wordless

I never write anymore, except to tell those who know me about myself. I do not write flowered words, I do not write gilded words, I write plain, straightforward words that throw the point home instead of setting it softly in someones mind.

What happened to me?

Untitled

This is a poem that I wrote some time back.

Untitled


The world hangs on a shroud of mist
that fades and blurs to nothingness
as rain drips down the mirror sky
and ripples break away and race
to dance upon the wreck of ruin
as befits the grace of debris.

and still the surface shimmers soft,
disguising all that might define
an unclear line ‘twixt world and mist.

and this grey-soft sponge of cloudy sky
dampens the world of wondering why
as cloaking pearls fall on the world
to pause the working of wondering

which as it stops, is spurred by north
wind that blows so bitter cold
and turns the driving drops to silence,
bringing about the crashing halt
and finality of fully frozen forms.

then mirrors fold and multiply
the fabric of reality
to bend and shape and redefine
as sky and snow and ice entwine

so when this sky’s streaked starshine silver,
and glowing, glittering, glistening gray
reflections freeze and are no more when
shatterglass becomes thy thoughts
and crumbles, tumbles to the ground
‘til powder-fine, the wind picks up
and ardently turns liquid dark
the granulated shreds of thought
so that thy spiraled reason may
begin cascading
over
and over
and
over.

~Katherina Clink

So, about China.....

So I realized that I never finished explaining the horrendous amazingness of China and Taiwan, evidence again to the fact that I am horrible at remembering to blog.

China.....it was a mess, what else can I say? Those who were on the trip were scarred, I think, particularly by our smelly squatty potties, PVC pipe showers, and plywood beds. It was delightful.....oh, and there were bedbugs, too. Quite lovely!! We ended up leaving almost a week early, and going to a FIVE STAR MARRIOTT HOTEL IN SHENZHEN. It was FANTASTIC. We spent three nights there, then went to Hong Kong for another four nights, or something like that. Many good times ensued.

As for Taiwan, I loved it, it is a great place to be for so many reasons, but I realized that I would never want to live there. It's a little too oppressive for me....they're all about the facts and the statistics and things like that, instead of about freedom of expression and artistic endeavors. Not really my kind of place, if you ask me.

More tomorrow, on the wonders of college life, and so forth and so on!!

KATHERINA GOES TO CHINA (Part One: Beijing)

I obviously fail at regularly posting.....though I resolve to change that. I have so much to say about the trip I've been on......China is crazy, this trip is insane, and I'm surprised that AYS hasn't gotten stranded somewhere yet. Oh wait, we have been stranded!!

I suppose I should offer some back story here, for those of you who don't know.....I'm currently in China, with the Anchorage Youth Symphony. We came to China for a two-week Cultural and Arts Exchange in Shenzhen, and with the intent of spending a few days in Beijing and Hong Kong as well. My mom and sisters and I arrived in Beijing several days before AYS, and we are spending three weeks in Taiwan after AYS leaves to go back to the states. The Amodio family also arrived two days before AYS, so we spent those days touring Beijing and having several small adventures.

DAY ONE: Traveling

Anna, Emma, my mother and I left Anchorage a little after 4:00 on Saturday, July 3rd. We flew to Taiwan, arriving there at about 5:00 on Sunday, July 4th, having crossed the International date line. We took a free half-day tour that was organized by the Taoyuan airport, as we had a nine-hour layover. We saw an old temple that is absolutely gorgeous, and one of the old districts, both of which were really quite intriguing. Then it was back to the airport, and onto a plane for a three-hour plane flight to Beijing, China. We arrived in Beijing at about 19:00, and went directly to a small hostel-type place, where we spent three nights. We went out to a grocery store that night, and got some ice cream, and then CRASHED.

DAY TWO: Summer Palace

Mom, Anna, Emma and I went to the Summer Palace in Beijing. It's a gorgeous place....when it's not over a hundred degrees with extremely high humidity. So many STAIRS, I wanted to die. It was horrid, though there were a few neat experiences. Anna played a reed flute, which was really quite fun to listen to, and we got fun hats and pretty fans!! Then, it was back to the hostel. We met a man from Sweden, named Eric, who we had fun talking to IN ENGLISH, and then the Fitzmodio family arrived at about 21:00. More English-speaking people!!!!!! We went out to the grocery store again for popsicles, oreos, soda, and water (you can't drink the water in China, it's got bacteria that will make you sick if you're not used to it). Then, we crashed.

DAY THREE: Lamasery, Bell and Drum Towers, Silk Market, AYS

This was a day of adventure. We went to one of the oldest Lamaseries in China, home to an EIGHTEEN-METER BUDDHA CARVED OUT OF A SINGLE PIECE OF WOOD. It was insane. They way they placed it, you couldn't stand back and look at it. You had to stand quite close, and just look up, up, and up at it....incredibly intimidating. It was amazing. After that, we took a taxi to the drum and bell towers.....this was adventure number one. We had eight people, which is far too many to fit in one taxi, obviously. So, it went like this: Taxi Number One pulls up, three people get in-- Maddy, Debra and Emma get in the back, my mom talks to the driver, tells him where we're going and negotiates rates. Taxi Number Two pulls up, my mom runs over to talk to that driver. I jump in Taxi Number One, and the driver takes off. I'm left to translate exactly where we're going, and make small talk with the taxi driver. I find that a lot of Chinese people will get angry when you say your mother is from Taiwan. We made it to the Drum and Bell Towers without incident, though, thank goodness. So.....we go into the Bell tower first, and guess what we see? STAIRS. Seventy-something of them, if I remember correctly. And they 're steep ones. Painfully steep. So we go up, look at the massive bell, then go down, and walk over to the drum tower. We stop for popsicles on the way, of course. Then it's up the Drum tower, just as many stairs, but at the top, even more exciting!! We watched a drum show, it was really neat. Then, back down, and on to the SILK MARKET. Lots of great purchases there, and we go to see exactly what the markets in China are like....every person grabs you, says, "You want purse? You want silk scarf?" It's overwhelming. Anna, Emma, and I bought gorgeous silk pajamas. Then, we went to the hotel where we were staying for the next few nights with AYS!!! It was great to see people we knew and who SPOKE ENGLISH. Anna and I were sharing a room, we had Ben and Joel in our room until about midnight, just talking and snacking. Then, we CRASHED.

DAY FOUR: Great Wall

You guessed it.....we tackled the Great Wall on July 7th. We woke up in the morning, and then met up for breakfast, and were bused to the Great Wall. There, we broke up into our own, smaller groups, and were left to our own devices. We had about two hours to do what we wanted. My group tackled only a small section of the wall....let me tell you, that is TOUGH CLIMBING. The wall alternates between smooth slopes and stairs, and the slopes are steep, the stairs are steep, and it basically just kills you, especially when it's hot and humid outside (you'll find this to be a common theme.....heat and humidity killing you, that is). After the Great Wall, it was off to the Jade Factory, where we learned how to tell real and fake jade apart, and also looked at amazing jade carvings, they were gorgeous. Next was a kung-fu demonstration. It really was more of theatrics with awesome kung-fu, it was incredible. I saw a guy break about five pieces of stone on his head.....AT THE SAME TIME. Then, we had a rickshaw tour, and those things have CRAZY DRIVERS. Then, back to the hotel, and we CRASHED.

DAY FIVE: Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City

We started out by visiting the Temple of Heaven, where we WANTED to see the Palace of Abstinence, but were unable to find it. Then we went to Tiananmen Square, and found that Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City are HOT. There is no cover, really, and you roast when it's over a hundred degrees and humid. Ten seconds, and you're dripping sweat, ten minutes, and you feel like you've melted. It's miserable. Then it was off to a silk market, which wasn't nearly as aggressive or impressive as THE Silk Market, but it was still an adventure. Then the group split up, and we went to either an acrobatic show, the Beijing opera, or a park that we visited the day before. I went to the acrobatic show, and let me tell you....there is nothing quite like SIX PEOPLE ON MOTORCYCLES IN A GLOBE CAGE. It was ridiculously amazing. Then, it was back to the hotel, and we CRASHED.

DAY SIX: Limbo

Today was the day we flew out to Shenzhen. Or at least, the day we were supposed to fly out to Shenzhen. AYS was split into two groups, the first of which flew out at about one in the afternoon, the second of which was supposed to fly out at about four. The first group made it without issue, the second group....that's a different story. The flight kept being delayed and delayed until we'd been at the airport for about nine hours, and then they decided to put us in a hotel until our plane made it to the airport. So they drove us for forty-five minutes to a four-star hotel, where we slept for two hours, and then received a call telling us that we needed to go back to the airport. This time, the drive took TWENTY MINUTES, it was a little scary. We finally got on the plane twelve hours after we originally were supposed to, and Shenzhen twelve hours later then planned. No crash time today.

Auditioned!!

Well, part one of the audition is officially over. I did my preliminary audition a little over an hour ago, in about twenty minutes or so (maybe a little more), they'll post a list of finalists. If I'm a finalist, I have to go back tomorrow and play again for them.

Even if I didn't make the finalist list, I am still proud of how I did....I played really well. I went in, the five judges asked me, "How are you today?" It was a nice gesture, certainly helped me feel a lot more comfortable. Then they asked what I would like to start with, and I picked the Preludio from Bach's E major Partita (Partita III). I had a grand total of about three slightly off notes, thank goodness. They asked for Bruch after I had finished, and I played through the first page and a half, with maybe two small mistakes.

Well, off to check the finalist list in a few minutes here, I'll post again later with more about the last few days.

Curtis (Day One)

As I type this, I'm sitting in the car (a rented Buick Enclave) heading towards Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Today is Monday, February 22nd, 2010. My end destination is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, specifically the Curtis Institute of Music. I audition there on Wednesday, the 24th, something that both terrifies and amazes me. I have been working to this point since I began playing violin...well, perhaps not exactly this, but at least some semblance of success.

This first post will be a little sappy, just to warn you all, but it is necessary, because I believe thanks to all who have helped me reach this place are in order.

First of all, to my parents, Robert Clink and Robyn Lin. I would not have even begun playing violin when I did had they not been so supportive of my simple wish. Not many would have indulged a four-year-old who walked up to her mother and told her, "Mommy, I want to be a violinist." However, my mother did, and told my father as well, and I began lessons with my first teacher, Beverly Beheim.

To Beverly, I owe thanks to making sure I did the best I could on every piece I played, and for teaching me the Suzuki method. As much as it drove me crazy, I came out of it with an ability to memorize music very quickly.

To TingTing Zhu, my second violin teacher, I owe thanks for overwhelming me with music, and teaching me to find myself more in my music, and to truly start making music my own.

To my teacher this summer, Susannah Gilmore, thank you for working patiently with me on my Sibelius, and for introducing me to the joys of Sevcik's etudes, Opus 8. They have worked wonders in helping me with bow control!!

To my Grandparents, Don and Judy Crooks, thank you for helping me emotionally and financially, you have provided so much for me in terms of motivation, and you have made so many things possible for me this year.

To my teacher at Interlochen this year, Mr. Sonner, thank you for helping me realize everything I can do, and helping me get those little details that really make a difference.

And to all my family and friends, thank you so much for sticking with me as I fumble my way through new music, old music, simple music, difficult music....I think you get the idea. I wouldn't have gotten this far if I didn't have all of you.

Speaking of where I am now, back to the narrative of this trip!!

I'm now on I-80, headed east towards Pittsburgh. I'm actually almost a day ahead of schedule, as my dad (he's driving me to Philly) originally planned to pick me up today (Monday). However, he picked me up yesterday afternoon (Sunday), as a blizzard was heading northwards. Any of you who have been up to Interlochen know how horrible it would be to drive through a blizzard in that area, and can duly understand why a change of plans was in order.

So, my father picked me up yesterday afternoon, and we drove down to the Detroit area, where we spent the night at my Uncle Bill and Aunt Cindy's house in Rochester. It was fun to chat with everyone there, seeing Bill and my dad together gives me an idea of how crazy they must have been growing up. Props to Grandma Judy for keeping those boys in line, they didn't turn out half bad!!

We set out from Rochester at around two this afternoon, and expect to reach Pittsburgh by about eight or so this evening. Once there, we'll find a hotel, and I'll practice my brains out (you can never practice too much in a situation like this)!!

More later!!