Enough with info sessions and paperwork, let’s play some
music! I think that’s what a lot of us are feeling, including me. At least I
have now officially registered, and the bright shiny “Fall 2013” sticker is
prominently displayed on my badge.
My courses are the following:
Introduction to Western Civilization (commonly known as
Western Civ, or just Civ)
Music theory
Studio
Orchestra
Baroque ensemble (I will get a baroque violin on loan!!)
Baroque violin (this class is taught by none other than
Elizabeth Blumenstock, concertmaster of SF’s Philharmonia Baroque)
These are all pretty obvious courses except Civ, which is a
general education course on history, art and literature. It’s required for all
freshmen, in the interests of turning us into well-rounded musicians. I am not
sure exactly what the coursework will involve, but I look forward to learning
something about culture that does not, for once, have anything to do with
music.
Getting to know the other kids at GGH is, for the most part, enjoyable. I especially like cooking in the communal kitchen on the top floor. Late in the evening it's always busy, loud and cheerful up there, and very easy to integrate oneself into the social atmosphere. On Friday night we happened to be a crowd of all international students (five or six from China, two from Korea and me) and we had a wonderful lively time trying to teach each other our respective languages (I instructed the Asians in the proper usage of "eh"). Chinese and Korean are, surprisingly, quite different.
Group trip to Buena Vista Park this afternoon, where I found my 8th SF geocache. :D
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| Yes, I'm sure those flowers are growing naturally on that log.... |
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| SAN FRAN!!! |
I have missed the greenspace in Calgary, so this was refreshing. We also walked through Haight-Ashbury, the original hippie neighbourhood. Still a pretty strong subculture there.
Have a good Long Weekend, everybody.
- Antisocial Violinist
Hey Sarah!
ReplyDeleteI had a long comment typed out, but the website deleted it when I tried to post as myself, so I'm posting from my Gmail account (don't ask about the username; it's a very long story involving Hunger Games FanFiction...) Anyway, I'm really glad to hear San Francisco is working out so well for you! Nice to hear that you're getting along well with the other students and making friends. :) Like I said on the e-mail, those classes look really cool, particularly Western Civ (my History of Europe class might be similar). Cooking in the communal kitchen sounds like a lot of fun - what have you made? (I attempted to make broccoli cheddar soup the other day, but it didn't go too well). Interacting with all those students from different cultures must be very interesting - I had a similar experience on board the cruise ship. I laughed at the whole 'eh' thing - some American guy teased me (good-naturedly) about that in Germany! That geocache looks lovely; it's nice to have a hobby that is so international so you can do it wherever you go. The panoramic view is very nice too. After Europe, where there were lush forests everywhere, it seems surprising to me that you'd think of Calgary as having a lot greenspace, but I guess it does compared to the typical North American city. Glad you're having fun!
Holly
I just realized that the way I wrote the post it seems like that log was the geocache. It wasn't though; I just thought the flowers were pretty. Maybe I should start posting pics of the caches I find.
DeleteAH!!!! Baroque violin!! THAT SOUNDS LIKE A DREAM! Well, you have your Baroque bow and thus it shan't be too expensive, (hopefully) my dear amicus! Geocaching again, eh? Well, it is quite fun! I bet you were ensurient for ye olde game! Ooh! Have fun!!!
ReplyDelete-Cynthia