CAPSULE

Well, that's that I guess. Been about a month since my last entry and I don't know how to start telling you about the last 180 degrees of life-change. Let's see...

THE MOVING IN

I arrived in Boston at the end of August. Had to practically beg my landlord to allow me into APARTMENT 2 without a lease, without a downpayment and with free electricity. It was a long shot but then I found a connection:

THE CONNECTION: a postcard from Nantes, France. Asked my landlord if he's ever been. Apparently he hasn't and he had heard from a friend (postcard sender) that it was a beautiful place. I amened to that and confirmed that Nantes, indeed, is a beautiful place.

My landlord, Mister Spunt, was amused to hear about my adventures in Nantes during the 2001 Fete de la Musique (tama ba, Jeline?). He, apparently, was a lover of the arts --- opera to be specific. Took my cue from that. Told him about me being in a choir and all that jazz. At the end of the conversation he had a spanking new "Awit sa Panginoon" CD and I had an apartment.

Which isn't a big thing really, because three weeks have passed and I still don't have a lease, haven't paid my downpayment and still am enjoying free electricity. And I do not want to wear out my welcome. A free CD can only do so much.

THE STRATEGY: for the most part, my solution has been to call up relatives to help "guarantee" my lease for me (I couldn't, for reasons only known to Mister Spunt, sign my own lease). That has fallen through and I am not about to ask a relative stranger to do that for me. And if THAT fails, then off I go to stranger number two. If THAT fails... I don't suppose I could get a pre-release copy of the ACS' second album, could I? So much for THE STRATEGY.

THE CHECKING IN

Apparently, here at Berklee (I am writing this blog on my spanking new laptop while sat on a comfortable chair in the "silent study area" and online via Berklee's immensely fast wireless network (300 MB in 10 minutes, whoa!)), it isn't called enrollment. It's checking-in. You'd suppose that THAT wouldn't be too difficult for li'l old me, considering I'd already got a student loan and all. You cannot be more wrong.

THE PROBLEM (very succintly): T.E.R.I., The Higher Education Resource Institute, they who have granted me a loan.... are a bunch of arseholes.

The general REASON for my not being able to update this blog is my loan problem. It's been a couple of weeks of them asking me for this and that, them taking 48 years to process this and that, only to realize they need THOSE, which, in turn take 48 more years to process. I missed two weeks of school because of this, that and those. But thanks to my "bring it right on" attitude, I've weathered that storm quite nicely.

THE BAGEL GUY: who the hell is this guy beside me eating a BAGEL in here!? Eating it grossly in fact. Ahh, musicians. (Having complained about that, I wouldn't be surprised if I found out later on that he's the best drummer in the tri-state area)


IMPRESSIONS

I have a good feeling about my life here in Boston. I haven't quite settled in yet (lease-related issues, catching up with my "academics"), but I feel that I can manage... and that I will enjoy my time immensely. I WISH I had the Eiffel Tower to gaze at whenever I want (DAMN YOU JELINE IN PARIS!), but I do have the music that I definitely signed up for. Mostly, I am happy to meet challenges once again. Out here I'm far from the best. But the exciting fact is that I COULD BE the best someday because of Berklee. And that, for now, is THE PLAN.


LISTENING TO:

Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da (Beatles): not my copy. Listening to the playlist of jerm397. When you're online here, your ITunes playlist is online as well, available for other people to listen to. Neat, huh?