weren't about to begin it - I was. Only me. This wasn't the type of solo where the soloist is supported by a few others playing softly. No. This was me. All by myself. Just one little flute, played by someone who, at any moment, was about to die of fear. I remember that just before I began to play it was like my hearing had cut out. Think tunnel vision but for your ears. I heard nothing. I felt nothing. All I saw was the conductor's hands go up and it was time. Those hands came down and I began to play. Later my mom told me that those notes were solid and clear. Thankfully, they betrayed none of my fear and anxiety about this solo. So somehow I was able to coordinate the movements necessary to play the notes on the page. The funny part about this is that in all the nerve-wracking things I've had to do since then nothing has filled me with fear like that little solo. Not even my master's thesis defense. :)

The second movement was Alpine Symphony by Strauss. Compared to the delicate nature of the Mozart we heard earlier this piece took you through sections where you were on the edge of your seat almost straining to hear the notes that were played piano soft. Other sections assaulted you with intense sequences that seemed to crash over you like giant waves. And so it went vacillating between 'barely there' and cacophony; a crazy, interesting mixture all in a single movement.

After the symphony we strolled home, picked up indian takeout on the way and settled in to watch the Hurricanes on TV. With much excitement throughout the game we cheered on our guys and they came away with the win!! :)

Saturday morning while we were out and about attempting to run errands, on a whim, we stopped in at one the bowling alleys. We figured we would see if there was a lane available and there was!! So we donned our bowling shoes having to figure out our European shoe size (I'm a US 9, that is roughly a European 39) and found our lane. Numero six.

Our lane was right next to two lanes of guys in the midst of a stag (bachelor) party which made for some unexpected comedy. I was up to bowl first and right away I noticed that something was different but I couldn't figure out what it was exactly. After bowling a few frames I realized what was happening. Instead of a traditional pin-setter you might encounter in the US, the pins here in NZ (or at least at this bowling alley) are on strings. So when you bowl the machine just pulls the pins up by the strings and sets them down again, reset. Talk about strange. The best part was watching Timmy bowl because he's strong and can throw the ball quite fast. I thought he might break something (for the record when we participated in a bowling league in Bozeman he broke his bowling ball into two pieces). On multiple occasions he threw the ball so hard that the strings got tangled up and we had to have one of the employees untangled them so we could continue with our game. :) He also managed to ricochet pins into the strings of other pins which tricked the machine into giving him extra pins (points). An interesting experience....I'm sure we'll go again. This is also where I came across the square toilet that I put up in the last post.

That night we set off for the TSB Bank Arena to see our favorite rollerderby team, Smash Malice, take on Brutal Pageant! This time we had a better idea of the rules and the game was much easier to follow. Below you can see our girls coming on to the track for warm ups. And as Whip It's captain Maggie Mayhem says, 'Safety is sexy". The next photo shows the referees checking the players' equipment to make sure everyone is ready to play.

After the formalities the game was underway and we found that it was sufficiently challenging to take pictures of the players while they were moving. Below is one where you can see the two teams on the track just before a 'bout' begins.

In the end Smash Malice was victorious!!! The final score was outrageous: Smash Malice 204, Brutal Pageant 89. That means that Smash Malice is going to the final match next month!! And we will be there to cheer them on (hopefully to victory!). :) Who knew that we would find roller derby when we moved to NZ? Welly is full of fun surprises. :)

So symphony, rugby, bowling and roller derby.....such a fun way to spend a weekend with my best bud, Timmy! :)