Presently, I am finishing my summer with the Land Forces Atlantic Area Band, my full time summer job with the Canadian Forces Primary Reserve. The band is a terrific employment opportunity for musicians, bringing together many talented army musicians from across the Atlantic area and members from Quebec to fill any extra spots. Our job is diverse, combining music with parades, mess dinners, military functions, marching routines, and general public appearances to present a positive image of the Canadian Forces.
The LFAA Band at the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo
After an initial couple of weeks doing parade rehearsals and working on music for the summer, we head to the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo in Halifax, Nova Scotia, rehearsing for the second half of June, with shows for a week into July. After Tattoo, our summer is filled with parades and concerts across the Atlantic provinces.
Still to come with the band is a long parade in Halifax for Natal Day; a trip to Gagetown, NB; a ceremony and parade for Sidney Crosby and the Stanley Cup in Halifax; an open house in LFAA Training Center Detachment Aldershot (where the LFAA Band is based); and a visit to a Cadet camp to show off and help them out with their own playing. I'm sure there is another parade or concert in there I have forgotten about, but honestly, they all run together once they get started. Brad, a member of the band, was right when he said that you never remember the individual parades until the next year when you arrive in the same parking lot in the same town and get ready to do the same parade. It's not that the parades are boring, but they are all essentially the same.
Our concert repertoire this year is exciting, strongly featuring everyone's favourite section, yours truly, the Horns. We also have the Trombone section playing a beautiful rendition of Scarborough Fair, and Hernando's Hideaway (a tango everyone knows but doesn't know) and a jazz combo improvising their way through a couple tunes (names forgotten at the moment). From start to finish it's about an hour and a half, and anyone interested in seeing it should be able to on the 12th of August at LFAA HQ in Halifax (contact me for more info).
Our marching routine is even more exciting, especially as it is the first one I have ever done. This is only my second summer with the LFAA Band, but I believe it has been a few years since a marching routine has been performed by this band. This year's features a wide variety of music including excerpts from Holst's Planets, Thriller, other classic 80s tunes, and some typical army march music. From march on to march off is about 20 minutes, and anyone interested in seeing it as well as possibly the concert should come to the Aldershot open house on the 8th of August (contact me for more info).
The band's last day is on the 17th of August, a day I am both looking forward to and dreading. The sense of family I have grown into over the summer so far is something special. My band family is close to me, and as it was last year, leaving will be difficult. Fortunately I will be seeing many of these same people next summer as I return for another summer with the LFAA Band. Typically I would be seeing all of the members from Halifax throughout the year as we rehearse weekly, but I won't be around this year to rehearse. And this brings me to the main reason I started this blog.
Come the 8th of September, I will be hopping a plane to London, a trip that should last for 8 months if all goes as planned. My first foray into serious travel, the decision to go on this trip is the culmination of many events, certainly my decision to take time off school factored in, as well as my curiosity with the world and my impatience in waiting to see it. A lot of planning has gone into this already, but sitting down and looking at my itinerary, I find it hard to believe. I have decided that as a backpacker with no particular agenda, I will plan as I go, giving myself flexibility. I have picked countries that I wish to visit, but generally from September to December, I will be in Western Europe. I will make my way to Australia for Christmas to be with my sister and her fiancé (the only important stop on my agenda), go to New Zealand, and maybe take a trip through the US on my way home. This is where the flexibility comes in though, as I might take advantage of the fact that I'm already overseas to see some more of the South Pacific or Asia.
My planning thus far has been ensuring I have the right gear and travel skills to help me survive 8 months of being away from any kind of home. It is intimidating planning to leave everything behind for such a length of time, and I am certainly daunted by the enormity of it all. But with my ticket to London already booked, I am committed, and if all goes as planned, on the 8th of September at 23:55, I will depart Canada for 8 months to see what lies beyond.
I am currently typing on my newest acquisition for my trip, a new netbook. I never thought I would have a need for one of these tiny computers, but after examining the benefits of them, decided it would be worth it. On Kijiji, I found someone willing to part with their practically new Asus Eee PC, and have been getting used to it over the past few days. Fortunately, my fingers aren't sausages and they don't completely outsize the keyboard, but the keys are about the size of my fingers. Simply put, typing is a new experience entirely, but it is one I am trying to get used to before I leave, so I will try to use this computer as much as possible before I go.
Noticing that I have rambled on for nearly two pages, I do believe it is time to sign off for now. It is also bedtime for me here in Camp Aldershot, so goodnight, and until next time, cheers (because I don't know how else you end a blog post)!
Good start.
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