Blast to the past, part two

While working today in the theory class of Meritulli while my students were tortuously going through their exams, which I managed to quickly compile, cut, glue and copy just before I had to start, I started going through some archives in the cupboards. I realised that all the theory exams from back to 1992 had been stowed in boxes and arranged in the cupboards, and this got me excited.

It didn't take me long to find what I was looking for. Instantly I was transported back to early 1994, when I was sitting in that very same classroom filling out the theory exam, which, I realised, was somewhat longer than the ones I usually make for my students. Attached to the exam was a form which the teachers filled out after hearing my singing and it was kind of freaky to read what they had written. First of all my nine-year old self had a "clean but frail voice" (18 points out of 20), and I got full points for rhytmical and melodic accuracy, while "musical wholeness (musiikillinen koknaisuus)" only merited 4 points out of 5.

I had forgotten we were also tested on correct and healthy ways of singing - there was a list of sentences which we had to mark as either correct or wrong (Example for right: Always keep your chin relaxed while singing - example for wrong: On high notes, lift your head up". Here, I made some mistakes - the most embarassing one for me now probably is the sentence "Only listen to your own voice when singing", which I marked as correct....

Moving on, it seems my I-fall-onto-the-underground-tracks-and-the-train-starts-chasing-me-in-the-tunnel nightmares are being replaced by a new theme - sinking ships. They recur very regularly in my dreams now, two days ago I was on Silja Line and it suddenly turned bottoms up, and last night Viking Line started sinking, and it was weird because all passengers knew about it already, like it had been part of the cruise program. Somehow I much prefer the comfort of a nightmare I already know and don't feel so afraid of anymore to this slightly more unsettling theme.

I'm sorry my entries look so boring nowadays - no good pictures lately.