Australian Youth Orchestra
AYO International Tour 2016: Blog 1
AYO Blog
AYO International Tour 2016
By Kinga Janiszewski
A few hours into our first flight and the excitement has yet to wear off. Like me, many of us are on our first orchestral tour overseas!
Flying over Central Australia, we watched the pink tones of the sunset as we chased time into Singapore. Australia is a beautiful country – even when enjoying the latest episode of a TV show or engrossed in some chick flick, you had to stop and look out at the landscapes. You always hear about the sand being shaped by the wind but it’s a whole other thing to actually see it. At first what appears to be the ocean is actually row upon row of dunes forming lines that look like waves. It’s quite a beautiful and intriguing thing.
Overcome by exhaustion, we set off on the second leg of this journey from Singapore airport. Most of us slept until the early hours of the morning (which time zone I’m speaking about is open to interpretation, as we weren’t so sure ourselves).
Before I drifted off to the gentle swaying of the plane I paused to reflect on the tour so far, even in its earliest stage. I am a little nervous having said goodbye to my bass which went into freight on Thursday and I won’t see it until Monday evening. On the other hand, I am excited to start this adventure exploring new places and making close friends along the way.
After the long line at passport control we picked up our luggage and left Frankfurt airport for a six hour bus trip to Ede in the Netherlands. My first impression of Europe: green! So many forests and pastures. Windmills started cropping up along the highway as we approached the border.
We have finally arrived in Ede and most of us are enjoying the extended daylight. It’s 9.50pm and the sun is only just starting to set over this quaint town. And while some are watching the football (soccer), I am falling asleep preparing for the crazy times ahead!