Tuesday, December 2, 2008

My Piano Teacher

Tomorrow, I'm going to visit my former piano teacher. Seventeen years ago, going to her house for my 45 min lesson was more often than not, a chore. Yet I am really looking forward to seeing her tomorrow. In fact, I try to meet up with her each time that I am back in Brisbane.

Back in the 90s, I had my lessons in a room under her house. She has a Queenslander and had a little "room" built underneath for her to give her piano lessons. Let me say that it was a crappy room and I didn't particularly like her piano. Yet, I stuck with her for close to seven years. I finally stopped my lessons when I got my Associate Diploma. At that time, I just didn't want to practice anymore to attempt the Licentiate but am regretting that a little now.

Its a little fuzzy but I do remember liking her as a teacher and feeling that she did have my best interests in everything she planned. I say fuzzy because there were plenty of weeks of me not practicing enough and her getting annoyed. I wonder what she thought of me back then.

We didn't see each other for a few years after I finished. When we did meet up by accident (in a mall) things were so different. While I still had all the respect I had for her as I did when she was my teacher, that same teacher-student relationship was gone. She asked me to call her by her first name and she talked about all sorts of things with me. Like friends!

Now, when I visit, I get to go upstairs, to the main part of her house. She did join a Carmelite Monastery briefly and I have visited her there too. I was looking forward to visiting her there again this year but, she's out.

Although I'm here in Brisbane for months at a time, I usually only meet up with her once. I feel as if I should make more of an effort but its too late this year since we'll be leaving for Cairns soon. But then again, I might feel like we're friends but she might think I'm just being a nuisance. I guess it really doesn't matter as long as she knows that I visit because I care.

3 comments:

Cynthia said...

Have a nice visit:)

Mike said...

Usually it's Bilbo that sends me to the dictionary. And this wasn't even IN the dictionary.

Licentiate - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licentiate

Jean-Luc Picard said...

That will be a very interesting visit. Enjoy it.