06-15/07/14 Latvia: WCG2014

Because Claire asked me to do a blogpost on the Choir trip (glad to know i at least have one fan :))

ok
Sitting here eating my handful of pine nuts i don't really know what to say about this trip. Honestly, I was majorly dreading this trip (anyone who was around me during this period should know), because I'm just such an awkward kid. Of course, I'm not saying there weren't moments where I was extremely awkward during this trip, but for the first time ever, I actually felt something greater than the music. Maybe it's far too late for these feels now, but it really was the best way to end this 1.5 years in rioHC.

The road towards WCG was certainly rocky, and took a great toll on my at any least, and often i found myself just detaching myself from choir outside of practice times. I'm not sure why I'm being so candid in this post but not many are going to read it anyways right!

Landing in Riga, Latvia, i had but one mission: find the riga t-shirt and try to enjoy choir as best as possible. Landing back in Singapore i'm glad to say i've gained much more than i was gunning for. (aha have low expectations so you always come back brimming with contentment)

Day 1: (including flights)

The transit flight from Helsinki to Riga was on a external propeller plane, which was pretty exciting.

Landed in Riga to find that half of our luggages didn't make it on the connecting flight! (what ensued was 2 days of rationing supplies and the primitive finger toothbrush technique) (at least for me)

Latvia has really awesome Wifi. Meaning they have Wifi almost EVERYWHERE. Its amazing. Thank you Lattelecom (note: it's Lat Telecom, i thought it was Latte Le Com haha)

For the first day, we went on a brief city tour stopping at the tallest building in Riga, which turns out to be only 15 stories high! This is pretty amazing because the low-lying buildings means that we have a mostly unobstructed view of the sky. We also noticed many clouds actually look like those we usually draw in diagrams, with the flat bottom that you don't see in the usual cumulonimbus clouds in tropical Singapore (:

Then we went on a walking tour around Old Riga which would be the main area we were going around during the WCG. The Art Noveau buildings which characterised many of the Latvian architecture were stunning, coupled with the cobblestone pavements and the 360 sky, was so charming. A highlight was the Riga Dome which is this magnificent church with lovely stained glass windows and a large pipe organ. (the stained glass windows can't compare with the likes of those in Notre Dame and the like, but it was beautiful all the same)

Heading back to the hotel, we knew that would be the first and last day of "freedom" before we started to prepare for WCG in Latvia.

Also, went to the supermarket to find that some of the food was pretty cheap (so i got excited cause one of my favourite things to do in other countries is loot the supermarkets). MUAHAHAHAHA it was great.

Day 2:

• We practiced outside under the trees. The greenery in Latvia is very natural (quite unlike the perfectly manicured greenery in Singapore). I love the grass in temperature countries, its fine and thin, and feels like carpet grass. The soil is not as wet and sticky as well so it was easier to lie on the grass.
• Good breakfast that included smoked salmon, cheese, bread and onions, which may not have been a good choice breath-wise...

Day 3:

• Official start of the WCG journey. From this day onwards we had to take public transport everywhere, and though I moaned about it, and it was so difficult to manage for the leaders (i sympathise), was a very interesting experience which thankfully helped us to save on our expenses. 
• Embarked on the 10-20 minute walk from the bus stop to Riga's olympic sport stadium where we would have all our meals for the next few days. Lunch and dinner usually consisted of steamed potatoes, a meat, a salad, and a mixed vegetable soup which we had to queue up to get (often for long periods of time due to the many people there!).
• What made the walks bearable was passing by Laima Chocolate factories, where the scent of chocolate would permeate the air and...sigh... i wish I could've bottled the scent up. 
• Opening Ceremony of the World Choir Games, which was a pretty big deal. Got really good seats right next to the stage, I'm a lucky duck like that. 

Day 4-5:

• Celebration Concert.
• Mixed Youth Category.
• Sacred with Accompaniment Category. 

These two days consisted of the most memorable parts of the trip, the situations of which I think would take up way too much time to put down in words. Lessons on focus, on determination, on perseverance and resilience, as well as the importance of having conviction in life are all lessons I have to continue working hard on.

Day 6:
Awards Ceremony.
Ohmy that was some tense and exciting stuff! We were all herded into Arena Riga once again to get our results, and the atmosphere was crazy especially with the South African choirs. (Half the time I was like: please, PLEASE let me be South African rn). The way they sang their anthem, and cheered loudly for basically any African choir was kjdsjlsfsfjlkfs.

I swear the anticipation made my heart race as we sat there just hoping, praying we would reach the >80 points range. I think the worst/funniest part was having Bohan sit next to me during the award ceremony. (That boy almost gave me a heart attack with his extreme panicking and almost squeezed my hand off) The results were honestly above my expectations after the competition, and for that I thank God.

Day 7- return:
equal voices awards ceremony which was equally exciting, World cup, some shopping (I'm an impulse buyer don't let me near sales items or anything that has a one digit price tag). 

haha got lazy.

In the end I really did learn a lot in this trip. I've always found school trips such amazing experiences. The sec one trip to Beijing was a taste of freedom, ROCs3 to Taiwan was pure fun (and i think gave me my best friend (': ), OCIP Nepal was totally inspiring, and this trip certainly was one of reflection if anything.

OK THAT'S IT
signing offfff,
x

p.s. sorry too lazy to even upload pictures/steal from facebook