Great Expectations
Great Expectations. Somehow I've gained them in the eyes of my (demi-) piano teacher. I've already confessed to her that I've only taken two years of piano lessons (from 8-10) and that since then anything I've done has been pretty much self-guided. And until recently (read as last summer [give or take]) that wasn't all that much. I can fumble my way through things, but I'm not all that good. She's heard me a few times now, and tonight she says "here, try this." She proceeds to demonstrate the piece (Chopin [I think it was a Nocturne...]) which features lots of the left hand jumping all over the place, and if that weren't enough, it's in triple-double, so the right hand plays two notes in the same amount of time it takes the left hand to play 3 notes. That gets trippy really quick. I've got no idea why she thought I should be able to play this. All I know is I've got my work cut out for me. Granted I'm looking forward to the challenge.
Now, in a different but related topic, I'm paying for access to the piano/lessons by tutoring the the teacher's grand-daughter who is probably a junior or senior in high-school, but that's just a guess. She's actually pretty decent at pronunciation, and asks really intelligent questions, such as why something like "Il y a des casse-croûte sur la table" can be translated as "There are some snacks on the table" or "There are snacks on the table," and in what situations you can leave out the partitive article. It took me about 5-7 minutes to fully explain, as I was also trying to avoid any explanation using the term "Partitive article" since I had no idea whether she knew what that was. I know I didn't until I took French. But who knows?
I just realized while entering the cut text, that for the first time in 4 years, I'm not going to have to leave my Super Bowl party early for fencing practice. Granted, the fact that I can neither watch the Super Bowl nor go to fencing practice a sad thing instead of just a new thing. I'm really glad the Saints beat the Vikings (I really dislike Brett Favre for multiple reasons [primary of which being the way that he treated the Green Bay Packers fans and organization, and the way he keeps shoving himself back into the spotlight by faking retirement every season], and for once I don't care who wins the Super Bowl because I *like* both teams. Normally I either don't care, or hate both teams. I'm want the Saints to win it, but won't be terribly disappointed if it's the Colts instead. And I'm really glad the Chargers got knocked out, because if I had to choose between the Chargers and Saints... well... it would be difficult since I've wanted the Saints to win for awhile, but the Chargers are my new favorite NFL team. I mean I'll be a Browns fan until I die. But then again, I'm a Browns fan. This means I have to have someone to root for for the 12+ weeks of the season that the Browns royally suck.
To get to my medical visit I have two options. I can take the TER which stops at every town between here and Nancy, leaves at 0730, takes an hour and a half, and costs 9.90€, OR I can take the TGV (the fastest friction rail train in the world) which is direct, leaves at 0720, takes 50 minutes, and costs 8€. No brainer?
Big 3:
Best: Started reading the Codex Alera (book 6). I forgot how much I love reading in nice, effortless, English. And how much I love Jim Butcher. Good Lord, the man is one of my favorite authors, ever.
Worst: Having to hunt down all of the paperwork that I'll need for this visit that now seems almost unnecessary since I'm leaving the country in just over 3 months.
Funniest: After tutoring the granddaughter, her grandma (who is learning English from a retired English teacher) was asking how the lesson went. I said everything went well, and the granddaughter said she "learned a new English phrase today." The grandma looked at me, and I shrugged, since I was fair certain that I didn't teach her any new phrases. The grandma says "let's hear it" and the granddaughter replies "Holy Shit!" I had to walk out of the room, I was laughing so hard. I was then forced to correct spelling and pronunciation for the granddaughter. And the grandmother.
Until next time:
Fair winds and following seas
Now, in a different but related topic, I'm paying for access to the piano/lessons by tutoring the the teacher's grand-daughter who is probably a junior or senior in high-school, but that's just a guess. She's actually pretty decent at pronunciation, and asks really intelligent questions, such as why something like "Il y a des casse-croûte sur la table" can be translated as "There are some snacks on the table" or "There are snacks on the table," and in what situations you can leave out the partitive article. It took me about 5-7 minutes to fully explain, as I was also trying to avoid any explanation using the term "Partitive article" since I had no idea whether she knew what that was. I know I didn't until I took French. But who knows?
I just realized while entering the cut text, that for the first time in 4 years, I'm not going to have to leave my Super Bowl party early for fencing practice. Granted, the fact that I can neither watch the Super Bowl nor go to fencing practice a sad thing instead of just a new thing. I'm really glad the Saints beat the Vikings (I really dislike Brett Favre for multiple reasons [primary of which being the way that he treated the Green Bay Packers fans and organization, and the way he keeps shoving himself back into the spotlight by faking retirement every season], and for once I don't care who wins the Super Bowl because I *like* both teams. Normally I either don't care, or hate both teams. I'm want the Saints to win it, but won't be terribly disappointed if it's the Colts instead. And I'm really glad the Chargers got knocked out, because if I had to choose between the Chargers and Saints... well... it would be difficult since I've wanted the Saints to win for awhile, but the Chargers are my new favorite NFL team. I mean I'll be a Browns fan until I die. But then again, I'm a Browns fan. This means I have to have someone to root for for the 12+ weeks of the season that the Browns royally suck.
To get to my medical visit I have two options. I can take the TER which stops at every town between here and Nancy, leaves at 0730, takes an hour and a half, and costs 9.90€, OR I can take the TGV (the fastest friction rail train in the world) which is direct, leaves at 0720, takes 50 minutes, and costs 8€. No brainer?
Big 3:
Best: Started reading the Codex Alera (book 6). I forgot how much I love reading in nice, effortless, English. And how much I love Jim Butcher. Good Lord, the man is one of my favorite authors, ever.
Worst: Having to hunt down all of the paperwork that I'll need for this visit that now seems almost unnecessary since I'm leaving the country in just over 3 months.
Funniest: After tutoring the granddaughter, her grandma (who is learning English from a retired English teacher) was asking how the lesson went. I said everything went well, and the granddaughter said she "learned a new English phrase today." The grandma looked at me, and I shrugged, since I was fair certain that I didn't teach her any new phrases. The grandma says "let's hear it" and the granddaughter replies "Holy Shit!" I had to walk out of the room, I was laughing so hard. I was then forced to correct spelling and pronunciation for the granddaughter. And the grandmother.
Until next time:
Fair winds and following seas