A picture of NYC as the sun goes down, taken from Central Park.

The school is closed all weekend and the practice center doesn’t open until Monday, so have two days for exploring NYC without distraction. My friend Shana and I visited the farmer’s market again, and then went to Chinatown/Little Italy. Here are some photos.

I am still alive! Not only that, but I believe I am almost in a position now to survive for the next nine months. My shopping list has steadily dwindled to ‘Tupperware, postage stamps, and shoe polish’; I finally have my class registration advisement tomorrow morning; and the music school has reopened, meaning that I can actually practice. In fact I think the biggest mishap so far has been the $15 I spent at the thrift store for a dead AWFUL set of kitchen knives (I went and invested in some real ones this afternoon.)

Unfortunately, due to the way this building is laid out, most of my favorite ‘cooking buddies’ are a good ten minute, 18 floor journey away, but that’s just luck I guess. Thanks to the lack of a meal plan, I at least won’t be in any danger of experiences with the Freshman 15.

Here are some first photos. More will come, but I haven’t had time yet to be truly trigger-happy. Most of today was spent in various orientation activities or out procuring items such as cutlery and tableware that will be necessary for my continued existence.

I’m here! I haven’t had time yet to take any photos, but my new mailing address is as follows:

de Hirsch Residence
Alex Bauer
D-11
1395 Lexington Avenue
New York‎ NYC‎ 10128

Well, the bags are packed and sitting by the door, all my other belongings are stored away in boxes, and I am, physically at least, ready to leave. I always sort of expected that I would be very excited and have no second thoughts about this day. But while I AM looking forward, there are suddenly new strings pulling me back. It will certainly be an interesting year.

The big concert debut was last night. All things considered, I think it probably went as well as I could have wished, and it is nice to be able to focus again. I’ll post the video recording later, but for now here is the audio portion. The video camera has unfortunately steamrolled any dynamics that might have been audible, but such is life.

Piano Concerto No. 1 - I. Allegro non troppo e molto maestro - Allegro con spirito

I need a suitcase with wheels before I leave, that much is certain. But as soon as I start thinking about how and where to get such an item, suddenly I begin wondering if I also should replace the backpack and briefcase I’ve been using the past four years. And then it occurs to me that I’ll probably need a duffle-bag. But this is probably my obsessive desire to have everything ‘just so’.

I think I have too much stuff running around my mind right now - I keep remembering important things that I absolutely MUST do before I leave, but I forget within minutes if I don’t immediately write them down. Or, even worse, I get halfway through DOING one of them and can’t recall what it was I started.

This can’t be a good sign…