The Grand Views Goes to Europe: From One Tundra To Another

After a blessing from the president Henning and about three and a half hours of travel, we’re in Minnesota! Which is colder and much more snow-covered than Des Moines. Unfortunately.

Currently, I’m eating a Cow Tale, thanks to the boyfriend and if you don’t know what these glorious pieces of sweetness are, please look it up. While I sit in a pew of the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection in Roseville, Minn., the choir is practicing for tonight’s performance in this same sanctuary.

If people weren’t sleeping on the bus ride here, then they were practicing music and writing the lyrics on the palms of their hands. Which is more than I can say for my high school choir days, when I would just fake the words if I hadn’t learned them. So, I’m already impressed with this choir’s dedication.

On the way here, someone told me there was a non-traditional student in the choir who all of the members saw as the “mom” of the choir. So I went to the back of the bus to introduce myself.
Her name is Brenda Roberts, a music education junior and a 42-year-old choir member singing among mostly 18 and 19-year-olds.

“I consider them all my kids,” Roberts said. “They’re all very special to me.”

It seemed like all the members sitting nearby while I was talking to her agreed.

“Everyone goes to her if there are problems,” said Angela Coulson, music freshman and first-year choir member. “She leads sectionals and oversees things.”

“She’s very comforting,” added Phillip Staver, freshman and first-year choir member.

Roberts daughter and a friend will also be joining us on the tour beginning tomorrow.

Speaking of which, by way of an update, here’s how the next several days will go for us:
Tonight—The choir performs at the church here in Minnesota and will stay with host families from the church.

Thursday, March 12—We’re going to the Minneapolis International Airport around 9 a.m. for a noon-ish flight to Atlanta. From there, we’ll depart for our lonnnnng flight to Copenhagen, Denmark. That leads us into the next day.

Friday, March 13—We arrive in Copenhagen sometime around 8 a.m., Denmark time, and jump right into things. Even though they don’t have a performance that night, we’ll be touring several different palaces and castles, as well as the Little Mermaid. That night, we’ll travel to a hotel in Roskilde, Denmark.