As September comes to a close, I find myself for some reason struggling to begin this blog. Maybe it's because I have nothing to say? That can't be it. I may be reticent, but that's not the smae thing. Anyways my voice has always shone through more in writing, you all know that as well as the next bloke. (Yes, British English has engulfed me, next thing you know I'll be saying chips and biscuits in lieu of fries and cookies and getting excited about rugby, of which, incidentally, I confess an embarrassing ignorance. Could it be due to the very mild but still present hangover that awaited me after a wild and crazy night for a wild and crazy man who can't be tamed? (You had to be there, that's all I can say with regards to last night's goings-on, lol). Anyway, whatever the reason, I'm having some trouble thinking of a theme for this blog, so I'm going to just save myself the trouble and not write one.
Some of you may be wondering why I changed my name on Facebook to Ivan Durak. Some of you may disapprove, some of you might appreciate the reference, but I suspect most of you are confused. "Why the hell would he change his name? What's wrong with Jon? Has he become a communist????" Don't worry, for some of you gloomy gussies who don't approve, I'm "changing" my name back to Jon. I just thought that because Ivan Durak or Ivan the Fool is a reoccuring character, kind of a simpleton, treated as such by his brothers, but very kind and a recipient of mystical gifts/powers to help him with the tasks he is asked to perform and ends up marrying a princess at the end, and that because I'm writing my thesis on fairy tales, it might be fun to experiment a bit, joke around on facebook. But I myself have already gotten bored with the idea. Maybe I'll return to it later on, but for now I'll stick to Jonathan. which means "gift from God." Who can argue with that, after all?! (A verbal lashing awaits them who try, muahahaha) Certainly beats being Benjamin...this, of course, is another story for another time.
Choir, I can foresee, is going to get progressively more amusing with each rehearsal. Here's why:
You have all the parts not to make more papers in your hands or to make it look more important!
Save the men...don't breathe!
Please, control!
As you can see, I've revived a long-favored tradition of writing down popular quotes. That's all I can remember now, as I don't have my music with me at the moment, but rest assured more will come. Spaciba, Sergei! :)
Not much else going on at the moment. Sydney, our MPC choir director (with a BRILLIANT voice) is leaving this week, so all my best for him as he begins his new post in the U.S. This means that you know who will, surprise surprise be holding his own as understatedly awesome tenor. 0:) Gotta prepare an oral report on Bach's Goldberg Variations for Thursday and write a referat for Monday (booo). Definitely enjoy singing in the three (or several dozen, as some would have you believe, they who are exaggeration prone) choirs, all of which, funny enough meet at St. Andrew's, which really has become my home away from home here in Moscow.
Lots of time for merry music-making + crazy evenings with friends = one hell of a good September. Here's to more of the same, and the hope that in the very short future a very special friend will come to Moscow...yes, ever the optimist, have always been and always will be, no matter what. I've recently discovered that it does no good to mope and hold grudges, it's always better to forgive, to remember the good times and to move on. Tomorrow is a new day, a clean slate. Tomorrow is also a day for singing and praising the Lord. Hallelujah! With that said, I shall take my leave and quit this cafe forthwith.
Thanks to everyone for reading the blog. Keep posting your thoughts, memories of good times we've shared and will share, and ideas for future blogs. Love you and miss you all!!! Looking forward to a few weeks of relaxtion and adventures back in the homeland this winter, but for now, just keep swimming! Duuuuude.
Cheers,
Jon :)
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Mainstreaming it up...
A pleasant day to you all! Hope life finds you all in great health and spirits this fine Saturday afternoon (or morning for most of you)!
Thursday was the busiest day I've had since I've arrived and taken care of organizational issues related to registering my passport/changing my visa. In the morning I had Stylistics and learned how to basically take a complicated text and summarize it in the form of a tezisny plan. After class I had a bit of a break and then sat down for my long-awaited mainstream class, ictoria muzikal'ny kul'tury Evropy, or to put it simply, Music History. It will be a difficult class in the sense that I'll need to pay particular attention to the professor, and even then I should accept that I won't understand everything, assuming she'll be speaking at a typical pace for a Russian native speaker, in other words, ridiculously fast. The good news is I'm already familiar with most of the music we'll be covering in the course, thanks to the camaraderie and long-suffering students of History of Western Music who had to endure a year of stress prepping for listening exams and writing down the dates to basically every single composer who ever existed, lol. The sad news (from my point of view) is that here we started with the rise of opera in the 17th century, thus skipping out on the medieval period (which on the whole I"m not in the least bit sorry about), and the Renaissance as well...including Josquin and Italian and English madrigals...clearly an epic fail. :((( Oh well, we did listen to Dido's "When I am laid down" aria so that was cool, though it would have been cooler to listen to the chorus after.
After class, which ended early, I got ready for the special elective course I signed up for, devoted exclusively to Russian fairy tales (skazki), which not only excites me for the very reason that I'm writing my MA thesis about them (primarily, if not exclusively from a pedagogical point of view), as well as for the fact that I can directly use the text that was given to us as one of my secondary source materials, but for the sheer fact that we get to read fairy tales, learn about Russian traditions and mentality, and naturally, watch representations of fairy tales on screen, from some of Russia's most talented animators and directors. Both of these classes meet one after the other on Thursdays, and that combined with my morning class in Stylistics makes for a very hectic, but informative and all around enjoyable day.
Monday begins our history class, which means that finally my schedule will fall into place. I should mention that each class in Russia is one para in length, or 90 minutes (two 45 minute segments) Two classes on Monday (10:30 and 2:00), one on Tuesdays at 10:30 but I haz choir Tuesday evenings from 7:00-9:30, and Thursdays I have class at 10:00, and then from 2:00-5:15, with a short break after Music History). The upside is that Wednesdays and Fridays I don't have class, but I'm sure I'll be using wednesdays for meetings/reading/research. The downside is I'll have to do homework for the weekend on Fridays and Saturdays since I"m in church all day on Sundays and don't want to do homework after a full but awesome day of singing and praising God. Looking forward to the history class, and hoping that it doesn't require a tremendous amount of reading and writing. The music history class doesn't seem to require a lot of work, except for presentations when the class begins to be conducted as a seminar (a lot of Russian classes are conducted as lectures, as seminars, or lecture/seminars), and an oral final, which I'm already terrified about. That being said, I'm going take time for myself, enjoy choir and church, keep up the blog and hopefully talk to friends and family. I seem to have a very long break, so I will almost certainly be coming home (the second semester doesn't start until February), but exams run into January, so I"m hoping that I can take my final early. Even if I can't make it home for Christmas, I will definitely plan on being home for a few weeks, but I won't know more until well into the semester, so stay tuned for upcoming information about that. Meanwhile, I think a nice hot meal, shower and warm bed all await me (I'm feeling rather tired today, so it looks like I'll be having an early night, especially as I need to be up early for church). Talk soon moi druz'ya!!!! Love you guys! Peace out!
Thursday was the busiest day I've had since I've arrived and taken care of organizational issues related to registering my passport/changing my visa. In the morning I had Stylistics and learned how to basically take a complicated text and summarize it in the form of a tezisny plan. After class I had a bit of a break and then sat down for my long-awaited mainstream class, ictoria muzikal'ny kul'tury Evropy, or to put it simply, Music History. It will be a difficult class in the sense that I'll need to pay particular attention to the professor, and even then I should accept that I won't understand everything, assuming she'll be speaking at a typical pace for a Russian native speaker, in other words, ridiculously fast. The good news is I'm already familiar with most of the music we'll be covering in the course, thanks to the camaraderie and long-suffering students of History of Western Music who had to endure a year of stress prepping for listening exams and writing down the dates to basically every single composer who ever existed, lol. The sad news (from my point of view) is that here we started with the rise of opera in the 17th century, thus skipping out on the medieval period (which on the whole I"m not in the least bit sorry about), and the Renaissance as well...including Josquin and Italian and English madrigals...clearly an epic fail. :((( Oh well, we did listen to Dido's "When I am laid down" aria so that was cool, though it would have been cooler to listen to the chorus after.
After class, which ended early, I got ready for the special elective course I signed up for, devoted exclusively to Russian fairy tales (skazki), which not only excites me for the very reason that I'm writing my MA thesis about them (primarily, if not exclusively from a pedagogical point of view), as well as for the fact that I can directly use the text that was given to us as one of my secondary source materials, but for the sheer fact that we get to read fairy tales, learn about Russian traditions and mentality, and naturally, watch representations of fairy tales on screen, from some of Russia's most talented animators and directors. Both of these classes meet one after the other on Thursdays, and that combined with my morning class in Stylistics makes for a very hectic, but informative and all around enjoyable day.
Monday begins our history class, which means that finally my schedule will fall into place. I should mention that each class in Russia is one para in length, or 90 minutes (two 45 minute segments) Two classes on Monday (10:30 and 2:00), one on Tuesdays at 10:30 but I haz choir Tuesday evenings from 7:00-9:30, and Thursdays I have class at 10:00, and then from 2:00-5:15, with a short break after Music History). The upside is that Wednesdays and Fridays I don't have class, but I'm sure I'll be using wednesdays for meetings/reading/research. The downside is I'll have to do homework for the weekend on Fridays and Saturdays since I"m in church all day on Sundays and don't want to do homework after a full but awesome day of singing and praising God. Looking forward to the history class, and hoping that it doesn't require a tremendous amount of reading and writing. The music history class doesn't seem to require a lot of work, except for presentations when the class begins to be conducted as a seminar (a lot of Russian classes are conducted as lectures, as seminars, or lecture/seminars), and an oral final, which I'm already terrified about. That being said, I'm going take time for myself, enjoy choir and church, keep up the blog and hopefully talk to friends and family. I seem to have a very long break, so I will almost certainly be coming home (the second semester doesn't start until February), but exams run into January, so I"m hoping that I can take my final early. Even if I can't make it home for Christmas, I will definitely plan on being home for a few weeks, but I won't know more until well into the semester, so stay tuned for upcoming information about that. Meanwhile, I think a nice hot meal, shower and warm bed all await me (I'm feeling rather tired today, so it looks like I'll be having an early night, especially as I need to be up early for church). Talk soon moi druz'ya!!!! Love you guys! Peace out!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
choir + fairy tales = happy Jon :)
Hey guys! Well, I must still be in stage one of culture shock, as I haven't yet been completely frustrated by Russian life yet. Granted I've only been here a couple of weeks, but having already lived in Moscow for seven months, I'm already pretty used to the hectic pace of life in a huge metropolis.
Latest news on the homefront: I've been recruited to join the Moscow International Choir, rehearsals for which began last night. Our conductor's name is Sergei, and well, let's just say, he's...enthusiastic. I always enjoy working with conductors who are passionate but also encouraging of all choristers. Once again, tenors are famously underrepresented, and two of whom are female. That brings our staggering section up to 5. Then again, being quite accustomed to frequently singing tenor alone, 5 seems like 50. Anyways, we're singing Vivaldi's Magnificat, which is beautiful, but of course quite difficult (thank you, Baroque composers, for writing spectacular but super complex vocal music), you know, being VIVALDI. I am quite excited, despite the ridiculous amount of tritones (DIABOLUS IN MUSICA!!!!! Music majors will get this reference, lol). We're also doing Christmas music, and I hear talk of excerpts from the Messiah as well, even though it would make more sense to sing it at Easter, despite its being performed at Christmas more and more often. Rehearsals are every Tuesday evening at the church, at which I also sing twice every Sunday. Apparently I'm also going to be singing at Catholic and Orthodox churches throughout the city (NB: this is NOT true, people like to exaggerate, even though it would be cool to sing with a Catholic church again...:))
That's the major news I have to report. On the academic front, I met with my research advisor on Monday to discuss my thesis ideas, and while he encouraged me to broaden the scope of the paper and focus more on how fairy tales portray Russian culture, I am determined to stick to a pedagogical approach. The thesis only needs to be about 25-40 pages, so I am sure I can cover that in a paper, possibly touching on culture, but obviously focusing more on grammar/teaching. I found some useful textbooks on teaching Russian as a foreign language and using fairy tales in the classroom, so they will make interesting and highly useful secondary materials. ONe thing I will need to determine is what kinds of fairly tales to use: folk tales or fairy tales as literature (Chukovsky, Barto, etc..)Tomorrow I'm going to be listening to a spetkurs (special course) on fairy tales, which will have a great influence on my research, plus reading fairy tales are just plain fun. :)
Less fun is trying to find a mainstream course but I'm going to try again tomorrow afternoon. After stylistics in the morning, there should be a lecture on Eurpoean musical culture (basically Music History, only in Russian, of course). Hopefully it won't be cancelled again. I also found out that my Russian history class starts next week, first class Monday morning at 10:30. The earliest class I have is at 10 on Thursdays, my other classes (apart from history) meet in the afternoon. I also don't have class on Fridays. :))) Pretty good life, you may think, just wait until rehearsals and research take up all my valuable As Time Goes By time (I've been obsessed with watching that series) of late. For fans of British comedy I highly recommend it, starring the legendary Dame Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer.
That should be all for this week. I got home late from rehearsal last night, having went out to dinner with some friends from choir, so an early night is in order this evening, all the more so because I have to leave my flat at 9 to make it to the university in time for Stylistics. Woot. Peace out, everyone! ;) Drop me a line sometime!!!
Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to write down quotes from rehearsal last night, but I foresee many great Sergei quotes, lol. So I will close with my all-time favorite...
"You're taking the train to Russia?" Now four years old, but still as fresh now as it was when I first read that IM...:)))
Latest news on the homefront: I've been recruited to join the Moscow International Choir, rehearsals for which began last night. Our conductor's name is Sergei, and well, let's just say, he's...enthusiastic. I always enjoy working with conductors who are passionate but also encouraging of all choristers. Once again, tenors are famously underrepresented, and two of whom are female. That brings our staggering section up to 5. Then again, being quite accustomed to frequently singing tenor alone, 5 seems like 50. Anyways, we're singing Vivaldi's Magnificat, which is beautiful, but of course quite difficult (thank you, Baroque composers, for writing spectacular but super complex vocal music), you know, being VIVALDI. I am quite excited, despite the ridiculous amount of tritones (DIABOLUS IN MUSICA!!!!! Music majors will get this reference, lol). We're also doing Christmas music, and I hear talk of excerpts from the Messiah as well, even though it would make more sense to sing it at Easter, despite its being performed at Christmas more and more often. Rehearsals are every Tuesday evening at the church, at which I also sing twice every Sunday. Apparently I'm also going to be singing at Catholic and Orthodox churches throughout the city (NB: this is NOT true, people like to exaggerate, even though it would be cool to sing with a Catholic church again...:))
That's the major news I have to report. On the academic front, I met with my research advisor on Monday to discuss my thesis ideas, and while he encouraged me to broaden the scope of the paper and focus more on how fairy tales portray Russian culture, I am determined to stick to a pedagogical approach. The thesis only needs to be about 25-40 pages, so I am sure I can cover that in a paper, possibly touching on culture, but obviously focusing more on grammar/teaching. I found some useful textbooks on teaching Russian as a foreign language and using fairy tales in the classroom, so they will make interesting and highly useful secondary materials. ONe thing I will need to determine is what kinds of fairly tales to use: folk tales or fairy tales as literature (Chukovsky, Barto, etc..)Tomorrow I'm going to be listening to a spetkurs (special course) on fairy tales, which will have a great influence on my research, plus reading fairy tales are just plain fun. :)
Less fun is trying to find a mainstream course but I'm going to try again tomorrow afternoon. After stylistics in the morning, there should be a lecture on Eurpoean musical culture (basically Music History, only in Russian, of course). Hopefully it won't be cancelled again. I also found out that my Russian history class starts next week, first class Monday morning at 10:30. The earliest class I have is at 10 on Thursdays, my other classes (apart from history) meet in the afternoon. I also don't have class on Fridays. :))) Pretty good life, you may think, just wait until rehearsals and research take up all my valuable As Time Goes By time (I've been obsessed with watching that series) of late. For fans of British comedy I highly recommend it, starring the legendary Dame Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer.
That should be all for this week. I got home late from rehearsal last night, having went out to dinner with some friends from choir, so an early night is in order this evening, all the more so because I have to leave my flat at 9 to make it to the university in time for Stylistics. Woot. Peace out, everyone! ;) Drop me a line sometime!!!
Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to write down quotes from rehearsal last night, but I foresee many great Sergei quotes, lol. So I will close with my all-time favorite...
"You're taking the train to Russia?" Now four years old, but still as fresh now as it was when I first read that IM...:)))
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Arrival and first weekend
Привет, весёлый народ! Greetings from the Motherland! I have arrived in Moscow safe, sound, and ready to begin my academic year abroad at the Russian State School for the Humanities, or RGGU for short (Russians have a ridiculous love affair with abbreviations.). I flew into Moscow after a smooth flight from Boston to London, during which I FINALLY saw, and thoroughly enjoyed, the Dark Knight as well as a film I watched during my freshman year and on which I wrote several drafts of a paper, From Here to Eternity (which I strongly recommend) on Thursday afternoon, and made it to the hotel where I met with the other Middlebury students for orientation. Friday I traveled to my host family. I am living near the University metro station on the red line. The university is in the center of the city, conveniently right on Chayanova street, right next to the central office of Language Link where I worked the last time I was in moscow. My host mom is very nice; her name is Ludmila Alexeevna Grachova, but I call her Luda for short. She has a dog named Platon, but he is perfectly tame. I think he might be one of two dogs that I've met for whom I don't hold an irrational hatred. She showed me how to get to the metro and, naturally, is quite a good cook. I think we will get along well. She has a son about my age, but I haven't met him yet.
Tomorrow morning I will have testing and my passport registered, and then Tuesday classes start. I am taking Stylistics and History with Liza, the other grad student, but then we have to register for one mainstream class this semester, which we take with other Russian students. It's kind of a hassle to track down a class I want to take and get the professor to sign a form allowing me to take the class and have it count for a grade. Some possible classes I'm interested include History of Russian musical cuture and a master class on singing.
Speaking of singing, I returned to church this morning and afternoon to sing at the 11 and 3 o'clock services. Sydney, the director of the afternoon service was particularly glad to see me and complimented me on my voice, saying that I added professionalism to our humble choir. Spasibo, Sydney! :) I was also recruited to join the Moscow International Choir, which meets at St. Andrew's, the church I attend twice every Sunday. (Note the constant use of clauses beginning with which, I am clearly thinking in Russian while writing in English, lol. Russian speakers should understand this grammatical reference, to everybody else I apologize for this compl;etely random digretion.) This time, I won't be working in the evenings so I should be able to sing. The choir meets Tuesday evenings from 7-9:30, and as far as I know I won't have any evening classes on Tuesdays. But I won't know my schedule until tomorrow, at least for my Middlebury classes. The mainstream class I won't know for a while, but I have plenty of time to decide, which is nice.
So with classes and choir starting this week, I have a lot to look forward to. I should be able to make new friends as well as reconnect with old friends I made. I'm going to see my old housemate this week, and sometime soon I need to take a trip to Dolgoprudny to see John and the crew at the Link. For now, just keep swimming. Have a great academic year for those in school. Mom and Dad, have a FANTASTIC time in China! I want to see lots of pics! For my part I'll post lots of pics of my new flat! :) Love you guys! Keep writing and I'll talk to you soon!
"Never give up. Never surrender." The immortal words of Jason Nesbit from Galaxy Quest
Не имей сто рублей, а сто друзей. Русская пословица (Better to have a hundred friends than a hundred rubles. Russian proverb)
"Remember all the love we shared today." (Josh Groban, "Awake")
Tomorrow morning I will have testing and my passport registered, and then Tuesday classes start. I am taking Stylistics and History with Liza, the other grad student, but then we have to register for one mainstream class this semester, which we take with other Russian students. It's kind of a hassle to track down a class I want to take and get the professor to sign a form allowing me to take the class and have it count for a grade. Some possible classes I'm interested include History of Russian musical cuture and a master class on singing.
Speaking of singing, I returned to church this morning and afternoon to sing at the 11 and 3 o'clock services. Sydney, the director of the afternoon service was particularly glad to see me and complimented me on my voice, saying that I added professionalism to our humble choir. Spasibo, Sydney! :) I was also recruited to join the Moscow International Choir, which meets at St. Andrew's, the church I attend twice every Sunday. (Note the constant use of clauses beginning with which, I am clearly thinking in Russian while writing in English, lol. Russian speakers should understand this grammatical reference, to everybody else I apologize for this compl;etely random digretion.) This time, I won't be working in the evenings so I should be able to sing. The choir meets Tuesday evenings from 7-9:30, and as far as I know I won't have any evening classes on Tuesdays. But I won't know my schedule until tomorrow, at least for my Middlebury classes. The mainstream class I won't know for a while, but I have plenty of time to decide, which is nice.
So with classes and choir starting this week, I have a lot to look forward to. I should be able to make new friends as well as reconnect with old friends I made. I'm going to see my old housemate this week, and sometime soon I need to take a trip to Dolgoprudny to see John and the crew at the Link. For now, just keep swimming. Have a great academic year for those in school. Mom and Dad, have a FANTASTIC time in China! I want to see lots of pics! For my part I'll post lots of pics of my new flat! :) Love you guys! Keep writing and I'll talk to you soon!
"Never give up. Never surrender." The immortal words of Jason Nesbit from Galaxy Quest
Не имей сто рублей, а сто друзей. Русская пословица (Better to have a hundred friends than a hundred rubles. Russian proverb)
"Remember all the love we shared today." (Josh Groban, "Awake")
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Time to say goodbye...
Today's the big day. Off to Russia again. To study abroad again. My suitcases are packed, I've got my copy of Thornton Wilder's Our Town to keep me occupied on the plane along with whatever movies British Airways will be showing. My suitcases are waiting by the door, not to be hated by British Airways, as the voice-over guy from Southwest Airlines commercials claims about other airlines ("Why do they hate your bags?") While I didn't get to see all my friends or family since I"ve been home from Middlebury, I did get to the Cape for a couple of days, even if it did rain the entire time and even if I sneezed all weekend due to stupid ragweed pollen.
As always, I get wicked nervous before a big trip. In Russian culture, it is common to sit with/on your suitcases before a journey. Maybe if I do that it will ease some of my fears for this year abroad. Will my family (or roommate) like me? Will I understand what the professor is saying in class (Part of my curriculum entails taking classes for credit with Russian students)? Will I be able to come home for Christmas? I really hope things go well. I leave it to God to guide me and protect me while I'm the Motherland and keep me strong.
Like I said before, my major academic goals are: 1) to improve my vocabulary by maintaining a vocabulary journal (or at least write down important words/structures that I'll need, and 2) write a draft/chapter of my thesis. Ambitious, perhaps, but doable if I keep my eyes on the prize...the MA degree which I"ll receive next summer.
It's so hard to leave the comforts of family, American food, Red Sox baseball, but I know it'll make me stronger and more independent. Thankfully now like half my family is on facebook and I have skype so keeping in touch won't be a problem at all. Still, it's always hard to say goodbye and face an uncertain future alone. But I'm not really alone, at least not in spirit. And being the optimist that I am, I fully believe that this year is going to be incredible. My Russian is only going to improve, I'll be able to meet up with my friends and make new ones. My life is certainly hectic now, and there is definitely something to be said for routines, for comfort, for living in a small New England town. But there is also something to be said for the excitement of a big city, the wide availability of public transportation and still being able to find enjoyment in going to church and singing with a choir. That being said, I am also bringing my score of Handel's Messiah, because I hear tell that we might be singing it this season. So there's a lot to look forward to and while I will be very sad to say goodbye to Mom and Dad, whom I love very very very much, I'm looking forward to beginning this new journey...
“Let your mind start a journey thru a strange new world. Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before. Let your soul take you where you long to be...Close your eyes let your spirit start to soar, and you'll live as you've never lived before.” (Phantom of the Opera)
As always, I get wicked nervous before a big trip. In Russian culture, it is common to sit with/on your suitcases before a journey. Maybe if I do that it will ease some of my fears for this year abroad. Will my family (or roommate) like me? Will I understand what the professor is saying in class (Part of my curriculum entails taking classes for credit with Russian students)? Will I be able to come home for Christmas? I really hope things go well. I leave it to God to guide me and protect me while I'm the Motherland and keep me strong.
Like I said before, my major academic goals are: 1) to improve my vocabulary by maintaining a vocabulary journal (or at least write down important words/structures that I'll need, and 2) write a draft/chapter of my thesis. Ambitious, perhaps, but doable if I keep my eyes on the prize...the MA degree which I"ll receive next summer.
It's so hard to leave the comforts of family, American food, Red Sox baseball, but I know it'll make me stronger and more independent. Thankfully now like half my family is on facebook and I have skype so keeping in touch won't be a problem at all. Still, it's always hard to say goodbye and face an uncertain future alone. But I'm not really alone, at least not in spirit. And being the optimist that I am, I fully believe that this year is going to be incredible. My Russian is only going to improve, I'll be able to meet up with my friends and make new ones. My life is certainly hectic now, and there is definitely something to be said for routines, for comfort, for living in a small New England town. But there is also something to be said for the excitement of a big city, the wide availability of public transportation and still being able to find enjoyment in going to church and singing with a choir. That being said, I am also bringing my score of Handel's Messiah, because I hear tell that we might be singing it this season. So there's a lot to look forward to and while I will be very sad to say goodbye to Mom and Dad, whom I love very very very much, I'm looking forward to beginning this new journey...
“Let your mind start a journey thru a strange new world. Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before. Let your soul take you where you long to be...Close your eyes let your spirit start to soar, and you'll live as you've never lived before.” (Phantom of the Opera)
"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Psalm 118:24 (www.spiritsong.com/quotes)
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
Ralph Waldo Emerson (www.spiritsong.com/quotes)
"It's a magical world, Hobbes, Ol' Buddy...let's go exploring!"
Calvin's last words,12/31/95 (Calvin & Hobbes) (www.spiritsong.com/quotes)
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