Classical Music psa

I've finished grading! To express my happiness, here is a favorite piece of mine by Chopin. I think Chopin is my favorite composer for solo piano. He's so diverse and expressive and he makes such a great use of the instrument. All of his pieces have a lot of different colors and voices to them. This one is one of his etudes, which is basically supposed to be a boring finger exercise but in this case it's an exercise in awesome. This particular etude is in Gb Major and is known as the "Black Keys" etude. I like the way it builds around 0:20. Listen for the pentatonic scale around the 1:00 mark. Fun stuff and expresses my current mood.

Working with non-musicians

Trying to provide music to the people who need it can be a challenge, especially when they have no idea how music works. I have been helping to lead worship music on piano twice a week for chapel. It hasn't been too difficult as the service is only for half an hour and usually only includes one song, but there have still been some awkward moments. For example, the times when the person leading the singing has looked over to me, during the service, just after I've played the intro, and said "lower please!" While there are very talented pianists who are capable of accommodating such requests, I am not one of them. Especially not when I am trying to sight-read a hymn.

 This brings me to yesterday. On arriving at chapel I was informed that the speaker wanted to use "Amazing Grace." This wasn't what I had chosen, but I didn't mind too much as I know it pretty well which would make sight-reading easier. But then I was informed that the students would be reading the English lyrics off of a slideshow. Not a powerpoint presentation, a slideshow that automatically switched from one slide the next. I pointed out that I would have no idea what tempo to play at in order to synchronize with the slideshow and it would be better if somebody changed the slides manually. At this realization, it was suggested that I play along with the music that accompanied the slideshow. Not only was this a bit unnecessary, this time I had to point out that the music was in a completely different key from the hymnal. so we ended up singing along with the prerecorded music and I kind of just laughed to myself about the whole thing.

Happily, the occurrence did give me a great excuse to share this video. I saw it because one of my fellow music majors posted it on facebook. Oh so true.

More things you cannot do on an airplane

I started writing this several weeks ago, and only now have I found the time to sit down and try to finish it. so here is a list of more things you cannot do on an airplane. 

• hip hop dancing
• play guitar
• fly the airplane
• touch the flight attendant (!)

Oh my students... They had to make a second list of things you cannot bring on an airplane. One particularly creative group said "people who are die," by which I figured out they meant "dead people." Okay. This actually sparked an argument with another group over whether or not ghosts counted as "dead people" since someone claimed to have seen a ghost on an airplane. 

This brings me to an interesting cultural observation. Pretty much everyone in Thailand believes in ghosts and many people will claim to have seen one. During my time here at Payap there have been several sightings and people take them very seriously. Nobody would ever be laughed at for such a claim. 

Thailand is a very superstitious country. There is a very sincere belief in the supernatural. People consult monks or perform rituals as a way to interact with these forces. It's very different from contemporary Western culture, where such beliefs would probably be considered childish and unscientific. Not so in Thailand.

While I'm generally a skeptic regarding these sorts of thing, this pervasive belief in the supernatural has given me some food for thought. I mean, I could laugh at such beliefs, but let's face it, I'm a Christian. That means I automatically have some pretty crazy beliefs in the supernatural myself. Coming out of Western culture, I'm more used to the skeptical approach. While it may be that many people believe in God or spirits or "forces" or whatever, not being a hardcore materialist pretty much seems like intellectual suicide. It is often touted as the only "rational" approach to thought, and I suppose I might agree depending on what people mean by "rational." Unfortunately though, by "rational" people often mean "intelligent" or even "sane," as if anybody who believes in anything outside of nature ought to be stripped of all credibility. so while I have found the emphasis on ghosts and spirits a bit unnerving, rather weird and somewhat laughable, it has been interesting to live in a society where the supernatural is still taken seriously.

Here is an article from a local magazine about superstition and the workplace. While I haven't experienced any of the examples in the article (except for hearing news about a need for ghost-protection) it does give you an idea of how different attitudes to the supernatural are here.

http://www.chiangmainews.com/indepth/details.php?id=1406

When students learn too much about you

I have a lot of things I could post about. I simply haven't had time to blog, and you know that means I've been seriously busy. What else would keep me from the self-importance of obsessively writing about my life? While there are better things I could write about,  today's post will be devoted to a technological mishap in the classroom.

It all began when I temporarily lost all the files on my thumb drive due to a virus. The files have since been restored and no harm done, thankfully, but it meant I was in a tight spot this afternoon and had to use my laptop for my Critical Thinking lecture. What I'd forgotten was that I had the screensaver set to My Pictures slideshow. so while my students were completing an in-class exercise, this rather interesting photo from freshman year at Whitworth came up.

My students were baffled, to say the least. My response? "Oops. Um, that is my friend Libby from college. she got taped to a wall once..."

In which I accidentally commit a major theft

This morning I was dozing in bed, in denial about the start of another day, when Katie returned from an early breakfast with symptoms of food poisoning.

"Heidi? I just came back from the restaurant next door and I feel like I've got food poisoning, could you do  me a favor?" she asked.

"Huh? Wha? What's going on...?" I mumbled incoherently.

"I feel like I've got food poisoning and I need you to do me a favor."

"Oh no! sure, what do you need?"

Katie managed to explain that she had been eating at the restaurant next to the dorm when she suddenly felt very sick. she had slapped some money on the counter and hurried back to the dorm as fast as possible and now she needed me to fill up a couple of her water bottles and retrieve her new motorbike from outside the restaurant. I quickly performed the first task and then showered and got dressed before heading next door fetch Katie's bike. Katie had just purchased the bike, a red Honda Dream, the morning before. It was supposed to be in the alley next to the restaurant. I turned the corner and, sure enough, there was Katie's bike parked next to the restaurant. I put in the keys to unlock it and then, as it's a bit more complicated to start than what I'm used to, I pushed it back to the nursing dorm and parked it next to my bike.

After this I went for a late-morning walk to Bake'N"Bite for a nice sunday brunch. I took my time eating and then moseyed back to the dorm, not looking forward to all the prep I had to do for this week's lessons. Katie seemed a lot better and I told her where her bike was and that I needed to go to the library for a little while. I grabbed my things and drove to the main campus, did some work, checked out a book I needed and then came back to put the finishing touches on this week's lesson plan.

I had just entered my room when the phone rang. It was one of the house mothers. It was difficult to understand what she needed, but I made out that she had a message for me from security and it had to do with a bike. I had accidentally left my bike in the no-overnight-parking zone not too long ago and thought I was in for a lecture. Finally she made it clear that security wanted me to come downstairs so they could speak with me. Uncertain as to what this was all about, I went and found that a handful of people were circled around my bike in the dorm parking area. One of the students was there and started asking me questions in broken English. All I could figure out was she wanted to know why I had a red bike now. I explained that it belonged to my friend Katie, and why I had come to get it. I wondered what the problem was. They kept saying the word "restaurant" and indicating the bike. Yes, I had gotten it from the restaurant because Katie had left it there. What was the deal? Then, somehow, either because someone found the right word or because I recognized one of the restaurant employees standing in the circle of people, I realized the mortifying truth. I had taken the wrong motorbike.

A few moments of me covering my face, saying "oh my gosh," and apologizing repeatedly in Thai and in English followed while everyone else began to laugh. They wanted to know where the keys were because I had locked it. Well, Katie was no longer in the dorm but I told them I would go call her and fled the scene. I contacted Katie and found out she was at Esther's, but by the time I returned they must have brought their own keys because they had moved the bike. One of the house mothers insisted on taking me to the restaurant where we found Katie's bike, parked much further up the alley. I was able to prove that the two bikes were the same color and model. Then I went back and got my own bike and picked up Katie. We had a good laugh about it and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before the story gets around to the rest of the dorm staff and all of my coworkers.

I mean, on the one hand it's quite a good thing that it was one of the employees' bikes. They at least knew who I was and where to find me. On the other hand, I may never be able to eat at that restaurant again. Or at least not for a week. 

Untranslatable Words

I had an inexplicable urge to look up untranslatable words tonight. It's something we were talking about a loooong time ago and I always meant to look it up and never did. so I Googled it and found a couple of lists and a blog called betterthanenglish.com These are words that cannot be translated accurately in one word in English. Many of them are words that identify with, although some are just words I found funny. I'll leave you to guess which is which. Anyhow, I wanted to share so enjoy!

I was inspired to include this in a blog post after reading this word:

Dépayser, French - The feeling of not being in one’s home country. Disorientation due to experience of unfamiliar surroundings. A sense in which one is “a fish out of water”.

As it turns out the French are pretty good at expressing things.

Dérive, French - An aimless walk through the city streets.

L’esprit d’escalier, French - The feeling you get after leaving a conversation, when you think of all the things you should have said. Literally translate to “the spirit of the staircase”.

Rire dans sa barbe, French - Literally, “to laugh in your beard”. To laugh to oneself quietly while thinking about something that happened in the past. (The question is, do they have a word for the weird look people give you after you do this?)

Tartle, Scottish – The act of hestitating while introducing someone because you’ve forgotten their name. (Ahem, I may or may not have experienced this recently...)

Scunner, Scottish - Expresses annoyance or disappointment. e.g. “My motorcycle has a flat back tyre, what a scunner.” “What a scunnersome wee boy that is, always misbehaving.” (Don't you want to experience annoyance or disappointment now just so you can use this word?)

Wabi-Sabi, Japanese – Much has been written on this Japanese concept, but in a sentence, one might be able to understand it as “a way of living that focuses on finding beauty within the imperfections of life and accepting peacefully the natural cycle of growth and decay.”

Tingo, Pascuense (Easter Island) – Hopefully this isn’t a word you’d need often: “the act of taking objects one desires from the house of a friend by gradually borrowing all of them.”

Parea, Greek - Used to describe a group of friends that gather together purely for the enjoyment of each other’s company. The time between visits does not matter, the spirit between them is the same. (You know who you are.)

Pena Ajena, Spanish - Shame experienced on behalf of another person, even though that person may not experience shame. (Cross-cultural interactions made this an easily recognizable concept for me.)

Latah, Indonesian - Uncontrollable habit of saying embarrassing things. (I'm sure I often cause other people to experience Pena Ajena.)

Attaccabottoni, Italian - A boring person who corners people and tells long, sad tales.

Kreng Jai, Thai - Literally “deferential heart”. The desire not to see a friend go to any special trouble on your behalf. (The word that sparked my interest in untranslatable words.)

Moit, scottish - Pretended indifference/shyness while speaking about a thing one is very keen for.

Ladramhaiola, Irish - An Irish language term roughly translated as “wasted day”.

Gattara, Italian - A woman, often old and lonely, who devotes herself to stray cats.

Dostoprimechatelnost, Russian - A place you can take notice of a hundred times. It is generally translated as a “point of interest”, but it means much more.

Jibaku, Japanese - The act of unintentionally or inadvertently demolishing your own argument in the process of defending your view.

Nubie Yom, swahili - Literally translated as “finger farm”. The home, business, or especially the farm of a person who never finishes projects but rather points out (hence, finger) where he or she intends to start new projects and where things will go in the future.

Gökotta, Swedish - To wake up early in the morning with the purpose of going outside to hear the first birds sing.

Betsubara, Japanese - Loosely translates to “extra stomach”. It is generally used to describe a female who always has room for dessert.

And of course it wouldn't be my blog without some German.

Torschlusspanik, German – Translated literally, this word means “gate-closing panic,” but its contextual meaning refers to “the fear of diminishing opportunities as one ages.” (Yay! A word I can use after I'm too old for a quarter-life crisis!)

Waldeinsamkeit, German - The feeling of being alone in the woods.

Backpfeifengesicht, German - “A face badly in need of a fist.” We’ve all met or seen that person whose face is just begging to be introduced to fist. The Germans were just smart enough to make a word to describe them.

Stammtisch, German - A social gathering of friends, specifically at a bar, to talk about life. (I very much want a stammtisch with you all with I get back.)

Fernweh, German - A strong longing to be away, to go somewhere. (My chronic problem in a nutshell. Thanks Germans.)

Things you cannot do on an airplane

As part of today's conversation class, my students had to come up with a list of things you cannot do on an airplane. Here is the list they came up with.

1. ride a horse
2. boxing
3. cooking
4. take a bath
5. smoke
6. play cards
7. drink alcohol
8. make noise
9. drive a car
10. fart