Having still not started classes, because it seems a universal fact that all English Departments see fit to delay everything for as long as possible and have as little to do in the mornings as possible, today shaped up to be mainly social, which was quite pleasant. I headed over to the Union first to sign up for some clubs, and ended up on the mailing lists of FOCAM (Forum of Composers and Musicians) and the Opera Club. I was not meaning to sign up for the Opera Club, but the two tables were side by side, and somehow I ended up giving them my email address. As I understand it, I may end up in the chorus of Cosi fan tutte. I'm not averse to the idea!
Unfortunately, however, such participation still does not grant me access to the practice rooms in the department, and no one has heard of the one piano in the Union, so my last chance may be to talk my way into lessons. The instrumental instructors are hired out by the university, so I have to wait for all the majors to get placed before I can ask, and I'm crossing my fingers that there will be some extra slots. Until then, I at least have the assurance that with FOCAM, I might be able to get my own works performed, as well as collaborate with others to do theirs. It should be interesting at least.
As I was leaving the Union by elbowing my way out of some massive crowds (the rest of campus has arrived at last, accompanied by considerable chaos), I ran into Erin and her flatmate, Marta, who I had ended up hanging out with Sunday night. Marta is Polish, and curious about Erin and I employing our various English colloquialisms, and so we ended up talking a lot over lunch about how ridiculous the English language actually is. It's particularly enlightening for us to hear her questions, because so often we can't explain why we favor one phrase over another, or why, for example, we use the word "random" to describe something "weird". As Marta said, at least German has proper structure that everyone employs. With us, not so much. We're constantly making stuff up, abbreviating and recycling words in completely different capacities, infinitely variable by what company we keep, where we come from, etc. Even comparing notes between my New England turns-of-phrase and Erin's New Brunswick-isms shows the miles between our respective language styles. The sheer volume of slang employed daily by English speakers is astounding, and I find myself really feeling for and admiring the students who have learned English as their second language and are doing such a great job of communicating with us. We don't make it easy for them at all.
In any case, we ended up continuing our conversation all the way to Erin and Marta's flat, which is conveniently located on campus. The living situation is quite different from mine--while the setup of narrow hallway lined with doors for bedrooms and kitchen is the same, there are ten people living there altogether, and they all tend to gravitate towards socializing in the kitchen, where there's a cute sitting area for all of them. It's a far more mixed bunch too--four guys and six girls I believe, and several of them are undergrads. Those that I met seemed very friendly and fun, and one of the British undergrads shares my love of the movie "Face/Off", so there will definitely be some movie nights over there in the future. Also in the works between Erin and I is a proper Thanksgiving, which will be celebrated mid-November, as compromise between Canadian and American Thanksgivings. And finally, I've been assured that Guy Fawkes Day, or Bonfire Night, as it's referred to around here, is definitely taken seriously. So my birthday should be quite a bit more exciting than usual this year, complete with fires and effigies and fireworks. All in all, good times for everyone!
And now, I'm off. Thursday will be my first department meeting, and until then I'll be kept busy doing some preliminary reading for my Brontes seminar.
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