Jason Talks About Drum Corps Deep In The Heart Of Texas

There’s more to marching bands than meets the eye. In this series, Jason Wicks of Morristown High School ‘09 & Appalachia State University will take us behind the scenes as he participates in a top 12 World Class Drum and Bugle Corps in his quest for marching and musical perfection. –Doug Rutan, Morristown High School Music Department

One of DCI’s biggest events in Minneapolis, Minesota was actually cancelled due to tornados in the area. The fans were sequestered in the rest rooms under the stadium, while the corps’ were either kept on their busses or moved into the field house. A tornado did touch down about 2 minutes drive from the stadium.

An Audio Blog by Jason Wicks

In this podcast Jason talks about perfromaing in Texas and the final push towards DCI Championships. (approx 8 minutes)

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How I Spent my Summer Vacation, part 5: Morristown student Nayna Shah appraises the crown jewels, and says cheerio to Jolly old England

Summer is vacation time, and it’s fun to vacation vicariously through our contributors. In this fifth and final entry from Morristown High School student Nayna Shah,  she says cheerio to the U.K….but not before appraising the crown jewels, and rating British amusement parks. Sounds like Nayna and the bell choir of the Morris Plains Presbyterian Church have brought home a lifetime of memories. Our thanks to Nayna for this thoroughly delightful series. As they say at Cambridge, “bloody brilliant!”  You can read the series here.

Day 13

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

This morning we performed a concert for some of the school children of Hayes.  It was a music class, and all the kids filed into the church wearing their school uniforms.  They may have enjoyed watching us, but I had a better time just watching them.

These kids were all 10- and 11-year-olds, but they sat and clapped as if they were princes and princesses.  They definitely had us fooled, until we heard them crack jokes about how good it was to skip school and how they don’t want to go back.  It made me realize that kids are still kids, regardless of whether or they drink tea or soda.

We sadly got on the train for the final time into London.  We walked to St. Paul’s Cathedral, and although we did not purchase tickets to see the inside, we had plenty of photo shoots on the steps outside.

Besides its gorgeous appearance, St. Paul’s Cathedral is known for its appearance in Mary Poppins. In the movie, an old beggar woman sits on the steps and sells bread crumbs for tuppence (two pence) for people to feed the pigeons around her.

Many of us had tuppence as change we’d received, so for most of the morning we tried desperately to attract pigeons and make the perfect picture.

After our unsuccessful attempts at a Mary Poppins remake, most of us were discouraged and in need of a pick-me-up.  The chaperones decided on Covent Gardens, a block full of shops and stalls.

The racks and racks of I ♥ London paraphernalia cheered us up, some of the funkiest being knee-high socks, fedora hats, and rhinestone-studded, Union Jack boots.  For a couple hours we stocked up on England souvenirs before heading over to the Tower of London.

The Tower of London is an enormous fortress used as a palace and prison for executions, and now as a museum containing the crown jewels.

The crown jewels were kept in one of the most safely guarded locations in London: An underground exhibit with cameras, heat sensors, and a couple of bobbies, complete with an eight- ton steel door.

Obviously this was all for good reason because the jewels were absolutely phenomenal!  Crowns containing up to 2,000 diamonds were on display, as well as the cloak (spun out of GOLDEN thread and weighing 25 pounds) worn by the queen during her coronation.

The silverware (should be goldware) from the coronation feast, the golden wine tub that could hold 54 bottles of wine, and the silver trumpets from the coronation procession also were on display.

Unfortunately we were not permitted to take pictures, and we were even standing on a conveyor belt while looking at the jewels, so no visitor could stay for too long.  The Tower of London also was the execution site of Anne Boleyn, and although we did not see this exact tower, we saw enough torture devices, weapons, and suits of armor to film another Braveheart!

We spent our last night in London at the Hard Rock Café, as requested by the Beatles fans of the group.  A couple of them had actually walked to Abbey Road to take a picture walking across the street!  The Hard Rock Café was full of

outfits and instruments of world famous musicians like Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Eric Clapton, and of course, The Beatles. There was so much to look at, especially with the football game on between the Netherlands and Uruguay.

Day 14

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Today was the day many of us have been waiting for: Our trip to the amusement park!  The two seniors who were in England four years ago requested that we go again, so we all had high expectations for Thorpe Park.

It was a 90-minute drive (similar to the drive to 6 Flags) and we arrived at around 10.  We were only given a couple of hours to spend at the park because we had to be back in Hayes by 5 pm.

As adrenaline-loving, G-force-seeking American teens, we quickly scouted out the biggest roller coasters in the park.

Waiting in line, we realized that the coasters were no match against rides like Kingda Ka, the 45-story high, 128 mph monstrosity, or El Toro, the biggest, fastest, wooden roller coaster in the world, both at 6 Flags.

All over Thorpe Park were signs reading “Thorpe: The Nation’s Thrill Centre.”  However, we decided collectively that when it comes to amusement parks, America is the queen.  I assume this is because of America’s quest to be the best.  Ah good ol’ greedy America, needing to satisfy the thrill demands of the population by becoming home to the two biggest, fastest roller coasters in the world.  We still enjoyed a couple of looping, spinning, swinging coasters, and slept the entire way home.

Back in Hayes, our host families threw us a surprise pizza party in one of the halls in the church, to celebrate onour last night in England.  After dinner, we had a dance party, complete with strobe lights, a disco ball and a DJ.  I’d say the English know how to party, too!

Day 15

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Because we returned at midnight from our dance party, it was about two in the morning when my friends and I had all showered and packed our bags.  We had to wake up at five, to meet at the church by six, to drive to the airport.  We decided it would be easier to simply stay up until five instead of go to sleep and have trouble waking up again.  Surprisingly, pulling an “all-nighter” was not as challenging as we had thought, and we were at the airport in no time.

By the time we were on the plane, my sleepiness took control.  As I dozed on and off I thought about my crazy 14 days on the eastern hemisphere.  The trip was full of firsts for me:  My first tour with the choir, my first big trip without my parents, my first quiche, my first Scottish friend, my first load of laundry, my first encounter with royalty, and my first caravan.

Staying with host families wasn’t even a luck-of-the-draw ordeal, because every family was so welcoming and considerate.

We did have our share of scares in the haunted house in York, and the haunted hotel in Coventry, but we also had our share of laughs everywhere we went.  It was twice as enjoyable traveling with kids my age, and I think our group did a pretty good job of seeing as many sights as possible.  I know I’ll remember each part of this experience– from the bagpipers and sheep of Scotland to the bobbies and strawberries and cream of England.

Everything aside, it felt good to be back.  It is times like these that make me want to take the advice of Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi.  If you’re born in the USA, who says you can’t go home?  After all, there truly is no place like home.

How I Spent my Summer Vacation, part 4: Morristown student Nayna Shah goes punting in Cambridge, sizes up London Bridge, and gives Harrod’s a whirl

Summer is vacation time, and it’s fun to vacation vicariously through our contributors. Here’s the fourth entry from Morristown High School student Nayna Shah. Today, she takes us to the hallowed halls of Cambridge University in England, as she recounts her recent European tour with the bell choir of the Morris Plains Presbyterian Church. You can read Nayna’s prior entries here.

Day 10

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Cheerio from Cambridge!  I felt like a scholar today as we explored the campus of Cambridge University.  We took a punting tour along the shallow man- made river surrounding the property.

Going punting is similar to paddle boating, except the boat is flat, wide, and wooden, and instead of oars, one person stands at the back with a pointed metal pole and pushes off the ground.  About 12 people can fit in one boat, and each of us tried using the pole to push the other 11.  It was definitely much harder than it looked (especially the balancing part!)  Luckily, we had a tour guide, who was a Cambridge student, to steer the boat and teach us about the school.

The property is collectively called Cambridge University, but is actually made up of 31 different colleges, 10 of which we saw on our punting tour.

King’s College and Trinity College are the most expensive colleges to attend, however our tour guide told us annual tuition is 6,000 pounds.  This is equivalent to just under $12,000– practically a Walmart Rollback price, in comparison to the $50,000 price tag for one year of school at Princeton University.

Our tour guide also told us that Cambridge and Oxford only have serious rivalries in crew races and on the cricket pitch.

We took a two-hour walking tour around other parts of campus with a different tour guide.  Soon we realized that $12,000 is an amazing price for attending school in palace-like buildings.

The school buildings of Cambridge had manicured lawns and columns with ivory trim all around.  Our guide showed us the laboratory where Rosalind Franklin shared her photos of DNA with George Watson and Francis Crick,

and where the first atom was split.  Our guide made sure to stress that the first atom bomb was not created here, just the first splitting of the atom.

I picked up some English slang (many words that I am familiar with from Harry Potter) including the adverb “bloody” and the adjective “spiffing.”

My favorite is the word that makes English teenagers sound so sophisticated: Instead of “awesome” or “sick” they say “brilliant.”

Sometimes you can make a double whammy with “bloody brilliant!”  We tried our new vocabulary out on each other as we got back on the bus to drive two hours south to Hayes.

On the way down, I smiled every time we passed a red telephone booth. (We have GOT to get those in the States!)

We also passed about a dozen “TO LET” signs, which I mistakenly read as “TOILET” each time we passed.  We all laughed at the silly English who kept forgetting their “I’s” until a chaperone told us that “to let” actually means “renting.”  Oops!

Day 11

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Happy Independence Day, America!  Never in my life have I ever imagined I’d be in England on the 4^th of July.  Oh, the irony!  We arrived last night in Hayes, a small town that actually reminds me very much of my hometown, Morris Plains.  Everything is in walking distance, most of the land is flat, there is a train station in the middle of town, and there is one main road with a grocery store and a clothes store.

I am staying with two ringers my age in the home of Gordon and Barbara, an older couple whose grandchildren live two minutes from their house.  Last night, we met their granddaughter, Freya, and went for walk with her and her dog, Oscar.

For most of the walk, we were in a forest with lots of tall grass and bushes.  My friends and I were in shorts and flip-flops and hopped around like kangaroos for fear of attracting ticks.  Gordon, Barbara, and Freya turned around and gave us some of the most confused looks I have ever seen, before explaining that ticks don’t exist in England.  The walk was so much more relaxing after that!

This morning we rang at the church service at St. Mary’s the Virgin Church in Hayes before taking the train into Trafalgar Square in London!  I was practically bouncing up and down in my seat on the train out of sheer excitement to see the world famous city.

We felt it was almost compulsory to take the extreme tourist route, so we piled on to a red double-decker bus with an open top to take an introductory tour of London.  We briefly passed Big Ben and the Parliament building, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and the Tower of London, all sights we were promised we would thoroughly tour in the days to come.

Just one look at my map and I knew London was HUGE! There was no way we would get to every incredible sight in the city, but I knew we would try to see as many as possible.

London looked like New York City: There were lots of buses (except these were red and double-decker), lots of people (except with English accents), wide roads (except with more BMWs) and lots of apartments and skyscrapers.

The interesting thing about many of the buildings was they looked like the monuments of Washington, DC, or the schools in Cambridge.  They had that old, official, government, almost- Victorian, look to them.  Of course this just makes for a more sophisticated look overall. (As if the English need to be any more sophisticated!)

We took a ferry along the Thames River and passed under the London Bridge and the Tower Bridge.

Even I was a little confused because for having such a well known name, the London Bridge isn’t much to look at.  It looks like, well, a bridge.  Tower Bridge, on the other hand, looks like there are towers on top of the bridge, with blue suspension structures connecting each of them.

Our last activity of the evening (and definitely the most exciting) was our half an hour on the London Eye.  The

London Eye is essentially an over-sized Ferris wheel that moves so slowly you can’t even see it.  Instead of sitting in a little swinging cart, you sit in an enclosed glass pod that can hold up to 25 people.

The Eye overlooks all of London and when you finally get to the top, the view is stunning.  I took so many pictures I had a difficult time even deciding which ones to include in this blog!

Day 12

Monday, July 5, 2010

Today was undoubtedly our exercise day of the vacation.  If only you could get frequent flyer miles for walking!  We would have really struck it rich!

The train tickets we purchase every morning are also valid on the red double-deckers as well as the London tube (the subway).

Unfortunately, the sights we want to see are too close together to take a train or bus, but just close enough to walk.  It could have been worse though.  We have been getting so lucky with the weather; it hasn’t once rained in the week and a half that we’ve been here.  We’ve had constant sunshine and warm temperatures, and even our host families have said we are experiencing the UK’s best summer weather to date.  I guess there aren’t any hard feelings about the 4^th of July after all!

We started our morning close to Buckingham Palace to watch the Horse Guards Parade. This is like a “changing of the guards” ceremony done by the mounted cavalry troopers that guard Buckingham Palace and St. James’s Palace.

We walked past Downing Street, where the Prime Minister resides, and then past Westminster Abbey and the English Courts of Justice.

While we searched for a place to eat lunch, I noticed that London was similar to New York in two other ways: 1) There are so many different restaurants, it’s like the world’s cultures are all contained in one city and 2) No matter how many different types of people there are in the city, one common thing unites them: Cigarettes.

We decided to spend a few hours in Harrod’s and eat lunch in its food court.  From the outside, Harrod’s looks like a flattened version of the Plaza Hotel with hundreds of world flags and green awnings reading: Harrod’s.

We visited in the daytime, but I almost wished we could have gone at night, because I have seen some really terrific pictures of Harrod’s lit up at night.  Lit up or not lit up, one step inside and I knew “food court” was an understatement.  Harrod’s was a six story department store with a half-floor dedicated to food– all kinds of food and lots of it!  Even walls and walls of teas and chocolates.  I’m pretty sure there was enough food in there to feed London!

After buying and eating our expensive but delicious food, we walked around the Gucci- and Gabbana- filled floors

of handbags and dresses.

After two hours, we had seen it all!  From the Ralph Lauren bed spreads, to an F.A.O. Schwarz-worthy toy floor, to the Juicy Couture dog collars and guinea pig coats.  (Yes, that last one was not a joke.)

No words can even describe what was in there: Hovercrafts, crystal studded faucets, $200 dog collars, Stilettos made out of chocolate.  Everything and anything possible, you could find it at Harrod’s.

Our final stop was Buckingham Palace, a white stone version of our very own White House, but with a UK flag on top, gold-trimmed gates along the perimeter, and London bobbies (police) and yeomen (guys in the red with the big black fuzzy hats on) surrounding the outside.  We left the home of the queen and returned to Hayes in time for our 7 pm concert and dinner with our host families.

Jason Wicks Reports on Foul Weather and Thanksgiving Dinner in July

There’s more to marching bands than meets the eye. In this series, Jason Wicks of Morristown High School ‘09 & Appalachia State University will take us behind the scenes as he participates in a top 12 World Class Drum and Bugle Corps in his quest for marching and musical perfection. –Doug Rutan, Morristown High School Music Department

An Audio Blog by Jason Wicks

In this podcast Jason talks about changing time zones, foul weather and thanksgiving dinner in July. (approx 4 minutes)

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How I Spent my Summer Vacation, part 3: Morristown student Nayna Shah tours Viking haunts, Shakespeare’s cradle, amazing castles and dicier digs

Summer is vacation time, and it’s fun to vacation vicariously through our contributors. Here’s the third colorful installment from Morristown High School student Nayna Shah. Today, she takes us from a Viking village to the birthplace of William Shakespeare, with stops at amazing castles and dodgy hotels, as she recounts her recent travels through Europe with the bell choir of the Morris Plains Presbyterian Church. You can read Nayna’s prior entries here.

Day 7

 

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

We took a one hour drive to York, England, a quaint little city close to Leeds.  York has many small restaurants, stores, and cobblestone streets for walking only.  York reminded me of a brighter version of Edinburgh, that got shrink-wrapped a couple of times.

One of the first things I noticed about York was the street signs.  Instead of perpendicular streets signs displaying two street names, the street signs pointed in five different directions and you had to guess which street each sign was pointing to.  It seemed like some ridiculously confusing joke out of Willy Wonka’s factory.  Obviously, the tourists were the ones twisting their bodies in impossible positions trying to interpret the signs.

We spent two hours in the Jorvik Viking Centre, a relatively new museum that displayed what York may have looked like 1,000 years in the past, when it was captured by Vikings.

We went on an informative ride (similar to the one in Hershey Park that explains the process of making chocolate) that took us through a typical Viking village.  We were even treated to the musty smell of Viking villages throughout the whole museum!

In the afternoon we went on a haunted house tour of a building that supposedly was hundreds of years old.

We walked as a group through the living room, dining room, bedrooms, attic, and cellar of the long-deceased family, while we listened to the story of each of their deaths.  Needless to say, we were all happy to see the daylight outside once we left!

After surviving the frightful experience, we were treated to some shopping in “The Shambles” or the streets of York with all the stores and stalls.  I got a chuckle out of T-shirts I saw that read: “I ♥ York” instead of the “I ♥ New York” I was so used to seeing.

We drove back in time to practice and perform a concert for the people of Otley in the Bridge Church.  I didn’t get to sleep until late that night because there were at least six people who had to use the shower!

Day 8

Thursday, July 1, 2010

We said goodbye to Otley, England, this morning as we departed for Stratford, the birthplace of William

Shakespeare.  We visited Anne Hathaway’s cottage (Shakespeare’s wife) in under fifteen minutes, because it contained only one bedroom, a kitchen, and a parlor.  We probably spent more time in the gift shop than in the actual cottage!

Outside her cottage, however, was one of the biggest gardens I have ever seen.  Every plant and flower of every color and every size was perfectly maintained in the garden.

Past the flower garden was Shakespeare’s tree garden, which housed all the types of trees he made references to in his literature.

There were statues of the characters of his stories with placards containing classic quotes from the plays.  Any artist could prop up an easel and have a field day.

Shakespeare’s childhood home and birthplace was located just a couple minutes away, right in the middle of the main road of Stratford.

It was also a rather small cottage, but we walked through the exact room where he was born, as well as the room his father used to make and sell gloves.  The town of Stratford actually looked a lot like York, with many shops and restaurants along the streets.  We were allowed to find lunch and do our own shopping, most of us ending up at the Harry Potter store, because our choir just happens to be a group of hand bell-ringing Harry Potter fanatics.

We left Stratford and jetted to Warwick Castle, my favorite castle of the vacation.

Warwick had many towers (with spiral staircases) to climb, and from the top you could see both the entire inside grounds of the castle and the surrounding town of Warwick.

The castle was a little more commercial, in the sense that more exhibits and activities were created for tourists.  The most fun was the “Royal Evening Party” in which you (as a queen or king) went through the process of getting ready for a party, getting to a party, eating and playing cards, and dancing at a party, all as you walked through different rooms of the castle.

Of course it was go, go, go after the castle as we continued in the nighttime southward to Coventry, England.

We were all fooled by this name, because it sounded like a cute town, like York or Stratford.  Coventry turned out to be a small city, but not just any small city.  It was a CREEPY small city, complete with scary dogs, dark alleys, and sketchy restaurants.

The hotel we checked into freaked us all out: Holes in the walls, flashing lights, TVs that turned on and off by themselves, and no air conditioning.  Because of this last problem, we always had to leave our windows open, which provided an eerie breeze now and then.  After just a couple of hours in Coventry we all were  convinced that some sort of horror movie was being shot in our hotel.

Day 9

Friday, July 2, 2010

Our morning began on a gloomy note as we walked through the Old Cathedral in Coventry, which had been

almost completely destroyed by the Germans during the Coventry Blitz in WWII.

The roof of the cathedral was gone, and some of the stone walls, one tower, a couple of tombs, and a very sorry looking pulpit remained.  On a more positive note, right next to the Old Cathedral, a New Cathedral was built to symbolize rebirth, unity, and strength.

The New Cathedral was much more contemporary, reflecting work from some of the world’s greatest artists.

One wall contained rectangles of stained glass in a rainbow effect, and the other wall was complete glass with carvings of angels on it.  When the sun rises, the shadows of the angels appear in both the New Cathedral and the Old Cathedral to represent the spirit of the old and the new.

A 70-by-30-foot tapestry depicting Jesus hangs at the front of the cathedral, with an enormous organ off to the left.  The choir seats are made of intricately carved wood, and the entire place is brightly lit.

We visited the Coventry Transport Museum next, which displayed the evolution of transportation, from bikes to cars.  Coventry used to have over 300 car manufacturers, but now only has one.  We learned more about the destruction of Coventry Blitz, and even spent some time in a replica of a bomb shelter.  The most impressive exhibit in the museum was the room that held world’s fastest car: the Thrust SSC.  It looked more like a plane– with two jets and a tail, and traveled 768 mph in the deserts of Nevada!

When we left the museum we watched the town clock, for it puts on a show every hour.  In the 17^th Century, Lady Godiva rode naked on a horse through the streets of Coventry to protest the harsh taxes her husband had imposed on the city.

Her husband promised to lift the taxes if she rode around naked, and the townspeople promised not to look.  The phrase “Peeping Tom” comes from the one man who broke the promise and snuck a peek a Lady Godiva.

We were still a bit confused because many people told use that in England, to be naked means to not wear jewelry, but the statues we saw of Lady Godiva were nude statues.

If you’re wondering (because I was, too, the first time I heard the tale), Lady Godiva has no connection to Godiva Chocolate.  Anyway, every hour in Coventry, a statue of Lady Godiva emerges on a horse from the clock building with a “Peeping Tom” peeking from above.

We did some shopping around Coventry, although even in the daytime, it was scary to be walking around.  The chaperones didn’t want us going off to far!  We played an evening concert for a nursing home 15 minutes away.  Nursing homes, like everything else in Europe, RE on a much smaller scale than the ones in the US.  While the residential homes in America are almost as big as apartment complexes, the home we played for in Coventry couldn’t have housed more than 100 residents.

Back at our hotel, a high school prom was happening.  This prom (if it’s possible!) was even wilder than the proms in the States because in the UK, the drinking age is only 18.  Our hotel was practically shaking with partying English seniors until at least one in the morning!

How I spent my summer vacation: Scotland through the eyes of Morristown High student Nayna Shah, part 2

Summer is vacation time, and it’s fun to vacation vicariously through our contributors. Here’s the second colorful installment from Morristown High School student Nayna Shah, about her recent travels through Scotland with the bell choir of the Morris Plains Presbyterian Church.

Day 4

Sunday, June 27, 2010

This morning was our last morning in Dunbar, Scotland, and we sadly packed our bags to bring them to the church.  The church service at the Dunbar Parish Church was not much different from the ones at Presbyterian Church in Morris Plains.

The most memorable part, of course, was the thick Scottish accent the pastor had.  As much as I tried to imitate it, I still could not nail it!  The church families provided us with a lunch buffet, right before our concert, and I was introduced to some teenagers from the church.  While I ate, I tried hard to decipher their words under the accents as they explained how the school system works.

Instead of Kindergarten, first, second, grade, etc., there is primary school (ages 4-10), junior school (ages 7-9) and GCSE (ages 10-11), and two years of A level (ages 16-17).

Over here, you can legally stop going to school at 17, but if you continue with college, it is usually only three years of school.  Almost all schools, whether they are public or private schools require uniforms for boys and girls.   Most schools in Scotland are still in session until the middle of July, but have longer vacations for Easter and Christmas.

Throughout my conversations I picked up on some of the Scottish slang such as “telly” for TV, “university” for college, “holiday” for vacation, football for soccer, and the pronunciation of “fud” for food.  My favorite thing to say is “Cheers!”  It is probably the best phrase because not only can you use it before drinking something, you can say it as a hello, goodbye, congratulations, nice job, or just about any other friendly expression you can think of.

After our concert, I said goodbye to my new Scottish girlfriends and rode the bus to Stirling, Scotland, a city right outside of Dunblane. The streets or Sterling looked a little more urban than Edinburgh, with more apartments, office buildings, and paved roads.  We checked into a Holiday Inn and ate dinner at the hotel.  In the restaurant, we were acquainted with some traditional Scottish grub.

The first was an orange soda called IRN BRU (pronounced Iron Brew).  It tasted like a regular cream soda, except about ten times as sweet.  Irn Bru is the Scottish Coca-Cola and appears in every vending machine and refrigerator and menu, but only in Scotland.

The next was confusion over names and the actual thing.  In Scotland, turnips are called “neeps” and potatoes are called “tatties.”  Chips (like potato chips) are called crisps, and French fries are called chips. Finally there is haggis, a delicacy which involves cow or sheep intestines minced with oatmeal and onions, boiled inside a cow or sheep stomach.  I didn’t have the pleasure of sampling this dish, but the others who tried it compared the taste to that of meatloaf.   So you definitely can survive after a serving of haggis!

Day 5

Monday, June 28, 2010

This morning we toured Stirling Castle, another mighty, royal building, mounted on an outrageous hill.  Stirling Castle was entertaining for our group because we managed to find several trap doors leading to dungeons under the castle.  Of course these dungeons were meant for visitors and tourists, but we ringers felt like prisoners of the castle.

Besides the “secret” dungeons, the coronation hall of Mary, Queen of Scots was quite beautiful.  We descended the hill of Stirling Castle, only to travel right back up another hill, this time en route to the Wallace Monument.  Along the way, we stopped for lunch, but our coach could not bring us any further past the restaurant.  We hiked up the hill, some of us in flip-flops, but all of us learning the hard way how out of shape we were!

After trudging along the trail to the monument, we entered the building and into a museum floor.  We were pointed to a narrow spiral staircase (the first of MANY on this trip).  You see, Europe does not believe in installing elevators in tall buildings for tourist purposes. No, tourists must get the full experience and work out as the Scots in the past.  We walked, correction, dragged ourselves, up 300 spiral steps, getting dizzier with each one.

Every 50-60 steps, there would be a small room to walk into with some history, and then, if daring, you could continue on your journey to the top.  The stairs were made out of some sort of glazed cement with not even so much as a railing.  If you wanted you could hold onto the SLITS IN THE WALLS that gave you a mind-boggling view of how high up you were.

As we walked up stair after stair, we picked up a brief history on William Wallace from the little exhibits.  William Wallace (best known as portrayed by Mel Gibson in Braveheart) was a Scottish war hero who fought for independence against England.  He led the major battles at Stirling Bridge and Falkirk, but was captured by the English and brutally executed.

To “pump us up” for the Wallace Monument, our bus driver brought Braveheart for us to watch on the bus, but it seemed like the stairs we had to climb were worse than Wallace’s torture!  The view from the top of the monument was worth the half hour trek up, because we could see all of Stirling, including the castle.  It was windy as anything up there, and we had to make sure to hold on to our lightest ringers in fear that they might blow away!

The walk down was not nearly as challenging as the walk up, but the entire experience was enough to tire all twenty of us on the bus home.  Unfortunately, we had a long two hours ahead of us, because we had a concert in the evening at Dunblane Cathedral.

Before performing, the pastor gave us a tour of the cathedral, because it was teeming with history.  He joked about how “new” it was–only 800 years old!  Some of the Scottish Wars of Independence were actually fought right outside the cathedral.  War or no war, it reminded me of a Scottish Hogwarts.

Day 6

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Greetings again from Stirling, Scotland!  This is our last day in the country of Scotland because we have begun our 6 1/2 hour drive south to England.  I can’t say that I’m excited to leave Scotland, but I can’t say that I’m not excited to be in England!

On the way down, we stopped at a mall in Scotland, to satisfy the female ringers.   The mall was very high end, resembling the Short Hills Mall.  Everything was sparkly and white, and I couldn’t recognize any of the store names, just that all the clothes would make such wonderful additions to my closet!  The fashions in Scotland are similar to the styles in America, so unless you bought an “I love Scotland” tee, no one would know whether you purchased your clothes in the U.S. or Scotland.

In the stores in the mall, I was able to catch parts of the music playing.  Most of the songs were songs that were popular in the U.S. a couple months ago.  Lady Gaga, Justin Beiber, Train, Shakira, and 3OH!3 were some of the artists I heard playing.

Shopping bags in hand, we continued our road trip, and along the way I look out the giant bus windows to make my first observations of England.  Most people, myself included, think of London and big cities, when they think of England, but a lot of England is exactly like Scotland:  Green fields full of sheep, cows, horses, and much to my delight, wind turbines.  I’m so glad Great Britain has taken new energy initiatives as well.

We arrived in Otley, England (pronounced Ott-lee) in the evening, and went home to our host families.  Otley looks a lot like Morris Plains; it’s a very small town with houses close together and a park with a pond full of swans.

I stayed with a woman named Carol, who hosted the choir four years ago.  Carol is the director of a bell choir in Otley, although they are not affiliated with a church, like Walsh is.  Believe it or not, Carol hosted 13 of us in her house, 4 of which are staying in the caravan on her driveway.

A caravan is what the Europeans call trailer homes.  Caravans don’t move, but stay on driveways as sort of an extra room.  I was looking forward to staying in the caravan, because I always wanted to do an RV trip, and was thrilled when the chaperones told me I would stay there the next two days.

The caravan had two sofas, a bed, a stove, a fridge, and oven, a small desk, and a bathroom complete with a shower.  The shower and sink weren’t actually hooked up at this time, so we used the bathroom in the house for showering and the caravan for sleeping.

How I spent my summer vacation: Morristown student Nayna Shah in Europe

Editor’s note: Summer is vacation time, and it’s fun to vacation vicariously through our contributors. Nayna Shah, who will be a sophomore at Morristown High School this fall,  jotted down her impressions during a recent church trip to Europe, and we are delighted to share them with you.

Day 1

Thursday, June 24, 2010

To kick off my summer vacation, I am taking a trip to Europe as part of the Walsh Memorial Bell Choir at the Presbyterian Church of Morris Plains. The Walsh Memorial Bell Choir is a hand bell choir that has been around for  40 years at the church.

The Presbyterian Church has a choir for younger kids called the Mezza Choir, a choir for adults called the Grazio choir, and a choir for teens called Walsh.  The Walsh Choir performs at church services once a month on Sundays and in concerts during Christmas and Easter time.  The Walsh Choir also goes on a “summer tour” every year, whether it is domestic or international.

On tour, the choir performs in concerts as well as sight-sees.  This year is my first year ringing hand bells, and although I am not a member of the church, I can read music and know many people in the choir, and had no trouble joining.

This year’s tour is an international trip to England and Scotland.  The last time the choir went abroad for a tour was four years ago, when the ringers traveled to England.

There are two high school seniors in Walsh who were in the choir when they journeyed to Europe.  I guess I picked the best year to join because how often does one get a trip to England and Scotland ringing hand bells?

Two of our youngest ringers will be in seventh grade in the fall, so we have five chaperones accompanying us– all parents of ringers, in addition to our two directors.  Of course I am extremely excited because although I went to Europe three years ago (Germany, Switzerland, and Austria) I’ve never been to England or Scotland!

For anyone who is not a world geography expert, Scotland is part of the United Kingdom and occupies one third of Great Britain.  It shares a border with England in the south, and is bounded by the North Sea to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west.  Its capital is Edinburgh (actually pronounce Edin-burrow) and its largest city Glasgow.

The Scottish flag is light blue with a white X across it.  England is also part of the United Kingdom and occupies the central and southern part of Great Britain.  It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west.  To the east is the North Sea, and to the south is the English Channel, separating it from continental Europe.

England also includes over a hundred smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wright.  The English flag is white with a red cross across the entire flag.  When the Scottish and English flags are combined, the United Kingdom flag is created.

Unfortunately, the trip began in a completely eco-unfriendly manner: All the ringers and chaperones meeting at the church and driving to Newark Airport in the biggest vans we could find (in order to fit all the luggage and bells).

Oh, that’s right. We bring all our cases of bells with us, some of our biggest bells weighing 20 pounds.  In addition to bell cases, we bring foam to cover the tables and table cloths to cover the foam.  The foam gets vacuum sealed and stuffed into duffel bags with all our binders of music and the tablecloths.  This way, everyone has a personal suitcase, a carry-on, and either a bell case or a duffel bag.  Together, we are a group of 20 travelers.

As you can imagine, that causes a lot of chaos in the airport.  Twenty exhausted people loading suitcases and bell cases at 9 p.m. seemed like the toughest part of the trip.  At 10, we took off on our seven-hour, 3,433-mile flight to Edinburgh.

Day 2

Friday, June 25, 2010

When it became Friday, we were still on the plane.  Yes, red-eye flights are the only way to go when traveling internationally!  I took a look out the window before we landed, and what I saw was incredible: Scotland is full of empty green fields– all over!

Some of the land looked like it was being farmed, but other sections were just empty stretches of grass.  When we landed, not one of us could even move.  It was 5 in the morning US time, but only 10 AM Scotland time.  As we stumbled through the airport, I noticed an immediate difference between Scotland and America: Size.  The airport was tiny and white and clean, and for a capital city, barely anyone was there.  Compared to Scotland, America just seems overwhelming.

None of the ringers knew that the plan was to start touring as soon as we arrived. But sure enough, the chaperones had a full day planned.  The choir had apparently rented a coach bus for the entire trip, and we hopped on for the ride to Edinburgh Castle.

The first pictures I took on my camera were of the streets of Edinburgh.  Instead of contemporary skyscrapers, every building was made of dark stone.  I saw many cathedrals, cobblestone streets, and Smart Cars along the roads.  Except for the Smart Cars, Scotland came across as a country full of history, dedicated to preserving it.

Pulling up at Edinburgh Castle was the first (of many) times on the trip I had to close my gaping mouth with my hand.  Edinburgh Castle was built on a large cliff, otherwise known as a volcano, and was used primarily for military purposes.  It was built out of large brown stones, but instead of turrets and mighty flags that maybe Cinderella’s Castle in Disneyworld might have, Edinburgh Castle had towering walls, canons lining the outside, and a black iron door.

We took a two hour audio tour of the castle, the most interesting parts being the cemetery for soldiers’ dogs, the dungeon for prisoners, and the birthplace of King James.  In general, Edinburgh Castle has been a royal castle since at least the reign of David I in the 12^th century, and it continued to be a royal residence until the Union of the Crowns in 1603.

The most important conflicts the castle was involved in were the Scottish Wars of Independence, in which most of the castle was destroyed except for St. Margaret’s Chapel, the oldest building in Edinburgh.

The touring made our group hungry, and we ate at a pub-like place on the Royal Mile, the street the castle was located on (the main street of Edinburgh).

One of my main concerns for this trip was the food situation, for I am a vegetarian.  In a place like Europe, I knew meals might pose a problem.  However, as we searched for restaurants and menus that could accommodate 20 people, I noticed that there were plenty of vegetarian options available.  For all the burger connoisseurs out there: I took the word of all the carnivorous ringers who remarked that the Scottish make tasty burgers. I guess Americans don’t always need McDonald’s!

With no time to spare, we drove for an hour straight to Dunbar from Edinburgh, where our first group of host families waited for us.  I slept the entire hour, and when I woke up, I saw the ocean!  It was almost too beautiful to handle.

We unloaded our bells into their church and met our host families. Mine were Moyra and Robbie, a sweet, older couple, whose grandson James, was staying with them for the summer before he went off to college.  Their house followed suit with my previous “size” observations: It was a cute cottage complete with a colorful garden.  The whole scene was relaxing for me as I went to sleep.

Day 3

Saturday, June 26, 2010

The twenty of us rode back to Edinburgh to see the National Museum of Scotland.  The museum had seven floors full of national history, from the Stone Age to the present.  The highest floor was the roof, from which you could see the entire city, including Edinburgh Castle.  My favorite exhibit was a replica of the machine used to spin and dye wool for kilts and tartans, the plaid skirts worn by men and women during a traditional dance or to represent a family clan.

Of course, the trip to Scotland wouldn’t be complete without gaining knowledge about the Loch Ness monster.  Right outside the museum was a 3-D theatre showing video footage captured, and explaining the legend of the creature lurking in the Loch Ness.

The monster is fondly called “Nessie” or “Ness” by the Scotts and has been “spotted” on many occasions since the 1930s.  Personally, I don’t believe in it, but over here, people call you crazy if you don’t believe in it.  Guess I better keep my opinions to myself!

We were allowed to split up to do some shopping along the streets of Edinburgh, most of us purchasing wool scarves and tartans, as Scotland is know for it sheep wool and vibrant plaid patterns.

The currency of Great Britain is pounds and pence.  It was kind of disappointing when I found out that one of my dollars only equaled about .5 pounds or 50 pence.  When shopping, I had to keep reminding myself that ten pounds wasn’t exactly that cheap, because it was equivalent to almost $20.

Perhaps the best part of the day came after we shopped, when we ran into a crowd surrounding a young man, no older than 18 years old.  He was a street performer and had captured the attention of an audience of at least 150 people!  This was no surprise because after all, he was juggling torches while standing on two men’s shoulders!

We left Edinburgh early, because we had to set up the bells we left at the church the night before.  The church was called the Dunbar Parish Church, and tomorrow we would be playing in their Sunday church service as well as in our own afternoon concert.  Organizing the bells, tables, and foam was about a 45- minute ordeal, after which we practiced for two hours.

We were rewarded with an Italian dinner at a local restaurant and later returned to our host families’ homes.  It seems that life in Europe is not as “go, go, go” as it is in America.  When I asked Moyra and Robbie what they did today, they simply replied that they tidied up the house, worked in the garden, and watched some Wimbledon.  I wish America could adopt this laid-back lifestyle!

Crown in Ohio, heading for Michigan. Jason talks about corps food.

There’s more to marching bands than meets the eye. In this series, Jason Wicks of Morristown High School ‘09 & Appalachia State University will take us behind the scenes as he participates in a top 12 World Class Drum and Bugle Corps in his quest for marching and musical perfection. –Doug Rutan, Morristown High School Music Department
An Audio Blog by Jason Wicks
In this podcast Jason talks about being in Ohio and Corps food. (approx 3 minutes)

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Carolina Crown show changes, cooler weather and another day off.

There’s more to marching bands than meets the eye. In this series, Jason Wicks of Morristown High School ‘09 & Appalachia State University will take us behind the scenes as he participates in a top 12 World Class Drum and Bugle Corps in his quest for marching and musical perfection. –Doug Rutan, Morristown High School Music Department

An Audio Blog by Jason Wicks

In this podcast Jason talks about a competition in Ewing NJ, cooler weather, show changes and a day off at the mall. (approx 4 minutes)

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Carolina Crown Gets a Well Deserved Day Off

There’s more to marching bands than meets the eye. In this series, Jason Wicks of Morristown High School ‘09 & Appalachia State University will take us behind the scenes as he participates in a top 12 World Class Drum and Bugle Corps in his quest for marching and musical perfection. –Doug Rutan, Morristown High School Music Department

An Audio Blog by Jason Wicks

In this podcast Jason talks about more bad weather, practice days and the educational aspects of drum corps as they help to educate band directors and high school students and a well deserved day off for laundry and pleasure. (aaprox 4 minutes)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

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