So, this is my first update on this new website of mine. Today (Thursday, Friday, who knows?), I arrived in Minneapolis, after a 2 hour flight Copenhagen – London, an 8,5 hour flight London – Chicago, a good night’s sleep, and finally an 8 hour train ride Chicago – Minneapolis (I might feel terrible about flying so much but at least I could avoid domestic flights).
Apparently flying into London can yield a pretty view.
Verizon did not have any SIM cards/data plans for either of my phones, and my laptop charger, which should run on anything between 100-230v, set off the circuit breaker in my train car, so it hasn’t been the most productive train ride in history. Visiting the states is always nice though – people are definitely, on some level, very socially open and engaging, which is a nice contrast to Scandinavia. I only had to pretend to not hear someone trying to engage in conversation when I was obviously trying to sleep the one time.
Possibly the most American picture I’ve ever taken.
On a positive note, something I seriously miss when it comes to train rides back home are proper restaurant cars. Amtrak goes as far as taking dinner reservations for 4 separate timeslots. Meeting some of the other passengers also gave me a sense of scale of the country – some people that had just boarded the train had 48 hours to go on their ride to Seattle(!). Not to mention the name of the route, Empire Builder, has a certain gravitas.
Double-decker trains are the shit.
I’m in Minneapolis for a performance of my work Isolated strands of reflection with the Zeitgeist New Music Ensemble. Pat O’Keefe of the ensemble has graciously helped me convert the piece to clarinet, percussion and piano, from the original’s soprano saxophone. Grateful to 113 Collective that selected my work through their 2018 call for scores, and excited to meet the ensemble and see how this new version turns out.
Chicago totally subverted expectations and scrounged up some rain. Luckily, Minneapolis seems to be kinder so far.
