Last day of July

I can't believe August is already here. Yesterday the buses had a major break down. Apparently there was a power outage on the electrical lines that the buses run on. Traffice was backed up in town from Mozartsteg to Theatergasse. We had to switch buses earlier at Akademiestrasse. When we got off the bus and where waiting for the new bus to come, I heard an old lady swear at the bus in German. The Austrians are nice, but don't mess with their bus system.
Because of the buses, I thought I was late for my coaching at 9. It turns out though that it really was a 10. So I was able to warm up and get ready for the coaching. This coaching was with Prof. Ragsdale from Oklahoma City University. I liked it, we worked on In Waldeseinsamkeit. He made a good point, and I am making this discovery too: I'm smart, I can pick up things quickly and make changes when they are asked. What I need to work on is maintaining these changes by putting them into practice. I really am regretting not bringing my italk microphone for lessons and just borrowing someone's ipod. Its too late to buy and overpriced recorded here as well. I think that's the best way for me to remember what happens in lessons, is by listening to them. I also need to listen to how I sing more. When I sat down with Ragsdale at the beginning of the coaching, he asked me what I like most about my voice. I kind of didn't know, because I have no idea what I sound like.
In the evening we went to the Christa Ludwig masterclass. Oh my goodness, the singers were amazing. One of them was last year's winner of the Cardiff Singer of the World competition. He is only 24 and has this amazing baritone voice. The singers were from all over. The ones we heard were from Turkey (she actually was in the UMiami program, the one I'm in now, four years ago), China, SouthAfrica/Canada, Hungary, and Ukraine. They are all part of the Young Singers Project through the festival. It's a program that Barbara Bonney started. They learn roles from the festival shows, sing in masterclasses, etc.