Life is pulling together…

So, it looks like I’m finally going to start incorporating myself into the life here in Laon.  Classes will be happening more regularly starting next week, and that means that I will start making friends among the students at the school.  In addition, I’ve a meeting tomorrow with the director of the Music Conservatory here in town, to discuss having me play the viola in the orchestra at the school.  Yay!  And I am going to a concert this Saturday evening!  Double yay!  There has been a Berlioz festival going on here in Laon for the past few months (a concert here, another there, spaced out over the weeks), and the final concert of the festival is this Saturday.  They are playing Berlioz’s “Harold in Italy” - a hugely important piece in the viola repertoire, since the part of “Harold” is acted out through a viola solo - and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 - one of my favorite pieces.  It’s actually only through the extreme niceness of a lady at the Tourist Office that I’m going.  I was under the impression that there were three different ticket prices, and I was going to splurge a bit and buy the cheapest one, at 18 euros.  However, it turned out that all tickets cost 24 euros - too expensive for me.  I turned to walk away, disappointed, but the woman called me back and told me that she would pretend that I was a student at the Music Conservatory, and I could therefore have a ticket for 10 euros.  Triple yay!  She said that there are too many people who attend these concerts only to get dressed up and show themselves off, and that she wanted to encourage those people who actually want to hear the music as much as possible.  I’m so excited!
I’m also excited because Fall Break is coming up in two weeks, and I’m trying to figure out what I want to do.  I might visit a friend in Madrid, if I am allowed to leave the country, or, more specifically, if I would be allowed to return once I had left.  (Technicalities of my visa.)  Or, failing that, I’m considering bicycling along the Loire for a few days, visiting Fontainbleu (spelling?) and staying in youth hostels.  Or I might just take a train into Paris, maybe stay overnight, and visit the Louvre - I get in FREE!  That’s right - since I have this thing called a carte professionelle, I can get into any of the national museums completely for free!  Quadruple yay!  Decisions, decisions… better have a look at my finances, I think.

Oh, by the way, I’ve had it pointed out to me that I left something rather crucial out of my mass emailing.  I’m sure that you’ve all figured this out, but if you want to send something to me, it’s important that you put FRANCE in big letters at the bottom of the address.  Woudn’t want to confuse the USPS!

So, this afternoon I will probably stay in my room for the most part, relax, watch strange French commercials (and they are bizarre, let me tell you).  I also might visit the library that’s located right across the street in what used to be a monastery.  It’s great - not only do I have a gorgeous, hundreds-of-years-old building greeting me every time I walk out of the front door of the school that I live in, but it houses a library!  Life is good….  ::grin::