So here I am, teacher, in Shanghai. Only not teaching much of my specialty, orchestra and violin. And no quartet to play with. It's like a mini-identity crisis...who am I now that I'm not front and center leading the quartet and being a professional violin player. This is the first time in my adult life, okay, second (first time was my first year in China) that I wasn't focused on being a professional player. I love to read www.violinist.com - it helps me feel a little still connected to the violin world. And am dreaming of trying a David Burgess violin. Some people are all about fame and earning money, getting rich and investing well. I'm not against these endeavors at all. I'm more about investing in my life right now and on a moment by moment basis going after quality of life decisions. This is definitely a gargantuan and life long task. I'd love to have more money and become famous but I also live under the weight of making a living wage as a self-supporting artist. Someone I'm close to says, "Who leads the cheerleader?" - guess I'm feeling those pangs of loneliness that come with living by oneself in a foreign culture. But what helps is every day remembering why I am here, my goal of fluency, and working toward that. I guess with age comes more patience because getting fluent is definitely a time consuming process and I knew coming here that it won't happen in just a few months. So the question becomes more, how many months or years am I willing to put into this long-term project which may be a life-long project? Thinking, thinking, thinking...and looking forward to those trips home and visits by friends and family!!!
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Hello dear reader, Sorry for the long pause. Since I've been in Germany I've been building up my teaching through SUPERSTRINGS STUDIO , working on my teaching methodology and philosophy of teaching parents to accompany their children, playing professionally in regional orchestras and not spending as much time in Shanghai. This is going to change! I do plan to keep on working on my teaching methods, including the GuitarStart series for parents, and in getting the word out that this method is both fun and super effective! But in 2019 we plan to be back in Shanghai for at least three years, so more on that later. I also expect that we'll have a trip or two back to Shanghai this year in search of our new home. :-) Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to say hello, drop me a line, give me advice on using Wechat on a Windows phone, since my wechat service no longer works on my phone :-( or subscribe. :-) XX
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