Day 180: Music Is a Cause for Happiness (as is math)

I'm really enjoying my time here in Oxford. It's really fantastic. I'm doing a lot of math (by my standards, at least) (the two-inch binder that I used for my entire semester in Budapest is already full... and it's only Week 4), and I'm also getting quite involved in the music community here.

Just over a week ago, I was sitting in my room thinking about how lovely it would be to get try in integrate myself into the Oxford community. And then I thought about how lovely it would be to meet people through orchestra. Thankfully there are lots of non-auditioning orchestras here and so I joined a couple and it was fantastic. And then a couple days after I went to my first rehearsal, I got an email saying that I had been referred to the Oxford University Philharmonia! (I came across it when I was looking up orchestras but thought I would have no chance of getting to play with them since they are an auditioning group and only hold auditions at the beginning of each academic year.) I was quite skeptical about the prospect of having three orchestras on my plate, along with all the maths I'm trying to learn and everything, but I talked to a few friends and I've decided I'm going to give it a go. If it does turn out that this is just way too much, then I'll drop an orchestra, but for now, I'll try to manage. It's actually really nice---the rehearsals are all in the evening, and my least productive math time is right after dinner, so in some sense, I'm optimizing my time. Maybe. I think...?

Time vs. work dilemma aside... last night, I went to my first OUPhil rehearsal and it was absolutely brilliant. We're playing two gorgeous pieces (Saint-Saens' Symphony No. 3 and the Finzi Cello Concerto with an amazing soloist) and it was just fantastic. I walked home all giddy and music-happy. ^___^

I love music. It's such a nice way to get to know people, and I think it really makes a difference in my own happiness. Last term, at BSM, I think I was much happier once I started doing chamber music stuff with friends, and this term, music has once again made me a happy camper. Yay!

On a completely separate note, I got a haircut.

And yet on another completely separate note, I went on a run this week! So that takes my total this week to: 2.5 miles. I might go on another run tomorrow or something.

Back to music: All this music stuff is genius, but they all have concerts at the end of the term. Which means I will have to dress up. I brought a black dress here, but the only shoes I have are... rain boots, brown slipper-type things, bright orange flip flops, running shoes, and converse. I usually wear my converse with dresses when I'm going out to dinner or something like that, but somehow, I think that wearing converses on stage just isn't going to cut it. Problem. Solution pending.

I'm going to get some lunch (from the best sandwich shop ever---it's called Olive's and it's on High Street, so if you're ever wandering around Oxford, you absolutely must stop by this place). And then I'm off to a seminar by Ben Green!!! I'm unlikely to understand anything in the talk, but that's alright. I think it's good to go anyway. Okay. That's all for now. Bye!