As you already know, I'm going to be spending this Winter Term on campus, learning how to teach English as a foreign language, learning more about Yogyakarta, and generally preparing for things like graduation and my next plans and life, etc. It's very exciting but also (as you can possibly tell) very scary. It still hasn't really sunk in that I'll be graduating in a semester.
However, that is not the point of this post. The point of this post is to tell you what else I'm doing during Winter Term, namely playing in the pit orchestra for the Winter Term opera, The Turn of the Screw. I believe I've waxed poetical on pit orchestras before, so needless to say I'm very excited. And also rather surprised that this happened at all, because it all happened so quickly.
Last Wednesday, I was in full-on panic mode due to my impending thermo exam. As was to be expected, I spent most of the day in Love Lounge studying. Around lunchtime, one of my classmates showed me an email she had just received asking for another violinist for the opera's orchestra.
"I want to do it!" I said. "I love pit orchestras!"
Then, belatedly, I realized that I should probably ask what the opera was, if the music was good, and when rehearsals were. I got my answers (Britten, you get to strum your violin like a guitar, and not when I have Shansi things) and decided that I was definitely interested, if there was still a spot for me.
Then I said, "But I want to play second."
To which my friend responded that she wanted to play second.
To which I responded that she's better at violin than me so I should get to play second violin. And besides that, I need to be focusing on Shansi.
She said something like, "We'll see," and we went back to studying thermo.
Later that day, I had several errands to run (broken computer cord that needed to be replaced, library books to return, etc.), so I left the Science Center and began several epic treks to and from my house. (Yes, dear housemate, you were sleeping this whole time.) On my way back from the public library, my friend called me and said I should go to the Con to pick up music. I did, and got one of the only things I wished for during exam week (besides passing my thermo exam): the second violin part.
So, will I be busy every day of Winter Term from about 10:00 AM to about 7:00 PM? Probably. Am I okay with that? Definitely.
