Here are some tips for anyone attending SummerKeys for the first time:
• There's no (or little) air-conditioning in Maine.
While 75 degrees sounds great (and it is), realize that even with it 75-degrees out on a sunny day, it can still get hot in a non-airconditioned house. Bring a mix of clothes - shorts and jeans (or whatever you want). Houses only have heat. Some of the Inns probably have air-conditioning, but most homes do not.
SummerKeys is very casual. A few townspeople did dress up for the faculty concert and a few students put on some nicer clothes for the various receptions and socials, but at every event, whatever you had on was acceptable. I wore jeans to the "fancier" events and never felt out of place.
• Bring an alarm clock and a wristwatch
If you depend on your cellphone for the time, bring some old-fashioned timekeeping. Lubec sits right on the border with Canada. It's so close in fact, that your cell phone will constantly be picking up the Canadian telco cell towers (Tellus or Rogers). Those cell towers are on Atlantic time, which is one hour ahead of Eastern time, which is what Lubec is. This can play havoc not only with your mind, but also with trying to be places on time.
For example, on the first day, I set an alarm to get up at 7 am (my class was at 9 am). I woke up about 6:30 and realizing I had another half-hour until my alarm went off, I rolled over and went back to sleep. The next thing I knew, I woke up like I'd been shot, realizing I had overslept. With great fear I reached for my phone, knowing it was going to tell me was 11:30 and I'd missed half of the first day. Luckily, I still had plenty of time to get ready and get to class. It took me a bit, but I finally figured out what happened. What happened was sometime before my alarm was to go off at 7:30, my phone picked up the Canadian cell tower, which changed the time to 8-something. My phone, then thought the time for the alarm had already passed, so it didn't bother ringing it.
The solution I came up with was to figure out how many hours I had to sleep, and then to set a timer for that amount of time, rather than trying to set an alarm. That worked fairly well as long as my math was right.
• Add an international voice, text and data plan to your cell phone
As stated previously, your phone will constantly be picking up the Canadian cell towers. If you make voice calls, send text messages and use the Internet on your phone without signing up for an international plan, you could be looking at a cell phone bill running into the thousands of dollars. Seriously. International roaming is ridiculously expensive. Don't do it.
You can add the international stuff to your phone for just the one month and then cancel it after, or at least you can with AT&T.
If for some reason you don't want to sign up for an international package, make sure to keep data roaming turned off on your phone, and don't send text messages or make calls. Basically your phone will be an expensive wristwatch, which won't even work for that (see above).
You have been warned.
• Eat early
Lubec is a very small town. They roll up the sidewalks around 8 pm. If you want something to eat after 9 pm, you better have some peanut-butter-and-jelly back at your room, because NOTHING will be open.
• A hard case is good
While some people rent cellos and don't have a choice, if you do have a choice, prefer a hard case. It rains in Lubec fairly often, and while many hard cases are not waterproof, they're generally pretty-darn water resistant and you'll be glad you have one on those rainy days.
• Have a strap on as many things as possible and wear comfortable shoes
You'll be doing a good bit of walking in-between sessions at SummerKeys. It's nice for example to be able to take a portable music stand and sling it over the top of your cello on your back rather than trying to carry it.
• Bring your passport
You won't want to miss the opportunity to see some of the sights in Canada. You'll need a passport or passport card (if traveling by land into/out-of Candada).
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