It is very cathartic writing blog posts. It seems to put the day in perspective And help process what we are doing, and why we are doing it, An American adjudicator turned up this morning at my venue. He does not start until tomorrow and decided he needed to watch someone doing the job so he could learn what was needed !!! The truth is, British adjudicators are the only officially trained people doing this job. I find this quite scary, knowing how much power that person has who is standing up at the front of the hall and pontificating upon a performance from someone who has bared their soul, yet may be anything between brilliant and hopeless. This chap who shall remain only as Steven, had ‘simply no idea I could be positive and kind……I thought we were here to pick faults’. I leave that with you, with a due sense of horror and dismay. The best I can say is I hope he learnt and might be that one untrained colleague who may be kind to some innocent 14year old on the morrow ?
I have just finished 48 under 14 girls, singing a rather twee little number by Molly Carew ( who I asked ?) called Everywhere I Look……lots of silly top G’s and lots of woodland sprites and little goblins…..you get the drift. We only needed fairies to complete the 1930’s picture of a perfect childhood. Rolled eyes.
However I heard at least 10 performances worthy of 87-89. The teaching here is generally so good, and mostly technically solid one can forgive the itsy bitsy little song they used to show me what they could do. One of the winners was a most unusual Chinese girl who was over 6 feet tall and with a big and developed voice. Like all very tall children she was a little standout ish but held herself unashamedly proud, even though she towered by two feet over most of her peers ! I was surprised that there was a school uniform available for such a long legged girl ! That sort of height is far, far more unusual than in the U.K. or the US, infact I am not sure I have ever seen such a long willowy girl or boy in all my visits !
I love all the school uniforms, so smart and so Enid Blyton, in a good way. No child competes to be designer or trendy, I have posted a discreet photo with a few girls so you get the idea. Socks and sensible shoes …..all regulation !
I am sitting outside the church venue as the competitors for this afternoons skirmish with Haydn are walking up the steps. It is 26 degrees and I will need to go and hide from the sun in a few moments as I can’t bear it for much longer. There is no breeze, just sun and 87% humidity. We are in the New Territories at Sha Tin and my bus ride home will be over an hour. The border with mainland China is about 10 minutes away.
Back in the air conditioned hall cooling down…the humidity makes it feel like around 35 degrees. Exaggerating, obviously, this is Nanook of the North talking.
I managed to get the bus back to home base after the exceptionally kind assistant walked me to the bus stop ! Dinner was at The Satay Club opposite the hotel, chicken with divine sauce and a small washing up bowl of green vegetables, served to me by a slightly baffled waiter who clearly thought I was a very odd gweilo who had a fetish for broccoli! Add in a Diet Pepsi and we have a grand total of £9 all in !
No comments:
Post a Comment