So tomorrow - or rather later today, because it is already Wednesday the 4th of January - I am going to drive, bus, and fly, and according to some very reliable sources I will end up in Hong Kong. The choir that I sing in will be touring Asia, singing in Hong Kong, China, the Philippines and Singapore. I have known about this tour for somewhere around a year and a half now, and have been anticipating it as if it would be the highlight of my life thus far. The odd thing is how my perception of what this tour is, and what this tour will mean for me has changed so significantly over the past year and a half.
At first it was this glorious event: this choir was going to be traveling around and performing, and our audiences would be wowed to the point of demanding an encore at every performance. We were going to be superstars. I imagined something to the grandeur of Chanticleer. However, Chanticleer happens to be a professional ensemble, and we are only a collegiate ensemble. Regardless, we were going to be great.
Then my perception shifted, and the tour became about seeing the world. I was going to four different Asian countries! What an extraordinary opportunity. I would see all of the sights, and engage in the culture. I would experience the day time splendor and the night time fiesta of these different countries. Most incredible of all, I would be visiting Manila with THE Joel Navarro: pop star extraordinaire. It was going to be absolutely life changing.
But earlier today (or... yesterday, rather), I was sitting in the lobby of the CFAC next to one of the tenors in my choir, and all of the Capella members (save the ones who we are meeting up with in California) began pouring into the lobby. I was filled immediately with some sort of joy, or jubilance that was life giving. These were people I had missed, and it seemed to me that life was once more returning to my body after a long drought. This is truly going to be something extraordinary.
This tour is going to be a glorious event of performances; this tour is going to be an extraordinary opportunity of world travel; but the thing that makes this tour one of the highlights of my life thus far is that I am doing both of these things with around 40 of my closest friends.
With love and anticipation
-Ben
