camp

i grew up going to music camps. the earliest one i remember was the national cello institute, in claremont, california. i think i was still in elementary school when i was going to nci, and don't remember much, except that it was really hot in claremont. in 1987, i participated in the national cello congress, which was in indiana that year. actually, i'm not sure that i really participated. i was there with felix and his mother, who was my cello teacher at the time. there's a photo of us in this huge crowd of adult cellists -- two little kids, somewhere in the middle of hundreds of big people.

the next summer i remember vividly. i went (again, with felix and his mom) to the meadowmount school of music. i know now that it's in westport, new york, but back then, it was "somewhere in new york." it was hot and humid, and i remember that some girl's cello fell apart from the humidity. i still had my 3/4 size cello then (previously felix's cello), packed into a full-size case with yellow sponges. i was still pretty small then, and used a luggage carrier with wheels to lug it around. unfortunately, the boys' dorm was really far from the center of campus and the roads weren't paved, so the wheels broke off the first day i was there. poor me. i remember being forced to practice from 8-12 in the morning, and again from 4-5 in the afternoon. older, unknown people walked the halls and knocked on doors when practicing stopped. felix read comic books, and i laid on my bed with my cello on top of me so i could rest while playing scales. i remember jonathan lim, whose brother i met later on at stanford. i met a kid a little younger than me named dan carlson, whom i would meet up with again later on in my camp life. i also remember going to some seven layered waterfall and going swimming. i remember that the water was really clear...

during the summers of 1990, 1991, and 1992, i went to the idyllwild school of music and the arts, which has since started branding itself as the idyllwild arts academy. the people i met there were great, and i kept in touch with some of them until college forced us into our separate ways. i "met" dan carlson again -- he remembered me as the kid who used to chew gum a certain way. so random! i also became good friends with emily kim, whom i would play music with again at stanford, seven years later.

1990 - the posse. i met eddie kim -- the first "LA korean" in my life -- at isomata. he taught me how to swear in korean.

1991 - christian, nils, jane, emily, and me, getting ready to sneak off campus

1991 - me, christian, jane, nils, liva

i still occasionally hear about some of the people i knew then. dan went to juilliard eventually, so i ended up hearing about him again from my friends that went there. i heard tula (violist) on the radio once, and met some relative of hers on the airplane some time ago. i "pro-fro'ed" with emily at stanford during my senior year of high school, and then played piano trios with her for two years when i arrived there a year later. my roommate one year at isomata (jacob) ended up being the high school prom date of a girl i went on a blind date with last year. she had heard of me as the guy who killed the bird (it was sort of an accident!). oh! and i would also later meet and become good friends with gabe, who went to different sessions of isomata during the same years. also, this guy brian was roommates at Cal with someone i knew from high school. what else? i guess that's it.

1991 - "the hunt" quartet: ted, joanne, james, me	1991 - joanne, me, ted, jubel, christian	1991 - schumann piano quintet: rachel, kiyomi, me, vesna (coach), christian, and liva
	1992 - liva, emily, me, jane, and nils (and some random kid in the back), at "the spot"

previous: pre-cognizant

next: high school