Do people wonder?

So I realized that people might want to know what or how I'm doing here in Nova Scotia. I have been here a full two days and a half. In short: it's awesome.

In long:
(Haha, I know that's not grammatically correct, so why is "in short" accepted?)

I got here Sunday afternoon and was told to skip registration since I got through a long customs line at the end of the registration period anyway. Nova Scotia is beautiful. I was brought by a Scotia Festival staff member directly to my billet family's house, where I got settled in and met the other festival participant they are hosting. His name is Jared, and he's quite a nice fellow. He's a young composer, here from Canada's west coast. I am one of no more than three or four Americans in a contingent of thirty-two Young Artists. I am surrounded by Canadians, and I like it very much. Since being here, I have thought on more than one occasion what it might be like to live in this country, Halifax or elsewhere. The text of this post is green in honor of Nova Scotia's greenness.

Most of the young artists have started rehearsals for the several chamber groups in which they are involved. My primary group is playing the piece I wanted most to play at this festival: the Brahms Klarinettenquintett in B Minor, Op. 115. Three of the members of the string quartet with whom I am playing are from the same quartet at Dalhousie University, where they attended last year and also where much of this festival takes place. They are Mark, a violinist, Paul, also a violinist, and Alejandro, a cellist. Alejandro is transferring next year, and Mark and Paul are going to be very sad. The other member of our quintet is Caren with a "C." She just got her master's degree in violin, but she is in the process of turning into a violist, and thus is playing viola in the quintet. She will also be beginning a performance diploma in viola in the fall so that she can get some viola repertoire under her belt.

I am literally quite ecstatic about this group, as we just finished a large chunk of work on the first movement in only our second day of rehearsals, so that it is now almost performance ready. What helps in this matter is that our personalities get along quite well. Paul and I have pretty strong personalities (I think he is more "type A" than I am), Mark is crazy in a lovable way, but a wonderful musician, Caren is mostly quiet but very musically perceptive and comes out with wonderfully zingy-one liners, and Alejandro is very laid-back. Actually, Mark, Paul, my roommate Jared and I have become quite comfortable with one another in these first two days. I'm very mush looking forward to the rest of these two weeks.

There. Now those of you who were wondering know what and how I'm doing.