20 things to know as a freshman in college

How is it already time for my first sister to graduate?? I'm not ok with this.
Having had a year here at UVA already, I have some advice for you (more helpful than those "What I wish I knew as a freshman" articles that tell you not to walk by yourself or to use the libraries or to, y'know, make friends):

1) If you get to the dining hall right when it opens, the handles of the serving spoons won't be sticky yet.

2) When choosing a major, remember you'll be spending a lot of time in that building. Choose one with at least one clean bathroom and comfy chairs.

3) The number of stickers you have on your laptop is a measure of how cool you are.

4) Never plug a surge protector into a surge protector.

5) You'd think double the surge protector would mean double the protection from surges. This is not a correct assumption.

6) Don't keep doing #4 even after you've already had to call the emergency facilities guy four times to fix your electricity.

7) Check the weather. Every day. Be ready for a flash storm, drought, snow, or heat wave (or a combination of all four) at all times.

8) Pearls are an everyday thing.

9) Do NOT move a single chair in Newcomb dining hall. He will find you. And he will destroy you.

10) Meal exchange is a gift sent from above. Do not wait to discover this beautiful thing.

11) Don't tell Mom, but whites and darks can go in the same washer.

12) If you don't have at least three V-something shirts, do you even go here?

13) Don't befriend or get attached to fourth years. They're just going to leave you and rip your heart in two.

14) Don't be the person that washes their feet in the dining hall bathroom's sink.

15) Lower your expectations for cleanliness, hygiene, and food.

16) Get yourself a calendar, girl. And keep track of EVERYTHING on it.

17) Some gates on grounds have openings wide enough to squeeze through if you take your backpack off. Shhhh don't tell anyone

And just a few more things:

18) Professors are just about the coolest people ever. Seriously, be their best friend. I'm friends with professors I haven't even taken classes with because the profs in the CS department are the best, funniest people. Make excuses to go to their office hours, even if it's just to talk about how cute their baby is (that's what got me my TA job). Also, later when you need letters of recommendation, they'll be able to say they've known you for longer.

19) It's ok if you get a B in a class. In high school, I never thought I'd say that. School was always my highest priority. School is still a very high priority for me, but if I have to choose between getting a B in class and spending time with people and things that I love or spending all my time studying, the people always win out. College is a time where you make some of your best, lifelong friends; don't miss out on that.

20) Get to know people within your major. In some departments I know that's hard. For example, in Cog Sci, I hear that there aren't required courses that everyone takes, so no one in the major really knows each other. But in CS for example (sorry for all my CS examples), there are people who just go to class, and there are people who get involved. It's so rewarding to be a part of that group; you get to the chance to hang around with people who understand the way you think; you can talk about things no one else understands; and you can befriend upperclassmen who can help you with your homework/are your TA's.

Love you, Liv. Can't wait for you to join me at UVA!

Marina

We're actually Americans though

How has it been two weeks already? On the one hand, I'm not ready to leave the gelato stands, accordian players, and gorgeous castles (future homes) behind... on the other, I'm definitely looking forward to cliché country music about pickup trucks, one-lane back roads, moonshine, and sundresses (every country song ever made. The epitome of American-ness).

Yesterday, we crammed all 90 of us on a metro (didn't have enough tickets for all of us #oops #they'llneverknow) and had our last concert at the chapel in Schönbrunn palace in Vienna (I like to think I'm an expert at Austria after watching the Sound of Music like 217 times). It was our first concert in awhile where we didn't have a significant number of sick people sitting out. #WeConqueredEColi

Sometimes we wear our Cambridge sweatshirts during rehearsal so people will think we're a Cambridge choir

looking fly and breaking laws is what we do

I would definitely be ok if Schönbrunn palace were my summer home. Castles and palaces don't really seem real until you go to Europe, and now I again feel like a little girl in the I-want-to-be-a-princess stage.

The reality that tour was coming to an end finally hit us at our farewell dinner last night, which included lots of wine and classy waltzing to live music (i.e., we got up and danced our enthusiastic American hearts out, while the Austrians looked on probably thinking "that is...not how you do that").

As soon as I get home, I'm going to write President Obama a letter--demanding that hotels offer little plastic things of Nutella, that there be a gelato stand on every corner, and that castles be installed in every major city (I could do without the sketchy street vendors/performers who invade your personal space and the concerning lack of water fountains).

But maybe these things are what makes Europe special. Maybe I'll let Europe remain a fairytale and America be my home. 

Tour was fun. It was good to sing every day, to wear dresses and lipstick and pearls, to pretend I understand different currencies and the metric system (#I'mintheEschool #Ishouldknowthis), to ride the subways/metros (I don't live in DC, so riding a metro is still new and exciting for me), to get lost in beautiful cities, and to try new foods (PSA: Schnitzel is amazing). I'm looking forward to my next visit to Europe.

I might post a final picture overload once I get home, but now it's almost time to board our flight to London, where we'll then board a flight to Dulles.

Feel free to send me nice, sarcastic, or sassy texts since I'll have cell service after around 8:30pm EST.

Wish us safe travels--

Marina

10 Exciting Things That Happened in the Past 2 Days

...because I'm too tired to actually write a coherent post.

1. I tried the Czech version of Coke. It was...interesting

2. I prayed in a beautiful adoration chapel that Pope John Paul II likely prayed in. (*fangirling so hard*) He's everywhere in Poland, and it was one of my favorite things about it.

3. I sang my favorite prayer in the salt mines with some of my favorite people. It never gets old. Listen to all of it if you can--the last verse is the best (I'm at the bottom of the stairs with the small group)

USingers Tour Salt Mine from Niki Afsar on Vimeo.

"Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus nunc et in hora nostrum."

4. I had my first gelato. Where has this been all my life?!

5. A sweet polish woman who'd studied at UVA and went to my church for a time drove three hours to Krakow to hear our concert. It was great to see a familiar face; it made my day. :)

6. I tried fried cauliflower. It was SO GOOD. Why don't we have this in the states?! I'm gonna talk with President Obama about this.

7. We almost joined a Polish protest. Then it turned out to just be a dragon parade advertising for another dragon parade happening later that week.

8. We watched the Sound of Music on the bus, and I realized I have something in common with Maria Von Trapp.

"I can't seem to stop singing *wherever* I am!"

9. When we got to Brno today (the smallest city we've performed at), we sang for the biggest and best crowd we've had this trip and got two standing ovations. It was totally unexpected, and it renewed our energy. (now excited to sing for Vienna tomorrow)

10. And finally, at around 11:30 tonight, we arrived in Vienna!

More tomorrow because I'm starting to misspell words...
Marina

400 feet under

Today has been quite the day, with 8 hours on the road and half of us sick from E Coli.
Fortunately, my roommate and I escaped unscathed, but the problem arose when the water at the hotel became unsafe to drink, and about 40 USingers had to stay behind in Prague today and go to the hospital. (They're mostly fine now)

The rest of us drove from Prague to Krakow/Weilicka, where we toured the famous salt mines.

Back when these mines were built, salt was like gold. It was used as a preservative (so basically I'm well-preserved now and will be around for a looooong time), and it could be used to buy cities (I'd like to buy Cambridge and Prague please).

These impressive mines are almost 300 kilometers long and are now used for people with asthma/allergy/skin problems. The salt in the air is supposed to be good for your health, so people with these conditions go there for a couple hours a day and are advised to either sleep (because your breathing changes when you sleep) or sing.
(Did I just accidentally develop an asthma/allergy/skin condition?! Looks like I'll have to go to the salt mines every day... #oops)

The chapel (picture not mine)

When we got to the chapel, we stood on the stairs and sang for awhile. You know that thing I said yesterday about how impromptu performances are kind of like flash mobs? I'm beginning to think they actually *are* flash mobs. Many tour groups came in and watched us sing, taking videos/pictures and waving to us--and sadly, even though all these people now have pictures of random strangers singing, I didn't get even one picture (so I'll be stealing instas from other people again).

One of the pieces on our concert program is the well-known folk song Shenandoah. Singing this song in Europe is completely different from singing it at home. Many of us from USingers were raised in or close by the Shenandoah valley; it is our home. But many of these people to whom we sing don't know about this land we love and don't know what's so special about it, and our job is to convey that to them--across language and cultural barriers. My hope is that when we sing of our home, the Europeans listening can feel our passion for our home and a tinge of homesickness from us.

Here's a video of us singing it back home. Let me know if you think we're worthy of representing this gorgeous land of ours.


And finally, here's a short (10 second) clip of our performance at the salt mines from a fellow USinger's insta.
I hope to post more of our performance tomorrow. Goodnight and sweet dreams...

Marina

Today, we sang in an underground chapel carved within a salt mine in Poland 350 feet below ground. To say it was unforgettable is an understatement. Here is a brief snippet from Sainte Chapelle! 🌍🇮🇩🎶🔦#EUsingers

A video posted by Katherine Seidl (@katiemae015) on May 25, 2015 at 1:28pm PDT

looking for me? czech prague.

When we drove into Prague, I was unimpressed. There was graffiti everywhere. It was nothing special, for what was supposed to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Then I saw it from a mountaintop overlook.

Then I saw it at nighttime. Wow.

Although most of us were running on just a few hours of sleep, we gave a short impromptu performance at the overlook to people dining at a nearby restaurant and tourists at the overlook. 

(One of the reasons impromptu performances are the best: They're almost like flash mobs, but not really) 

Then this sweet friend and I went on an adventure to find the only Catholic church with a vigil mass Saturday evening. We found the sketchy metro station, unintentionally broke the law by accidentally riding the metro without using our tickets, and navigated through the Czech street names as if we were locals (not really--we had a huge map, and I had to use the compass on my iPhone).

Sometimes we live dangerously. #rebels

The mass was in Czech, but it was amazing. We "sang" a czech hymn (more like sang "dah dah" on the melody line) and pretended to understand Czech.

Later, we explored Prague, toured an opera house, and found ourselves a castle.

I could be an opera singer #That'sfunny #NO

As we would find out tomorrow, the castle-like building in "The Prague Castle" is actually a cathedral. 

Light filled the chamber,

Many-coloured light;

She heard her voice

Echo,

“Holy! Holy! Holy!”

Softly the angels sang,

“Lord God of Hosts, Heaven and earth are full

Of your glory!

Now *that*, my friends, is a *church*.

After visiting the castle and touring the State Opera House, we were all exhausted, and not all of us were looking forward to our concert. It turned out to be one of the best we've ever had.
What was so special about it? I'm not sure. But backstage after the concert, murmurs of "Wow", "That was amazing", and "I almost cried" filled the room.

Perhaps it was the gorgeous church we were singing in that reverberated our sound through its beautiful stone.
Perhaps it was all the people who wandered in after hearing us outside in the streets of central Prague.
Perhaps it was the little old ladies who sang along to the Czech folk song our boys performed.
Perhaps it was the beauty, wonder, and awe that filled all of us as we sang the Ave Maria--even though we've sung it many times before.
Perhaps it was the last cadence of that piece, which echoed through the church for 10 seconds after we released the chord.

Listen to this short clip posted by a fellow USinger...

one of my favorite concerts yet, surrounded by beauty #EUSingers

A video posted by Eric Petruzzo (@rrericlikesyou) on May 24, 2015 at 9:38am PDT 

#somuchbeauty

you can address my mail to Buckingham Palace

Farewell, England. I miss you already.

Here are some of my favorite things about this place (i.e., what the US needs to improve on):

Instead of "yield" signs, they have "give way" signs. 

Similarly, a bus is a "motor coach"; ordering your lunch to go is ordering your lunch "take away"; and if you're getting hungry, you could say you're getting quite "nibbly". 

People are actually named Neville. 

A "cream tea" is not tea with cream in it. It is two "scones" (really, biscuits) served with cotted cream (between cream and butter), jam, and a pot of tea. Mmmmmmmm

The way to a girl's heart...

To flush the toilet, you push a button in the wall instead of turning a handle. 

A Computer Science major is a "comp sci" (pronounced "comp-skee") major. 

In areas of the highway that often get congested, there are road signs that say "queues likely". How classy. I love it.

Now, we're in Prague, but I never finished telling you all about London, and I think we're due for a picture overload.

Thursday, we passed through Stratford-Upon-Avon and visited the home of some dead guy who didn't go to college and made gloves. His name was Shakespeare or something.

Then we moved on to London. Chamber Singers is singing a piece called "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square", so of course, we felt compelled to get off the bus and sing that piece in Berkeley Square. (impromptu performances are the best kind of performances)
(*many people filmed us, so hopefully video coming soon)

We spent most of the rest of the day doing tourist-y things, like taking pictures in front of Big Ben...

...and in front of my future home...

Buckingham Palace, y'all

...of the tower of London...



...and England's version of The Capital...



...and St. John's Cathedral.

I thought I would really love this cathedral (I usually tend to love cathedrals--they're kind of one of my favorite things). But this one was missing something. It's absolutely gorgeous, but as we went inside, it was clear something was different from other churches. This one was being marketed as a tourist attraction--selling tickets to get in the doors and headphone-video sets for an audio tour. It also held a few pieces of modern art--not that there's anything wrong with that; it just felt out of place. Most importantly, there was no tabernacle. And then I realized the cathedral was Anglican.


After a long day of touring London, we finally did what we did best--

One of my TA friends who happened to be in London came to watch us sing and take selfies.

And with that, it was goodbye London, and off to Prague.

More to come soon!

Until then,

Marina

very music. so joy.

"An innocent girl 

entered the chapel, 

and the angels in the glass 

softly sang." 

(*not my picture)

Second day in Cambridge. Could I love this city more?!?!

We performed a lunchtime recital at St. Mary's, which several of our new friends from Jesus College attended.

After that, we toured King's College (another one of the many colleges in Cambridge University). Wow. What beauty.

King's College version of "The Lawn"

I've watched almost every single YouTube video of King's College Choir singing in the the King's College chapel, so when we got to go inside, I fangirled so hard. It was unreal.

The Chapel at King's College

During our free time, a few of us returned to that chapel to hear evensong. After, a couple of us were on some sort of choral music high and walked to St. John's College to hear *their* evensong (ahhh, British boys).

England has such wonderful choral tradition. Does everyone here sing?! Every college in Cambridge University has a choir, and at least the 3 I've heard have been absolutely amazing. I want this for America.

All that choral music made me hungry, and how could I have left England without having had fish and chips?

It was inevitable.

Dinner was good. The wine was good. England is good.

Some of us were tired.

The Wills. What good tour buddies.

Others of us weren't.

British Bartenders are wonderful. (Remember, Mom, I'm legal in this country)

Tomorrow, we leave Cambridge, stop by Stratford Upon Avon, and then head to London. Until then....

Marina

P.S. A few more photos...

St. John's College

St. John's College

Much cuteness

P.P.S. Go here to read Will's post about Day 2 of our tour. You won't regret it; he is a far better writer than I will ever be.