Dustin Geddes—Utah, Accounting, Bass II

Today seemed to be a day of illness. It’s a good thing we were blessed with a few precious hours of free time this morning so people could rest and recuperate. We didn’t have to leave the hotel until 1:00 after over a week of call times before 9 a.m. I for one was grateful.

My goal on this tour has been to stay healthy, and I tell everyone that I refuse to get sick. I am achieving that goal. Jessica Jane Hagemeister enlightened me on a couple reasons why I stay healthy when traveling abroad while everyone around me falls ill: my day-to-day life already involves the constant eating of weird food and minimal sleep, so my body's already used to it. But I think it’s mostly mental. Since I have decided I won’t get sick no matter what, my body is obeying.

Several people were not feeling well and did not participate in our second performance at the nine-story Dragon Centre Mall. Our two twenty minute performances still went well, however. Shoppers got a kick out of us dressed in our Aloha wear, singing and dancing our Polynesian songs. Despite the illnesses, the choir in general seemed to be in good spirits.

After two twenty-minute sets and an hour or so of shopping at the mall, we made our way to the Polytechnic University to prepare for our last major concert of our tour. It was interesting and a bit eerie to see sick choir members sleeping in the aisles and on-stage in the time leading up to the show. The Lord really blessed us because almost everyone who was not feeling well was able to pull it together and perform.

I felt the concert was one of our best. It wasn’t perfect, but it seems like we have ironed out most of the kinks and are singing at a level of professionalism and unity that comes after performing with the same fifty people every day for two weeks. I love singing with the choir and I know I will be very sad when I sing my last notes tomorrow after four years of singing in Concert Choir.