Sorry, I didn't forget!

Sunday July 30^th, 2006

Eeeek! It’s Sunday night before Hell Week and I haven’t written in several days. You can’t imagine how busy I’ve been, especially with all the vocal and dance practices. It’s coming to crunch time and we perform in less than a week. I know we’ll pull it off, but cross you fingers just in case.

Here’s a brief review

• Tuesday July 25^th: Group discussion on culture shock. Seems many of the foreigners are already experiencing it. The biggest shock for me is the losses of transportations and freedoms. I would give up a lot (minus this experience) for a car, a night out at a club, and a tasty beverage. This experience is worth giving up those few things up for a while, so I’ll stop complaining here (hopefully). We also got to see a preview of our show. Man, if we can pull this off, it’s going to be “off tha’ hook”. I can’t wait. After lunch, we worked on cast vocals for a while, then had a workshop on self directed learning. This was a strange topic in my mind and I couldn’t quite understand the reasoning behind playing charades and pictionary to learn the essential traits/vocabulary terms describing someone who is a self directed learner. I think this was aimed at those from outside the US, but only the native English speakers could understand and describe the terms well enough to play the games…..wait, actually, even those who had to use their pocket or computer dictionaries held their own. I don’t know. I just didn’t quite see the point. Note to self: when running educational or psychoed groups, describe the point of the activity. Regardless, JC is a trip (he’s hilarious) and we had a fun, though extremely competitive, time
• Wednesday July 26^th: Celestial seasonings tour. Really interesting how tea is made in bulk. I could have lived in the mint room. It cleared out my nasal passages AND gave me a fun little feeling of euphoria. Let’s call it a “natural high”. From there we went to Boulder for our scavenger hunt. We were not without a little adventure prior to starting the hunt though. While eating lunch there were three gentlemen sharing the lawn with us while we ate. They were interesting characters with shabby clothes, unclean, one with tattoos all over his face. Some of us made conversation with them, while others continued on to converse with our fellow students. I chose to do the latter, though I listened in from time to time. At several points the conversations from the gentlemen became alarming. One man began singing a song filled with profanities, which I found unnecessary, but well, this is the land of free speech. Soon after, this gentleman began criticizing the students in Up With People for sitting upon his lawn (public space mind you…but something inside me told me that that was as close to his territory as anything was) and for eating around him (I was later informed that he had already been given meals by UWP staff). I was torn inside about this. My first impulse was to yell at him and tell him to hush up, though not likely in so proper terms. Yet, I tried to take his perspective. If I were sitting quietly with my friends and all of a sudden a large group of 80+ yuppy’ish twenty-somethings with food happened basically on top of me, I’d be pretty upset too. I decided to remain silent and thought, “next time, we introduce ourselves BEFORE we take over someone’s quiet space”. This would not be the only time this day that I would feel uncomfortable. As part of the scavenger hunt, in our small groups, we were to find “hippies” and have them help us with tasks, such as help us to figure out a recipe for tie dye shirts and help us to play in a mock band. As we approached what my peers determined as “hippies” I became nervous. I felt that this activity just encouraged stereotyping and would be interpreted by others as patronizing. Sure enough, the “hippies” were not too fond of our scavenger hunt, responding “so what are you rich kids going to do for us?” Our response….we moved onto the next set of “hippies”. What bothered me more was my response. I just held back and didn’t say anything. Hind sight is 20/20, but I really should have said something to my team…crap, to the person who organized the scavenger hunt. I think this is going to be a challenge for me, learning to speak up in the moment, rather than waiting until it’s “comfortable”. Otherwise…oy, we had a fun time with the scavenger hunt. We really got to see more of Boulder.
• Thursday July 27^th: Dance for 8 hours straight! I ached after this day. It’s been a few years since I’ve practiced like this. I just hope it pays off. Other than dancing, we did have a speaker come in by the name of Lance Descourouez. Interesting guy. He has a degree in, I think, mental health and cross-cultural communications. He is also an UWP alum. There were mixed reactions to his presentation, but I really found it fascinating how he turned his training in up with people into a money maker. He now does consulting for business execs that are planning to work with other execs from other countries. HOW SMART!!!

Most of his presentation was a review of my cross cultural counseling class, but I really enjoyed the review of collective and individualistic perspectives as well as communication styles (high context vs. low context)

· Friday July 28^th: Speaker: Bruce Erley on Life in the Fishbowl. This guy was great. He was another alum who, if I remember correctly, does PR work. He gave a great presentation on what to expect as far as being in the public eye as a large organization. This was an “eye opening” experience. We are part of a well known organization. The media is going to be interviewing us and watching us like hawks (especially since the organization had disappeared for 6 years). No worries Mom, I’ll always be presentable when in public J….and after…..MORE DANCE AND BLOCKING. After a bit of a fiasco (cell phone dying), I was able to meet up with old family friends from back in the days when I used to live in Shirley, Mass. I had dinner with Dru, John, and Max (the dachshund)…and their sons Matt, Connor, and Sam. It was great to reconnect and talk of “old times”. The boys really seemed to enjoy our stories of Buddy (another dachshund). I was impressed at how expressive the boys are. They already have their own political commentary! Man, kids are growing up fast these days. It’s clear that Dru and John are wonderful parents. I’m very happy for them.

· Saturday July 29^th: Blocking, Blocking, Blocking and some hanging out downtown.

· Sunday July 30^th: I SLEPT UNTIL 10:30am and it was wonderful! I was also able to make a few phone calls and get my haircut. Ahh, freedom is glorious. David, Wouter, and I then went to Red Rocks, an amazing amphitheatre created out of rock formations. Absolutely fantastic. Wouter and I dared ourselves to go onstage to perform the stomp piece to the show. On our way down, we heard voices singing the UWP song. Of course, we chimed in, completely surprising Anaiese (sp?) and Sarah. That night we attended Sarah F’s party. Oh, those daiquiris tasted so perfect.

· So here I am now. It’s about midnight and I think I’ve described most everything. I have about a week left here in Denver and it’s gonna be a DOOSEY. It’s going to be stressful and it’s going to go fast. Soon I will have to pack (and lose 10 pounds in my check-in luggage) and say goodbye to David and Thora, who have remained wonderful people throughout this experience. I do hope that we will keep in touch. Wouter and I have been fortunate to have them as our first host family.

· Tomorrow, CI with children diagnosed with cancer.

· Cross your fingers and wish me “Break a leg”. The show goes on this week.

Diversity, Leadership….Dance, Sing, Dance, Dance, Dance…..(and the “bestest” care package ever)

July 24^th, 2006:

How much do I love mass transit right now? Wouter, Jared, Brenna, Kenzo, Eduardo, and I sat in the bus for an extra half hour this morning. There was an accident miles ahead of us, preventing us from getting onto the HOV lane. Had I been back home, my calves would have been burning from upshifting and downshifting in my car. Instead, I was happily plugged into my nano, worrying more about finding a comfortable position in which to fall asleep. So how come the transit system in Mass., especially in the Metro West, is so disgusting and user unfriendly? As much as I love my car, I could hang with this every day no problem.

Granted, had I been home, I would have been more concerned about which client or group session I needed to be on time for. Ah well, I’ll enjoy this reduction in responsibility while I can.

Though late, we were able to catch up relatively quickly on the main points of morning meeting. After break, we had an educational session regarding Diversity in culture. Good discussion topic. I especially enjoyed our activities:

· Take a Stand (participants have to literally take a side of a room to show their choice):

o Including questions such as: Do you like chocolate? Were you raised in a single parent household? Do you believe in a God? Do you believe that there is an afterlife?, Do you want to get married?, Have you ever felt like an outsider?, Do you feel attractive?, Have you ever known someone who was gay, bisexual, or gay? Do you describe yourself as LBGT? Are you a first born, youngest, or only child?....etc.

· Snowflake: A pretty simple activity, but effective. We were asked to close our eyes then fold a piece of paper in half about eight times. Then we were given directions to tear the paper in specific locations. However, depending on how we folded and tore the paper, each participant’s snowflake took shape differently. Though very similar, every snowflake was unique and equally beautiful….like people.

After lunch we had the opportunity to interview “leaders” in the Denver area. I found it amazing how each person defined leadership differently. My favorite definition came from Carolyn Love of Kebaya Coaching Consulting who stated that a leader has the ability to lead him or himself. I found this strangely profound. If a leader cannot get him or herself motivated, then how would that person direct and motivate others? The challenge is finding an individual’s purpose, which is no small undertaking. You could spend a lifetime trying to figure that one out. Think I can put it together in the next six months? It would be nice, wouldn’t it?

Vocals went fairly easy for today (the men were given a twenty five minute break while the women learned Japanese….sounds fair to me J ). Dance practice was less easy. We had two hours to practice four dances. Thankfully, I’m starting to feel a little less incompetent. I’ve still got a long way to go, though.

Just prior to starting to practice “Oye”, I was pulled out of dance practice to audition for a solo. Apparently they are torn between Omar and me (I?) for who should sing this piece. It’s really quite funny. Had I been back in high school, I’d be really competitive, but I really hope the best singer gets the piece. What complicates things is that the song is in this Brian Adams/ Bon Jovi rocker style and neither of us sings that style! I feel like Michael is undoing all that work that Ms. Sheehan poured into me 13 years ago. Amazing how that stuff sticks. I just got to work on my growly voice.

So here I sit here, with full stomach after another wonderfully filling meal with Wouter, David and Thora (we had Coque au Jus..sp?). I’m chilling out in “my” bedroom in the basement, listening to a CD recently sent to me by my high school friend Terri. It’s wild how things tie together. Today, I’m auditioning for a solo, which I haven’t done in 13 years. On the same day, I received a care package from Terri. She and I sang together in High School, when I last auditioned for these things.

She and I have been friends since Middle School (oh dear!). We were in band together, theatre, and Singers Unlimited. We drove in together to school nearly every day (except Thursdays when Nanny and Grampy Maki took me) with her mother. What’s amazing is that Terri lived within, I think, a half mile of our school. YET, she and her mother would drive miles out of their way to pick me up so I could get to school. I’ll never forget that.

I think it’s been over 5 years since I last saw Terri. We stay connected through email and infrequent phone calls. However, there’s still a strong friendship somehow. I’m listening to this CD she made, and it’s all music I like. It’s been a good ten years since we last “hung out”. Good friendships truly endure.

Terri is also my hero(ine?) right now. She found the PERFECT book of New England to take with me on my tour. Now I can show my peers and my host families what home looks like. How awesome, right?

So Terri, to you, I say cheers and thank you.

More weekend pics

Savoring every ounce of down time

July 21^st, 2006:

Today we toured Denver’s state capital building and met the head of the House of Representatives. Interesting stuff. It’s been years since I’ve really thought about politics and how the U.S. political system is organized. It was a real kick back to 4^th grade and freshman year poli sci.

Afterwards we had the rest of the day to ourselves. This was great. It was our first opportunity for unstructured “free time” since our arrival. Most of us traveled up and down 16^th street, ate at the Cheesecake Factory (Wouter had his first experience with a terrible American waitress and fantastic vanilla and banana cream cheesecakes), and gathered at Rock Bottom for some drinks.

July 22^nd, 2006: Rough Blocking & Host Family Pizza Party.

Not too much to say about today. The pictures will say more. But, I did “audition” for a solo today. I think one of the other singers got the part. They have more confident rock star voices than I have, but it was nice to be consideredJ.

Thank you host families. We wouldn’t be Up With People without you!

July 23^rd, 2006: Boulder with Juliebeth and Josh; Dinner with Nicolina

For me, this was an incredibly relaxing day. Most of it was spent in Boulder with Juliebeth and Josh. Great conversation with wonderful backdrop. I couldn’t ask for more on my day off.

Upon return to Broomfield, I received a voicemail that Wouter and Nicolina had experienced a bit of an adventure while in the mountains. I’ll hold the details for later when I know more of the story. Thankfully they survived and we were all able to enjoy dinner together in Broomfield.

Hopefully tonight will be restful. We have a full week of training coming up.

West Bear Creek and newfound energy.

July 20, 2006:

Okay, so getting up at 5:45am was not my cup of tea, but I had a truly amazing day. The Up With People cast took two busses and head up for a two hour ride to West Bear Creek near Moonridge, west of Sedalia, CO. Our assignment was “to close a trail that has been heavily impacted by off road vehicles. Erosion is flossing off the trail and into the adjacent seasonal West Bear Creek. Work activities include (d): out sloping the edge of the trail, raking and seeding…native seed mixes to establish new growth on the trail tread, and covering (hiding) the trail with downed slash and logs.”

And these things we did. After driving to the top of a mountain and receiving our gear, including hard hats and “McGregors” (?), we hiked for about an hour down a non-pedestrian-friendly trail. I don’t think a PB&J sandwich has ever tasted so good. We ate for about 10 minutes and we were off to work. My responsibility was to rake the grounds to prepare the dirt for the seeds. These were two of the most exhausting hours of my life, but I loved it! We were doing something for the environment, rather than contributing to its demise. I enjoyed the feeling of sweating, knowing that I was doing good work. My thumb now has a blister, and I’ve never been so proud. It began to rain and thunder. I felt alive.

The cast was divided into four sections to manage this trail. When we merged, our task was completed. It took us about another hour or so to get back up to our rendezvous point. This was no easy task, as we were working uphill again. With the thin air, I was winded (hmmmm, sea level in Mass. and 8,500 ft here), but there were others who needed frequent breaks just to keep from passing out. A few others and I stayed behind to help them out. By the time we got back, it began to pour. We were exhausted, but smiling through and through.

For the ride back, my bus date and I passed out to music on my Nano. Though we were from very different cultures (she is from Japan) we were able to find a common passion for dance music and Moulin Rouge. Music really is a unifying force.

I found myself getting goose bumps on my bus ride from Denver to Broomfield. Songs that I would once skip over now held new meaning. I felt like “the sleeper had awoken” (Dune reference). Now, what to do with this newfound energy?