Wow...a lot of things have happened since the past entry that I don't even know where to begin writing. I'm convinced that its peak period all year round at my office. Did I mention the big big event which I brought up some months before is FINALLY OVER??? In the week leading up to it, I worked late near everyday and worried about it every moment. I even dreamt about it while sleeping. You can say it was practically 24hrs in my mind. And with my boss in the picture, you can imagine things were twice as confusing and difficult. And at the last moment, one of my trusty aides fell sick and could not attend the entire event. That was really quite hard to accept at first. I was already down with flu, but thought that with the assistance of my 2 committee members, I would still be able to 熬过去. But it was now down to 2 of us only. Real tough luck.

Fortunately, the majority of the event came out fine. All 120 participants arrived safely and enjoyed themselves during the competition. There were definitely glitches here and there of course, what with lights not coming in, air con not being switched on at the right time and us over-estimating the participants' abilities. But thank god it did not rain. That in itself was already a big big blessing. All in all, I went without sleep for 30 hours and when it was finally over, I was already too sick and tired to feel glad. By the 30th hour, my nose had lost all feeling and my voice was turning nasal and hoarse. It was the best.

But no matter what, its over and done with, so there's really not much to complain about now. And things are not slowing down still. Suddenly my boss wants this and that (not that surprising actually) and everything is still going at such breakneck speed. SIAN AH!!!! I NEED A REST!!

Ok, Andy has already gone to China liao. And by the way, I bought tickets to watch his concert (with P and Corinni) but did not go in the end cos I was sick lar. And before leaving, he even sent me an sms to tell me to continue to work hard and that he'll check on me whenever he returns for his breaks. Wah lau. But my new teacher, QL is real interesting. He's only 19 (my teachers just keep getting younger and younger) and is Andy's junior, meaning they studied under the same teacher. But their teaching styles cannot be more different. While Andy is systematic, QL is haphazardly creative. He doesn't believe in sticking to a particular format and is willing to forgo traditional instructions and style for beautiful music. Things which Andy said I cannot do, QL says its A-OK! His mantra is if he is convinced that something works and he believes in the theory behind it, he will follow it even though its not considered traditional.

And the most important thing I've learnt so far from QL was, that I should try and find the happiness in learning my dizi. QL doesn't think forcing myself will work in the long run. For Andy, it was more of discipline and proper instructions. With QL, you don't practice till you find the urge to do so. And its nice to note that practice is slightly more fun now! Suddenly, things which I had found difficult to grasp and learn, they've become easier to practice and 掌握. And lessons are not as stressful too. But deep inside me, I agree with QL. Its a real pain to always drag myself for practice and then become all frustrated when I cannot master a technique. But now, QL will say "没事..慢慢练 是需要时间的..不急"

But both of them can play such beautiful music! I know that I'll never ever be able to attain their standard. Just give me like 40% of their 功力 and I'll be satisfied for the rest of my life! To be a maker of music. To let people enjoy what you produced. I think that'll really be quite amazing. =)