Soccer, Music, and Movie

(This picture was from the last game of the last season. It was extremely wet and cold. He played really hard and was exhausted after the game because the coach never pulled him out (that was always the case for the last season). He got injured a little, and was actually in pain when I took this.)

Soccer practice started this week. Apparently, one kid from the White team dropped, and Marcus was next in line. So, he is on the White team now. We're so glad that he's on this team because we can tell that the expectations and the level of training they receive are much higher, and this will help Marcus to be a better player. His coach is from Bosnia, and he's very energetic and funny. We really like him.

サッカーの練習が早速先週から始まりました。練習は火曜日と木曜日ですが、土曜日は赤チームとの練習試合がありました。ところで、マーカスは青チームから白チームに昇格。それは、白チームの選手の１人が辞退したからなのですけれどね。ラッキー！
そして練習が始まってみると、やはり白チームだと練習のレベルが違う！マーカスも（そして主人も）すごく張り切っています。コーチはボスニア出身の元プロサッカー選手。エネルギーにあふれた、そしてちょっとユーモアのあるコーチです。英語の鈍りがきついので、言ってる事がよくわからなかったりしますが、サッカーに対する熱意が伝わってきます。

They had a practice on Tuesday and Thursday, and this morning (Saturday). This morning practice was a scrimmage against the Red team. We lost like 9-1, but it was not too bad for the first scrimmage as a team. Sounds like the Red team has 9 kids from the last year, so they are more used to playing with each other.

練習試合はボロ負け。でも初めてにしては上出来かも。赤チームは昨年から同じチームの選手が９人もいるという事で、チームワークが確立されていました。白チームはあちらこちらから集まっているから、お互いに慣れる事が第1の課題かな？

Of course, now that Marcus is very excited about soccer, his interest towards playing the violin seems to be decreased. He still practices about 90 minutes a day, but doesn't seem to be improving as much. The pieces he's practicing are for the recital on August 6th. Both pieces are not very easy ones, so I hope he'll get better soon. His violin teacher is moving in the middle of August, so this is going to be the last recital with this teacher. His teacher has been very good with Marcus, so we'll see how he will do with his new teacher. We have several options for the new teacher, but haven't made a final decision yet. Our options: a violinist from the Utah Symphony, a professor from Brigham Young University, and a teacher from the Gifted Music School. Marcus likes the professor from BYU, so we probably will choose him, but we'll meet the directer of the Gifted Music School in two weeks, so we'll make a decision after the meeting.

サッカーに夢中の今、マーカスのバイオリンに対する興味がやや下降気味です。毎日1時間半は練習してはいるのですが、進歩が何となく遅いです。今練習している曲は８月のリサイタル用の２曲。２曲とも、彼に取っては簡単な曲ではないので、なんとか頑張ってほしいものです。しかもバイオリンの先生が８月半ばで引っ越してしまうので、これがこの先生との最後のリサイタルとなります。それなら尚更頑張らなくちゃですよね。

Speaking of music, we were notified that Rio was accepted into the Utah Youth Philharmonic for the 2011-2012 season. Way to go, Rio! The Utah Youth Philharmonic is a part of the Utah Youth Symphony, and the Utah Youth Symphony is the best symphony for the gifted high school musicians in Utah. Some of their alumni were accepted to well-known music schools such as the Curtis Institute of Music,  the Colburn School Conservatory of Music, and The Juilliard. The famous violinist Jenny Oaks Baker was in the Utah Youth Symphony.

音楽といえば、リオはユタ・ユース・シンフォニーの一部である、ユタ・ユース・フィルハーモニックに合格しました。ユタ・ユース・シンフォニーは、才能のあるユタの高校生ミュージシャンが集まったシンフォニー。このシンフォニー出身は、プロのバイオリニストになったり、有名な音楽学校（カーティス音楽学校、コルバーン、ジュリアードなど）に進学したりしています。

However, she decided not to join. We told her that she would need to make a serious commitment if she was going to accept this offer, and she thought that she doesn't feel the proper dedication needed in order to participate. That is really too bad, but if that's how she feels, I don't think she should accept it. She will probably continue to be involved with her school district symphony, and enjoy playing the flute, but she's not going to major in music in college. She wants to study Psychology at Harvard Medical School. That's a decent goal, and I hope she'll be able to accomplish that.

ところが合格したものの、リオは辞退する事を決意。もしこのフィルハーモニックに参加するのなら真剣に取り組まないといけないのでは、と話し合いしたところ、彼女はそこまで熱意がないから辞退する方がいいと判断したようです。とっても残念ですが、本人に思い入れがないのなら仕方がないですよね。彼女はこれからもフルートは続けて行くつもりでそうですが、音楽を大学で専攻する気は全くないそうです。心理学に興味があるので、将来的にはハーバードで心理学を学びたいとか。そのゴールに向かって頑張ってほしいものです。

Since we are so involved with Marcus's soccer nowadays, I decided to have a mom and daughter date, and we went to see this movie. It was super violent, and there is no way I would take Marcus to see it, but it was a good movie. I wish there weren't any bad language, though.
The next movie we're going to go to see together will be Harry Potter in July. She is really excited about it. I was willing to go to see the midnight showing with her, but the tickets were already sold out. This movie is going to be a huge hit!