madbyrd: W-O-O-S-T-E-R

For several years Zach and I have been making an effort to squeeze in a visit to Wooster with every trip we make back to Ohio. The College of Wooster is where we met, where we made some of our closest friends, where we both decided to pursue music as a career, and where we've shared some of our happiest memories. We want to send our kids to Wooster. (You know those parents that show up at football games wearing "Proud Wooster Parent" sweatshirts? We can only dream!) Heck, after this last visit we were ready to return ourselves!

The highlight of our Wooster trip is always seeing a favorite music professor, J. He was Z's trumpet prof and taught classroom theory to both of us. He was so enthusiastic about teaching that he used to run (almost literally!) into the classroom, carrying a huge armful of scores and recordings, and proceed to play through each of them at the speed of light, spouting off composers and titles as he went. He was such a stickler about details that he insisted we know all studied composers' first and last names (correctly spelled!) as well as birthdates and places. We used to study for hours for his famed drop-the-needle listening exams in which we would need to name not only the piece but also the movement. Many grumbled about the difficulty of his classes, but the pay-offs in our careers have been invaluable. Z has said that his dream was to become J in his own career (a dream which he has fulfilled!) He is truly a special person.

The College campus has undergone some major changes in the ten years since we graduated. Many of the science buildings have been renovated, a new dorm has been built with another on the way, the central part of campus has become tree-lined pedestrian zone. And now the pride of Wooster, Kauke Hall, has just completed its own interior overhaul. The building that was universally known as a deathtrap now has quaint little study corners, virtual classrooms, and a cafe in the basement!

We were lucky in that we also got to spend much of the day in the town of Wooster itself. We ate lunch and dinner (!!) at the best Chinese Restaurant in the world, Sue Min's. We wandered around the beautiful grounds of the Arboretum at the north side of town. At the end of the day we visited Seattle's, the coffee shop downtown where I used to work. Imagine our surprise when we discovered that Seattle's also serves fine Belgian beer! A perfect cap on a perfect day.