June 16th: observations

If you imitate an Italian with a heavy accent attemping to speak English, you will sound like Borat. This has become a recurring joke among us Oberlin students, but the more I hear it the more it's true. The word that really sticks out to us is when they try to say "Okay" -- a simple two-syllable word gets sort of drawn out into a long, elaborate sound more like "Oh-ka-i-ee." I wonder if they get confused by the "ay" at the end and think it needs an extra turn....

So at this point, you're probably wondering where all the alleged music is happening. I haven't said much, if anything, about what's going on at the university. But this is because all we're doing so far is rehearsing. For the instrumentalists, we just have rehearsals, coachings, and solo practice each day, so there's not really much to talk about with that. It looks like we're going to have a concert next weekend on Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and the Barber Adagio....

Mr. Bloom has quickly become the default location for any of us who want to a) get something to drink, b) watch a soccer match, c) just hang out, or d) find out where all the Oberlin students are any given night. Since it's right up the street, it's a great place to go if we're on our way home but don't quite want to go to bed yet. I showed up with Ishmael at 9, and there were five others who had already been there for a while. We always sit in the same corner, and evidently so do a couple other groups of young kids in a touring theater program from Dublin, so the last few nights we've been chilling with them more often than not.... Tonight we didn't get any food or drink, just said hi and left within a half hour or so, but we plan to return tomorrow. And probably the next night after that as well.

Some of the sinks here are pedal-operated. this has been hard to get used to. The first time I encountered one, I didn't see the pedal on the floor and assumed it was broken. I don't really like them; it feels like I'm driving a porcelain car.

Ok, time to check Facebook quickly and then a letto, to bed. (I wish I could upload pics onto Facebook now, but the connection here is too slow. I'll try sometime soon and see how it goes.)

Ciao,
-Al