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Sarah's Blog zur "Coole Schule"-September-Tour

SEPTEMBER 4, 2009: THE DAY BEFORE

It's 1am in the morning and I still have things to pack. This is the week where I find out that I am really really unorganized! I leave for Switzerland tomorrow and I can't seem to be in the right frame of mind. Am I forgetting something? What should I expect? Will I make it through my looooong flight? All kinds of questions keep popping in my head and are keeping me from the things I need to get done! :-)

I also am in the middle of signing a new contract with a new wonderful producer and manager. Of course there are things that need to be talked about and looked over...so I'll have to do that as well! It's really exciting to have some great people to work with. It's going to be a totally new project, that I  can't wait to move forward with.

I have a 14 hour flight, 63 tour dates, a trip to Paris and more ahead. I'll keep you updated daily....and more if possible. I must finish packing and get some rest...A long day awaits me! I'm going to bed here pretty soon...because If I sleep through my alarm tomorrow....it'll be the start of a real rough day.

XOXO

Sarah

SEPTEMBER 5, 2009: IMPATIENTLY WAITING

I'm getting really anxious to get on my flight to New York! I just want to get this entire tour started, I can't WAIT to see Switzerland.

I went to the doctors yesterday to get medicine for the flights I'll be on. Believe it or not I'm terrified of flying...the more I fly the more scared I get. So hopefully I'll get through the short hour flight to New York and then the 14 hour flight to Switzerland! Ugh!!
I woke up later than I wanted to today and almost missed my hair appt. Why I scheduled a hair appointment on the day I leave is beyond me...haha!! I cause all the extra stress and rushing around (ugh I hate admitting that!) Anyways, driving home I saw the FUNNIEST thing on the side of the road...A guy dresses as Micheal Jackson leaning against the building. I mean he had the whole get up on: Tight pants, red open shirt, single white glove, black fedora (I happened to be wearing on as well...LOL) and the black curly hair to match. This was so funny to me because the day before I went to the post office and as I was walking up he was dancing and moon walking on the road heading to the post office! I quickly went in hoping he wouldn't be there behind me....but sure enough he was. He started some small talk with me...and he even sounded like Micheal Jackson. It was just toooo funny. The thing that I appreciated the most was his confidence and ability to make people smile. I had a rough couple of days but he was there to lighten the mood :-)
 
XOXO
 
Sarah

SEPTEMBER 5, 2009: FINALLY ARRIVED IN SWITZERLAND

I survived the 9 hour flight quite well!! I slept most of the way, and it was a very peaceful flight. When I arrived at the Zurich airport, I had no idea where to go....I picked up my luggage and was sooo confused! I started asking some of the Delta employees but they had no idea what I was saying...one guy smiled, shook his head and walked away! Haha! So I finally started to follow some others that seemed to know what they were doing, and I finally found my tour manager Oliver! He is sooo cool, nice, helpful and accommodating.

Right away Oliver took me into the city and showed me around, we stopped at this wonderful street market that had a HUGE stock pile of vintage clothes and hats!! The currency over in Switzerland is the Swiss Frac, its pretty close to the American dollar, so I don't see it being too confusing! Oliver took some pictures of me in the city and these two Swiss girls came up and got in the photo with me...it was so cute! I like the fact that everyone here is very friendly and helpful, especially since I don't speak the language at all! Oliver will be teaching me some and I'm sure the kids at school will have a fun time trying to get me to speak German too!
I went to Switzerland's biggest shopping mall today and was pretty impressed. It was a very nice sized mall...it had some stores I've never heard of that i cant wait to check out! The greatest part  about the mall was they allowed dogs inside all of the stores (except the grocery part). It's something i wished the states had...I would bring my little Hollywood everywhere! Europe is so dog friendly you can even bring your pet to dine with you at restaurants, how amazing is that?! I got to meet Oliver's puppy, DIVA! Diva and Hollywood :-)

Tomorrow we have rehearsal for most of the day, we have a lot to get prepared for. I can't believe my tour starts on Monday, I already had kids from the Swiss schools writing to me on how excited they are to see me. I'm also in a Swiss magazine and have a awesome write up too! (too bad I can't read German!!)

I almost forgot to mention how amazing the chocolate is....it is seriously the BEST thing ive ever tasted. The chocolate looks like little hamburgers too!

I'm a little jet lagged so I must get to bed...busy day tomorrow :-)
XOXO

Sarah

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009: GETTING READY!!!

It's 4:30am on a early Monday morning, and I'm getting ready for my first day of tour! Today we have 5 different stops! Whew! It's going to be a very tiring day, but I am so ready for it!!

Yesterday we had two rehearsals that went very well, they have a amazing sound system that I love using. Oliver (my tour manager) was preparing me for stuff that I might be asked during each interview. I was shocked to find out how young kids are interested in sex. In all the teen magazines they have naked boys/girls that talk open about sex, and teach kids about it. It's very different in the states but it's everyday life here. Oliver told me to not be offended if the kids ask me personal questions like “when was your first time”....etc. I was thinking about it last night and I came to the conclusion I would answer the questions because it is what they are interested in and very normal for them too. I also might not be able to answer because it might catch me off guard!! I guess I'll have to be ready for anything ;-)

I also got to visit the biggest waterfall in Europe and a small Swiss Village, both were very beautiful and relaxing. The cafe's where we eat dinner are almost always outside. They have inside dining too but most of the time everyone eats outside. I love it because it's so different from what I am use to. Thank goodness every cafe I've been to so far has a English menu....I wouldn't know what to do if they only had it in German!

So far I can say “Hello I am Sarah” in German! Hopefully the kids will teach me some easy words today :-)


XOXO

Sarah

SEPTEMBER 7: FIRST PERFORMANCE!

Wow! I have to say the first school performance was amazing! All of the kids were great...and they had a lot of questions to ask! They laughed when I tried to speak German...as mi not very good yet. Some of the questions were: Do I have a boyfriend? Do I live in a BIG house? What other famous people have i met? Do I smoke/drink? What is my favorite food?

They also asked me who my favorite singer was...I told them "At the moment it is Lady Gaga!"
They then asked if I would sing a Lady Gaga song...I then proceeded with Paparazzi. I took pictures with my digital camera while I sang to them.

Thank you so much to Kreisschule Untreses Fricktal oberstute Keiseraugsl for having me visit and for being sooo fabulous! :-)

Wish me luck!

Now im on my way to another school....I have four more schools to visit today! The tour is a lot of work.....but sooo worth it.

XOXO

Sarah

SEPTEMBER 7: GOOD NITE!

About to head to bed, tomorrow I have another long day of performances. 

 Today was just amazing. I'm lying here thinking about each school and how wonderful they are. Very smart, brave, and so willing to learn. Some of the students have just been learning English for three weeks, and they made sure they knew what questions they wanted to ask. 

 The kids and I easily broke the ice, they were a little shy a first but warmed up very quickly. At a few of the schools some girls sang for me! It was such a wonderful surprise for me. A very special moment was a girl, Celine, had prepared a song to sing for me. Celine sang "I will always love you" by Whitney Houston. Celine was so overwhelmed with emotions that she cried during half of the performance. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed. Here is a girl with many hopes and dreams, singing a song for me in English. 

 I also had a girl Lucy sing a duet with me. She was very brave, and had a wonderful voice!! I also had a group of girls sing Mama Mia!! They wanted me to sing it but...I didn't know the lyrics :-(

 I almost got knocked down a few times with the kids all rushing to get towards me, Oliver kept asking if I was okay...I was totally cool with it because I knew how exciting this experience was for them. (and for me!)

Some kids even climbed outside the windows just to say goodbye. The attitudes of the children were very uplifting to me.  I noticed that at all the schools everybody likes everybody,there doesn't seem to be many cliques. The children are also very encouraging to their peers. When the girls got up and sang all of the students were applauding and "proud".

I must head to bed! Another busy day awaits me tomorrow :-)

Sarah

XOXO

P.S. One funny question I was asked to sing was "F*** You" by Lily Allen. I was taken aback because she said it loud and clear as if there wasn't a thing wrong with it! Something thats very different from the states!
 :-)
I sang a lot of Lady Gaga for them instead ;-)

SEPTEMBER 17: SORRY FOR THE DELAY

Sorry for the delay in posts this week! I've been so busy with the tour that I haven't had a moment to sit down and write...(This is why I'm writing this post in the car on the way to the next gig) I can honestly say this is the most tiring fun I've ever had! Its a lot of hard work on your body physically and emotionally, It's really draining! It's completely worth it because I know that each and every kid truly appreciates and enjoys the performances (and they are learning too, which is always a great thing!)

The questions they have been asking me are really great! Some of the questions really make me think too, there has only been one question I didn't understand so far. A girl asked me at one of the schools if I ever “did it” with any other singers. I prepared myself for this questions at the beginning of the tour because my tour manager Oliver said the kids might be asking these type of questions. So without thinking about her question I responded with “No, but if Johnny Depp ever came along....Just Kidding hahahaha.” The entire room had odd looks on their faces and didn't quite know what I was talking about. I just shrugged it off and moved onto the next question. Later in the car Oliver asked me if I had a misunderstanding of the question....”I said no...they had the problems understanding my answer.” Here the REAL question was if I ever “Duet” with another singer! Hahahaha!!!

This week has also been odd signature requests! I singed countless cell phones, cameras, bags, clothes, and even abs! Haha, that one was a little odd but I did it! The parents of these kids are going to KILL me! I know if my kid came home with signatures all over their body, clothes, and electronics...they would be dead! ;-)

Must head into my next performance!

XOXO

Sarah

SEPTEMBER 22: PAOLA WROTE ...

Heey Sarah! I have seen your page and everything about you..You're really a very very good singer!I like your voice..everything about you =) I am from Switzerland!=) I I'm so excited that you will come to my school!On Thursday 9/24/2009 =) I can't wait anymore! I wish you a very good expirience here! You will see all your FANS!=)

Love & Kisses. Paola Garcia

SEPTEMBER 26: ONE AMAZING WEEK

Sorry for not keeping you updated! So many amazing things happened this week that I didn't want to jinx anything! Everything happened so head over heels and unexpectedly! A few days ago I was given three songs I absolutely loved, they are very edgy rock but still mainstream pop! A few days later I went into the studio just to record some simple demos, they turned out flipping amazing. I worked with the most amazing producer I have ever worked with...and we have a killer product for just 4 hours of recording! (These demos are going to be used to show as examples...nothing finalized) I am so proud and finally feel as if I am 100% going into the right direction. I also had a photoshoot for promo, LOVE the turnout as well!. I've never been so happy with everything so quickly....and It's all thanks to Oliver.

This is just the start of something amazing, but this is MY year.

SEPTEMBER 27: BACK HOME

I'm back in Pittsburgh safely, but I want to thank everyone soooo much for everything they had done for me these past three weeks. I the chance to meet and work with some amazing and talented people. I will be back in Switzerland in a few months, and I can't wait.

This post is ALL about the kids from Coole Schule 2009! I want to thank each and everyone one of you who asked so many great questions! It made me feel so good to answer all of your questions and being able to bring a SMILE on each of your faces. I am so thankful to have you guys as new fans. I can't wait to come back and give you an even better show next time! You guys rock!

I love you Switzerland!

OKTOBER 17: THANK YOU!

Hey everyone! It's been about a month since the English Coole Schule Tour and I wanted to personally Thank each and every one of you. I was so nervous coming alone to Switzerland by myself, especially since it was my first time in Europe! The entire experience was very unforgettable and life changing. I felt so connected to everyone in the audience, the questions that were asked we're great! I know everyone put a lot of time and effort into them, and to me that meant that you were truly interested in learning about me and the English language! I enjoyed making everyone laugh and seeing a smile on all of your faces, thats what makes this whole process worth it. The tour was a lot of work, but it was so easy to do because everyone was so excited to have me there and that made me work even harder. I wanted to give you a show that you guys would never forget and I also wanted to be make friends with my new fans. :-) Also thank you sooo much for all of the wonderful gifts! I'm still eating the chocolate that all of you gave me, I had to bring it home in a big suitcase!

Thank you so much for having me come to your school and perform, it was quite a pleasure. The memories of the tour are some of the best I ever had, so thank you again! I would love to keep in contact with you guys as much as possible on MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. I'll be back in Switzerland in January so I'll keep you posted on the details. I miss everyone.....and I send you all hugs and kisses from the USA!!!!!

XOXO

Sarah