Crossing Cultures

Even though finals are the worst thing ever, my day of writing and research has been made slightly better by my new musical obsession: Chinese Opera.  specifically that of the peking genre.  (You see there are many different types of Chines Opera.  Since the country itself is so vast, the Operatic tradition is very regional, even village dialects come into play when opera is performed.  Although the music is beautiful in a strange, alien way, even native Chinese speakers have little to no success in translation.  i could write a whole other blog post about the extravagance and intricacy of costuming in Chinese Opera.  In addition, casting has an interesting  tradition.  The most revered characters, both male and female always played by men.  Women are only ever allowed on stage to portray old men, usually lesser characters.  This is of a similar origin to that of the Greek and early Elizabethan stage.
Months, maybe years ago, I heard a piece on NPR where an American man living in China fell in love with the art-form and ended up finding his self proclaimed soulmate because of it.  But I digress, m current interest doesn't stem from soulmate searching. In fact, it's a direct result of my wonderful roommate Phoenix.  In earlier posts I have expounded upon the culture shock of living with a 21-year old Chinese student, but now that the shock has worn off and the awkwardness is fading, I can more fully appreciate how awesome Phoenix really is.  She's brilliant, patient, and hilarious.  Three very important qualities in a person.  I think I can finally consider her my Friend, no longer, MyChineseRoommatePhoenix.  I came to this realization slowly, but the seed was planted when Phoenix got back from her TOEFL test, and told me how relieved she was.  The conversation went on for an hour, we talked about everything from boys and relationships past to Peking Chinese Opera.

UGH Finals.

Here I sit. At my desk. In the world's most uncomfortable chair.  Generously provided by the Office of Res Life here at Ohio University.  I don't want to work on any of my final projects.  The weather outside is too beautiful to be stuck indoors, sitting awkwardly in a torture chamber chair writing about stupid shit that doesn't really matter. UGH Finals.

OK! now that my rant is over.  I've been away from the blog world for awhile, and I would like to announce that I will be leaving for Florence, Italy in EIGHT (8) DAYS! WTF! where did the time go?! It seems like last week that I anxiously awaited my interview with the fabulous Prof. Molly Morrison who will be leading this expedition around the Italian countryside and towards Italian language fluency.  I can't wait. I literally CANNOT wait any longer.  The anticipation is killing me.  I've never been a patient person.  I've eaten popsicle slush before because i couldn't wait for them to freeze solidly.