My Maria, and Why I Should Have Been Born Polish :)
Good lord, you know, tonight was just so amazing. It started out notsogreat, but ended on a high note that is just fabulous :)
So I had spent the earlier part of the day stressing over the fact that I didn't have black dress pants or a white shirt to wear for volunteering at Maria's concert. Ask Emily A, I asked to borrow like, three things from her lol
So after settling on having both a silver under-skirt and polka-dot leggings to choose from, I departed from Emily's res with many, many thank yous and went on my way back down those familiar streets... Laurier past the church and the shawarma place... round the corner to O'Connor, past the rose shop... and finally, back to that beautiful church where rehearsals for Don Giovanni once took place :) But the entire way, I was dying of the cold, and the snow/slush was beginning to sink in through my boots. And my socks. And it was slippery. I was relatively miserable, but clinging to that nostalgic feeling that I love so much.
And then I get to the door, and this short little Polish woman greets me with a "What's your name?" and a friendly scowl. I tell her I'm a volunteer, and she immediately gets me to work in the kitchen... not that I can understand half of what she's saying, her accent is so strong. Enter Monika, speaking fluent Polish to aforementioned scowling woman. I'm beginning to feel very, very out of place.
But then I head to the bathroom to change (finally), and Monika goes with me, and to my great surprise, she also speaks fluent English... and is a theatre student!
I helped make coffee, labels, cards, tea, tables, pate... I was a busy bee from that point on. And very much a klutz. I was spilling things EVERYWHERE. Knocking things over EVERYWHERE. I was on the verge of a mental breakdown cause scowly woman was all YOU'RE CLEANING THAT UP NOW PLZKTHX.
And then Sharon showed up, and for whatever reason, my night took a big 180 turn for the better. Just seeing one of my old Don Giovanni girls was enough to energize me for the rest of the night. I WAS beginning to get ticked off at how none of the other volunteers seemed to be doing any sort of slave labor like I was, though. I was beginning to think it was cause I'm not Polish.
I'll say this for the first time in this entry: Why am I so flipping friendly?
Sharon introduced me to her co-worker, a jolly man who's probably a good ten or more years older than me... and doesn't realize it. He's friendly. VERY. But surprisingly, not the worst of the night. I'll get to that later.
Karin came with her posse and her big fur coat, and jolly man gave a hearty laugh as I hugged her quickly from behind and ran off again, saying "I had to get that out of my system".
Scowly woman harps on me to get some tea, so I do, and just as I return from that trip (and am finally enjoying the little snacks I managed to grab from the array of snacks)... I hear a very familiar voice. A voice that has become very dear to me.
Maria.
I literally dropped everything I was doing and went around the corner, and lo and behold, there she was. I could have cared less at this point whether scowly woman was secretly scolding me.
My Maria.
She turned to leave the reception hall after a quick speech about enjoying the show, and I leaned against the kitchen doorjamb with a smile, somewhat hoping she would turn around and see me.
She did.
She pulled a full 180 and made her way towards me, being briefly intercepted by another patron, but got to me quickly. She came towards me with her arms wide open, saying "I'm so happy you're here!" as she hugged me :) She said that "Everyone loved the picture!" (meaning the card I'd given her on closing night). And I was so touched that she had actually kept her word in showing the card off to people! She quickly obliged to the other waiting people around me, and then had to disappear.
It was when I returned to the kitchen, silly grin on my face, that scowly woman suddenly wasn't so scowly. I asked her what there was to be done now, and she told me to go watch the performance! :) I was like... seriously??
So, still unsure of the protocol of this whole deal, I made my way to the actual front door of the sanctuary and talked to Franca, who was in charge of the volunteers. She told me I could sit anywhere, and just enjoy the show :) So I did!
And good lord. Bach = <3. That poor pianist's fingers must have gone numb... and I've never been so _moved_ by a piece. I felt what Bach was feeling. PUCCINI = <3<3<3. MARIA and her explanations of the arias' contexts = <3<3<3<3<3<3<3. She was STUNNING in that red dress.
As for the other performers, the assessment is as follows: Tenor = could use a lot more training, sounded very sick and almost pop-ified Caro Mio Ben. Other Soprano = seemed to be holding back in the crazy-acousticness of the church, her arias were very short. Baritone = can I have your babies?
And then intermission came.
And so did "Adam". I was kindof fluttering about, unsure of whether or not I should be doing volunteer-y things, and this guy comes up and just... starts talking to me. About being a volunteer. Because clearly that's a step down from being Britney Spears. Or was it a step up?
ANYWAYS.
So he keeps talking, and I keep being polite, and it was very awkward. I start talking about Don Giovanni, because he'd asked me how I came to be a volunteer for Maria, and THANK GOD Sharon and her co-worker come over. Me and Sharon started reminiscing about Don Giovanni, but it got very awkward very quickly, because Adam was still there, and there's no way to talk about DG without being suggestive. I was praying he wouldn't take things the wrong way. I was glad when the lights started flashing to signal that the show was starting again, and I could escape with Sharon and her buddy.
For the second time: WHY AM I SO FLIPPING FRIENDLY?
I noticed, however, that now this man was sitting in a pew across from me. Ughhh.
Concert started up again with some lovely Mozart :D I love that man. Really, I do. Gorgeous piece.
VERDICT FOR ACT TWO: Tenor = when he belts it out, HE'S AMAZING. Otherwise, still needs significantly more texture and vibrato. Soprano = there was a moment when she slipped out these two high notes, in a slightly lighter register, and I was like, Okay. Here we go. Excellent. Poor thing tripped on her way onto the stage, though :( Baritone = I repeat. Babies. Now. I did laugh, however, because there was a part of his piece (another Mozart, from Nozze di Figaro) where I was like "...wait. I recognize that set of notes." It would turn out Mozart reduced-reused-recycled some of his own stuff hahah
And Maria. Was wearing the most gorgeous dress. She really is an absolutely gorgeous person, inside and out. Her second piece, Una Voca Poco Fa... wow. She needs to use that for every audition she ever has. It shows off her lower/chest register (which I didn't know existed... it was nice to see another head-voice-heavy singer!), and her highest register, and the coloratura that I KNEW was in there somewhere, and her musicality, and just overall it was OMGPERFECT for her voice. The perfect finale to the show :) Many, many standing ovations were deserved!
The show ended, and I SWEAR I saw Maria turn back to smile at me as she exited the stage. Like, not just my inner fangirl speaking. Eye contact and all.
And then I made my way through the crowds, congratulating the Italian guests on an excellent performance, and helped take down the reception stuff. Only...
INTERMISSION GUY FOUND ME OUT.
I had been hoping that mentioning that I attended university would turn him away, being that he too was about ten or more years older than me. But instead, it was the first thing he brought up, asking about my major and stuff like that. AND THEN HE GAVE ME HIS CARD.
I just... GAH. I repeat: WHY AM I SO FLIPPING FRIENDLY?
I somehow made an escape by venturing into the kitchen and helping clean up there. It was there that I began to realize just how loving Polish people are, behind their scowly-ness. They took care of the rest of the work, and even gave me a nickname!
One of the guys was like "Emilke! Emilke!" and I wasn't responding, so he was like "Ohhh she doesn't understand" and I was like "OOOOHHH". They gave me a pet name :)
AND THEN THEY GAVE ME COOKIES.
AND SCOWLY WOMAN WAS WINKING AT ME.
AND I JUST... I FELT SO LOVED.
And then I ventured out into the coat room to get my jacket and such, and I was talking to Monika, ready to leave, and suddenly I hear that familiar voice again...
"EM-MEE-LY! EM-MEE-LY!"
I'm not really sure how many times she called for me, but I turned around and there was my darling Maria, thanking me for coming. Like, she went out of her way to do so. And made a fool of herself because apparently I'm deaf lol
And I was all prepared to take my last glances at Maria Knapik, inspiration and purest of hearts, when Monika realizes she has something to ask her. For whatever reason, she asks me to come with her. So I do, and she starts to sneak off with Maria, and I'm like OH NOES.
But then Maria starts calling my name again! I looked up, and she was turned toward me, and she was like "We need to stay in touch! Please come to my Christmas party!"
And I just... she just... she looked so desperate and I just... I felt so loved. So you can BET I'm going to that Christmas party! She smiled and did a little air-kiss thing, and I blew her a kiss, and she laughed... and that was the end of it.
But good lord, it was enough to have me grinning like a fool for the rest of the way home.
Maria, if you're reading this, please adopt me/become my best friend forever?
So I had spent the earlier part of the day stressing over the fact that I didn't have black dress pants or a white shirt to wear for volunteering at Maria's concert. Ask Emily A, I asked to borrow like, three things from her lol
So after settling on having both a silver under-skirt and polka-dot leggings to choose from, I departed from Emily's res with many, many thank yous and went on my way back down those familiar streets... Laurier past the church and the shawarma place... round the corner to O'Connor, past the rose shop... and finally, back to that beautiful church where rehearsals for Don Giovanni once took place :) But the entire way, I was dying of the cold, and the snow/slush was beginning to sink in through my boots. And my socks. And it was slippery. I was relatively miserable, but clinging to that nostalgic feeling that I love so much.
And then I get to the door, and this short little Polish woman greets me with a "What's your name?" and a friendly scowl. I tell her I'm a volunteer, and she immediately gets me to work in the kitchen... not that I can understand half of what she's saying, her accent is so strong. Enter Monika, speaking fluent Polish to aforementioned scowling woman. I'm beginning to feel very, very out of place.
But then I head to the bathroom to change (finally), and Monika goes with me, and to my great surprise, she also speaks fluent English... and is a theatre student!
I helped make coffee, labels, cards, tea, tables, pate... I was a busy bee from that point on. And very much a klutz. I was spilling things EVERYWHERE. Knocking things over EVERYWHERE. I was on the verge of a mental breakdown cause scowly woman was all YOU'RE CLEANING THAT UP NOW PLZKTHX.
And then Sharon showed up, and for whatever reason, my night took a big 180 turn for the better. Just seeing one of my old Don Giovanni girls was enough to energize me for the rest of the night. I WAS beginning to get ticked off at how none of the other volunteers seemed to be doing any sort of slave labor like I was, though. I was beginning to think it was cause I'm not Polish.
I'll say this for the first time in this entry: Why am I so flipping friendly?
Sharon introduced me to her co-worker, a jolly man who's probably a good ten or more years older than me... and doesn't realize it. He's friendly. VERY. But surprisingly, not the worst of the night. I'll get to that later.
Karin came with her posse and her big fur coat, and jolly man gave a hearty laugh as I hugged her quickly from behind and ran off again, saying "I had to get that out of my system".
Scowly woman harps on me to get some tea, so I do, and just as I return from that trip (and am finally enjoying the little snacks I managed to grab from the array of snacks)... I hear a very familiar voice. A voice that has become very dear to me.
Maria.
I literally dropped everything I was doing and went around the corner, and lo and behold, there she was. I could have cared less at this point whether scowly woman was secretly scolding me.
My Maria.
She turned to leave the reception hall after a quick speech about enjoying the show, and I leaned against the kitchen doorjamb with a smile, somewhat hoping she would turn around and see me.
She did.
She pulled a full 180 and made her way towards me, being briefly intercepted by another patron, but got to me quickly. She came towards me with her arms wide open, saying "I'm so happy you're here!" as she hugged me :) She said that "Everyone loved the picture!" (meaning the card I'd given her on closing night). And I was so touched that she had actually kept her word in showing the card off to people! She quickly obliged to the other waiting people around me, and then had to disappear.
It was when I returned to the kitchen, silly grin on my face, that scowly woman suddenly wasn't so scowly. I asked her what there was to be done now, and she told me to go watch the performance! :) I was like... seriously??
So, still unsure of the protocol of this whole deal, I made my way to the actual front door of the sanctuary and talked to Franca, who was in charge of the volunteers. She told me I could sit anywhere, and just enjoy the show :) So I did!
And good lord. Bach = <3. That poor pianist's fingers must have gone numb... and I've never been so _moved_ by a piece. I felt what Bach was feeling. PUCCINI = <3<3<3. MARIA and her explanations of the arias' contexts = <3<3<3<3<3<3<3. She was STUNNING in that red dress.
As for the other performers, the assessment is as follows: Tenor = could use a lot more training, sounded very sick and almost pop-ified Caro Mio Ben. Other Soprano = seemed to be holding back in the crazy-acousticness of the church, her arias were very short. Baritone = can I have your babies?
And then intermission came.
And so did "Adam". I was kindof fluttering about, unsure of whether or not I should be doing volunteer-y things, and this guy comes up and just... starts talking to me. About being a volunteer. Because clearly that's a step down from being Britney Spears. Or was it a step up?
ANYWAYS.
So he keeps talking, and I keep being polite, and it was very awkward. I start talking about Don Giovanni, because he'd asked me how I came to be a volunteer for Maria, and THANK GOD Sharon and her co-worker come over. Me and Sharon started reminiscing about Don Giovanni, but it got very awkward very quickly, because Adam was still there, and there's no way to talk about DG without being suggestive. I was praying he wouldn't take things the wrong way. I was glad when the lights started flashing to signal that the show was starting again, and I could escape with Sharon and her buddy.
For the second time: WHY AM I SO FLIPPING FRIENDLY?
I noticed, however, that now this man was sitting in a pew across from me. Ughhh.
Concert started up again with some lovely Mozart :D I love that man. Really, I do. Gorgeous piece.
VERDICT FOR ACT TWO: Tenor = when he belts it out, HE'S AMAZING. Otherwise, still needs significantly more texture and vibrato. Soprano = there was a moment when she slipped out these two high notes, in a slightly lighter register, and I was like, Okay. Here we go. Excellent. Poor thing tripped on her way onto the stage, though :( Baritone = I repeat. Babies. Now. I did laugh, however, because there was a part of his piece (another Mozart, from Nozze di Figaro) where I was like "...wait. I recognize that set of notes." It would turn out Mozart reduced-reused-recycled some of his own stuff hahah
And Maria. Was wearing the most gorgeous dress. She really is an absolutely gorgeous person, inside and out. Her second piece, Una Voca Poco Fa... wow. She needs to use that for every audition she ever has. It shows off her lower/chest register (which I didn't know existed... it was nice to see another head-voice-heavy singer!), and her highest register, and the coloratura that I KNEW was in there somewhere, and her musicality, and just overall it was OMGPERFECT for her voice. The perfect finale to the show :) Many, many standing ovations were deserved!
The show ended, and I SWEAR I saw Maria turn back to smile at me as she exited the stage. Like, not just my inner fangirl speaking. Eye contact and all.
And then I made my way through the crowds, congratulating the Italian guests on an excellent performance, and helped take down the reception stuff. Only...
INTERMISSION GUY FOUND ME OUT.
I had been hoping that mentioning that I attended university would turn him away, being that he too was about ten or more years older than me. But instead, it was the first thing he brought up, asking about my major and stuff like that. AND THEN HE GAVE ME HIS CARD.
I just... GAH. I repeat: WHY AM I SO FLIPPING FRIENDLY?
I somehow made an escape by venturing into the kitchen and helping clean up there. It was there that I began to realize just how loving Polish people are, behind their scowly-ness. They took care of the rest of the work, and even gave me a nickname!
One of the guys was like "Emilke! Emilke!" and I wasn't responding, so he was like "Ohhh she doesn't understand" and I was like "OOOOHHH". They gave me a pet name :)
AND THEN THEY GAVE ME COOKIES.
AND SCOWLY WOMAN WAS WINKING AT ME.
AND I JUST... I FELT SO LOVED.
And then I ventured out into the coat room to get my jacket and such, and I was talking to Monika, ready to leave, and suddenly I hear that familiar voice again...
"EM-MEE-LY! EM-MEE-LY!"
I'm not really sure how many times she called for me, but I turned around and there was my darling Maria, thanking me for coming. Like, she went out of her way to do so. And made a fool of herself because apparently I'm deaf lol
And I was all prepared to take my last glances at Maria Knapik, inspiration and purest of hearts, when Monika realizes she has something to ask her. For whatever reason, she asks me to come with her. So I do, and she starts to sneak off with Maria, and I'm like OH NOES.
But then Maria starts calling my name again! I looked up, and she was turned toward me, and she was like "We need to stay in touch! Please come to my Christmas party!"
And I just... she just... she looked so desperate and I just... I felt so loved. So you can BET I'm going to that Christmas party! She smiled and did a little air-kiss thing, and I blew her a kiss, and she laughed... and that was the end of it.
But good lord, it was enough to have me grinning like a fool for the rest of the way home.
Maria, if you're reading this, please adopt me/become my best friend forever?