It's an Adventurous Life

Dear readers,

Apologies for the delay in postings recently: I was waiting for the publication of pictures to include in  this blogpost, but I got too impatient, so I'll post them separately if I can. Until then, you'll just have to use your imagination...

This past Wednesday and Thursday, the Dollar Academy Music Department held its annual spring concerts, with performances ranging from the prep school choir to the senior jazz band. It is quite a popular event, and we've been preparing for it for months, but it also marks the culmination of all our work done this year. It's a bittersweet event, but it was also so satisfying to see all of our hard work in full form.

First up on the orchestra program was the Four Scottish Dances by Malcolm Arnold. The work features four movements, each a prime example of program music: in fact, they are not dissimilar to Saint-Saens' "Carnival of the Animals." You can practically see the tartan kilts, the mountains, people furiously voting "yes" in the 2014 independence referendum, etc. This was by far my favorite piece, but others included the lively "Brasiliera" from Scaramouche, a couple Mozart concertos, and Piazzola's "Libertango." As for choral pieces, the Chamber Choir had a wide variety of songs from a Medieval "Cantate Domino" to a trendy "Hold Back the River," and Mixed Voice Choir sang "Fix You" by Coldplay.

The Chamber Choir, or at least most of it. I'm conveniently cropped out, as usual.

The soloists of the concerts, as usual, were all simply fantastic. Martina Silence, our principle violinist, played Sarasate's "Zigueunerweisen" in the most passionate, beautiful ways I have heard it played (which, I must admit, wasn't many times-- but still). I'm extremely impressed by the level of expertise some of our student musicians have achieved, and it is evident that they all contributed countless hours to making the concert the best that it could have been. I am saddened that my music activities at Dollar have mostly come to an end, but fortunately, it won't be long until the Spring Musical starts and I will be playing in the orchestra pit once more.

Just a few days later, I was on a train to Edinburgh to celebrate my friend Alisha's 18th birthday at Camera Obscura and World of Illusions in Edinburgh. This would actually be my second visit here, the first being with my mother in our first few days in Scotland, and I must say that it was just as entertaining this time around. In fact, it may have been even more fun to know what was coming, and of course, to watch everyone make a fool of themselves. Overall, the party was fantastic, and Alisha's "La La Land" cake was of astonishing quality (both taste-wise and visually).

At the illusion room in Camera Obscura. The birthday girl is on the far right.

My next adventure was a house trip on Sunday to Urban Paintball Edinburgh, an indoor paintball center located just a few minutes off Princes Street. This was my first time participating in such an activity, and honestly, maybe the last. Don't get me wrong-- the atmosphere was great, the adrenaline rushes were invigorating, and it's awesome to get a chance to shoot your friends in a socially acceptable manner, but it hurts. Like, really badly. Like, when you're less than 10 metres away you feel like you're actually shot. I have this huge bullseye-shaped welt on my knee now for a souvenir, but other than that, it was an excellent chance to enjoy the company of some of my house sisters-- Henni, Anna, Una, and Bente.

It's hard to believe, but we have only a few weeks of school left before study leave starts, so it's really important to me to go out and go on these adventures while I still can. How crazy is it that I'm applying for new student orientation at IU right now?? (Well, most of my friends did that a year ago, but still.) And it's less than a week now before I depart on my final overseas trip, which is of course is an unbearable wait. So wish me luck! And for those of you who know a little German, I would definitely not turn down any helpful tips-- the only thing I can say with confidence is "Ich bin ein Berliner." Well, we'll see how it goes...