Throughout the last couple weeks I have been at home in the small Midwest town where I grew up and I must say, I've been thoroughly enjoying my time here. I don't know if it's the time with friends, the summer school class I'm helping to teach, the feeling associated with being somewhere so familiar, or the simple fact that we're not dying of humidity, but I'm trying my best to soak up every last drop of this small town home brew before I officially move to New York and learn to sip cosmos. (That line is strictly metaphorical, mind you.)
Last week, I had the good fortune to be around for a friend's 21st birthday party and got the opportunity to hop around some bars in town that, truth be told, I'd never stepped foot in before. Among the party guests was one of my closest and oldest friends as well as some old high school classmates, and we had a wonderful time together. Nothing crazy; just a healthy dose of companionship, storytelling, reminiscing, and a couple drinks between friends that left me with a contented smile.
Another close friend invited me to co-teach a summer school music class with her this week and I have been having a WONDERFUL time working with a select group of middle school band and orchestra students. Having not taught instrumental music for a year I am beyond thrilled to be working with string players again, and this time I'm learning almost as much as they are in the process. The class, entitled "Exploring Ensembles" has been focusing on composition, improvisation, and student-led ensembles with a wide variety of instruments. These are areas which I have rarely explored as either a student or a teacher, and I'm finding - right along with the students - that improvisation and composition really isn't so scary! In fact, I've been working specifically with a trio comprised of a guitarist and two violinists that are learning to jam together and are composing their own piece as a result. Today when I told them I would not be with them next week because I'm moving on Tuesday, they all wined and nearly begged for me to come at least on Monday to work with them some more. How could I say no to that? It's only been four days and it has been an enlightening and enjoyable experience for all of us.
On Tuesday, a friend and I drove to the city where I lived the last couple years so we could go swing dancing. Since it was my last time with that crowd for quite some time, they were kind enough to offer me a "going away" dance where all my favorite partners switched with one another to dance with me for a song. The whole night was at once fun and bittersweet; having to say goodbye to the friends I've made through swing was challenging, but knowing that the skills I developed with them are coming with me to New York makes me hopeful that I'll be able to find another group of swing buddies in my new home.
It's interesting that I've been so happy here the last couple weeks. Since I moved away for college and came home only on vacations and the occasional weekend, every time home felt stifling. I quickly became accustomed to the amenities offered by a bigger city: diversity in culture and food, performances and fine arts, opportunities that simply don't exist to the same degree in small towns. Coming home, by contrast, was challenging. If I wanted to go out to eat I was faced with the same carnivore-friendly fare that left me wanting. The stories that circulated always felt tepid and recycled in comparison to the dynamics of the bigger town I'd grown to love. Everything always felt the same to me, and that lack of spice was bothersome after having experienced and participated in and tasted the various flavors of a city.
Now things have changed. After only a couple weeks in New York I was itching to get back to something safe. Today, I found it quaint and pleasant to spend an hour at the neighborhood coffee shop/bookstore, schmoozing with the owner (who is also a friend of my mom's) and chatting casually about well-known community members by their first names. Suddenly, talking with people around town and hearing their thick regional accent is inexplicably endearing. Essentially, what had annoyed me and bothered me about my home town is now miraculously lovable. Funny how that happens right when you're about to leave it all behind.
I remember when I was applying for college in my senior year of high school. I had four schools on my list, two of which were very high, one was an adequate third, and the fourth I put on the list because, well, why not. That fourth school also happened to be the last one at which I auditioned and I nearly didn't go to the audition because I was so disinterested in going to that university. As it turned out, that university was the one I ended up attending, and in hindsight I think I got a better education and overall experience than I would have at any of the other schools. The city itself surprised me in how it grew on me, and I'm quite confident that things turned out exactly the way they were supposed to.
Let's hope New York surprises me, too.
Wonderful insights. I think finding a swing group in NYC will help your transition to the "biggest of cities." It might help to think of NY as just a collection of small towns abutting each other. They're called neighborhoods. I hope you can find your own "small town" in the neighborhood in which you live.
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