Although I was unable to attend the play reading this week, I was able to return to my high school to watch their plays with my sister. Each year 2 grades will pair up with each other and come up with their own original musicals. They will take popular songs and remix them and rewrite them to fit their musical. Before I took Macaulay, I always thought they were talented but after taking the class and learning about art, beauty, and music, I had a new profound respect for the musicals. I realized just how talented everyone in the production was from the actors, to the band, to the tech crew, and stage crew. I was blown away by the production and esp. after this class, I’ve looked at everything with a deeper meaning and learned to appreciate the beauty of art and am getting closer to understand what art really means.

Thursday night’s ballet performance was the first one I’ve ever been to. Out of all the Macaulay events we’ve attended, this one was my favorite. The way they all moved their bodies in ways I didn’t think were possible and the fact that they were all in sync adds to the amazement. For the past 4 years of high school, I was part of the multi-cultural dance performance. The hardest part of the performance wasn’t learning the steps but getting everyone in sync, so the fact that ALL the performers were in perfect motion with each other added to my amazement.
I really loved the first act. The classical ballet dancing at a ball, with a king and queen, and nobles was absolutely breathtaking. The costumes were amazing. Also, whenever the women looked they were standing still, they really weren’t. They were moving their feet and standing on their toe for quite some time.
The second performance was just ok for me. I think it’s amazing that they can tell a story through body movement and no verbal speech, but I didn’t like the story that much.
The third one was interesting because i believe it was more modern. However, I don’t think i enjoyed it as much as i did the first one. The first one was marvelous.
The overall ballet experience was amazing and I would love to attend another one. I believe dance is the best form of art and the ballet proved it for me.

This was my first time to the memorial and I had no idea what to expect. After a lot of walking to find the entrance and security checks I was allowed to walk in. I was blown away by how something so simple had such a powerful effect on me. The two waterfalls were located on the site of the original buildings. I thought that was very cool because it means that the buildings can never be replaced. Walking around both panels, I ran my hand against all the names and couldn’t believe that all these people died here. I always knew that it was a horrible event but I never really grasped the true horror of the day until I visited the memorial. I saw people standing there and crying while touching the name of a loved one…or just being there made them cry. The simplicity of the memorial is what blew me away. Something so simple, yet so powerful.

The sound of the waterfall can be heard any way you turn…like the sound of the people dying can always be heard. I really like the architecture behind the memorial. At first the water is just sitting there, like the people sitting in the plane or in their office. Then, out of no where the water falls in rushing speed like the planes hitting the towers and then it calms down again after the water hits the floor. Like Kwan said before, no matter what angel you looked at the black hole, you can’t see where it goes. It’s almost like you’re not supposed to know where the souls or people go after the destruction happened.

After the 9/11 memorial, the Vietnam memorial wasn’t as great for me. It was more personal than the other one, with personal letters from the soldiers. Personally, I believe it was less of an impact because I wasn’t alive for that, it didn’t happen during my time. I also feel like the 9/11 memorial will be like that for kids in the future generation in like 50-60 years. Of all the Macaulay trips we’ve had, this has been the best.

I was super excited to go to the opera last week. I always imagined the people to be dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry on, which did not fail to disappoint my expectation. I always knew that an opera involved singing, but i never realized that the ENTIRE thing was all singing with no microphones. I was really impressed by the amount of talent and skill and dedication they have to this profession. The set blew me away. It was so detailed and moved and at different angles to make it look like it was moving