Changes for Summer Posts!

Those of you who have read my previous posts will know that I am going to be spending 7 weeks of this summer English-free at the Middlebury language schools. Since this is not a bilingual blog, that means I will not be posting for those seven weeks. I have some pre-written content for you, but there will also be bonus content posted by my lovely girlfriend Annie, who is stepping in for me while I am gone. I will not be able to answer email or comments on my text, because I am going what they call radio silent for the next 7 weeks. However feel free to still leave comments and messages on the blog and Annie will either respond to them, or leave them to me for when I get back. I hope you enjoy the 7 posts that I have scheduled for you, as I did indeed enjoy writing them. Play nice with each other, and I will see you in August!*

Cheers,

Talia

*As a matter of fact, this is a blog post and so I will not see you and you will not see me while I am shouting out into the void via these websites, but I trust that you know what I mean in this instance via the implicature involved. kthxbye.

MISTI-Con 2017 Thoughts

I had an exciting time at MISTI-Con last weekend, these three posts chronicle my time pre, mid and post MISTI-Con 2017.

Pre-MISTI

I'm sitting on a bus, on my way to MISTI-Con, and I am nervous. While I have been to conventions before, both big and small, but this is different. This will be the first year that I am going to a convention alone. The last time I went to MISTI-Con I was only there with a day pass, and I was only there for a few of the daytime hours. This time it's a whole new ball game. I will be there for the entirety of the convention, and I will be going solo. It's no secret that I love Harry Potter. I've got over 90 copies of Harry Potter books, I've got robes and ties and scarves and cauldrons. I listen to wizard rock, and read fanfiction.

Yet I still feel like there is something missing.

I've started blogging for a few reasons, to increase my writing skill, to share my ideas, to 'put my name out there' as it were. The main reason however is that I miss the internet. There was a time when I had podcasts memorized (I could recognize people by voice alone) I was as dialed in like you wouldn't believe. Then I started college, and classes took over pretty much everything. I still loved Harry Potter; but I had to adjust my focus. I still wandered; I've had several classes where my essays have been about Harry Potter, still I feel that I have lost my way with the fandom.

I love the community, but especially since last year I feel like I've come away from it. At the end of spring semester 2016, a little over a year ago, I got a very serious concussion. I've since been re-concussed and I still suffer from a few lingering symptoms, one of which is an aversion to screens. It gets better every day, but it means that at times like these, where I am writing a post on a moving vehicle, I am probably going to have to stop soon so that I don't make myself sick. Due to my injury, I did not finish my coursework for the Spring semester until the beginning of the fall semester. Last winter break was the first time that I went without homework for almost a year, and that was itself a short break.

So now that I am on summer vacation, it feels very strange to not have any work to do. Of course, I say this as I head to a convention, so it isn't like I'm not going to be busy. Between the convention and the translators' conference and my trip abroad and my family vacation and my 7 weeks at Middlebury, I'm going to be very busy. That's part of the issue, though isn't it? I've got almost no free time for the entirety of the summer. Some might think that a bad thing, but I disagree. For me, free time is extraordinarily difficult. I must always keep myself busy, or else I go mad.  (And I don’t even have a box!)

Mid-MISTI

So, this is the winding down of my third day at MISTI. I'm a bit incredulous that I once thought I would be going this alone. The theme of this MISTI is "Coming Home," and that's what this feels like. I'm so comfortable here, and everyone I have met has been a genuine joy to interact with. I'm so glad I came here and that I am spending time with these amazing people, who really do feel like family. I have high levels of anxiety, so the fact that I can feel so at home here is a testament to how welcoming our community really is. I've loved the panels and events that I have been to, and I am currently having the time of my life. I ended up missing the wizard rock shows, which was disappointing, but if there is one thing I have learned from cons it's that I can't do everything. In that respect, it's not that different from classes. If I'm being honest I think we'd all benefit from time-turners.

I've learned so much already, from people running panels and audience alike. Everything from the importance of the paper you use with publishing, to Scorbus head canons, to Harry Potter as Therapy. I've participated in trivia, seen Snape with a guitar, found poetry in on page 434(PoA) and seen examples of Harry Potter as social justice. I marvel at the fact that I am here and that I am so lucky, and I am humbled at the privilege this gives me, to be able to do these things and meet these people and have such a good time in life. I'm happier than I have been in a long time, and I imagine that in the future I will look back and smile.

To cross fandoms on you, I solemnly swear that in this moment I feel infinite.

Post-MISTI

Wow. These past few days have been some of the most awesome I've had in a good long while. The people in this fandom are so genuinely kind and it honestly was a whole other world. Moving my hotel to one on-site really did make an enormous difference. All my time at MISTI was excellent, but being with everyone so closely was a distinct experience, and one for the better. MISTI-Con 2019 is going to be in a new venue, and while I do love the Margate location, I understand. As someone who was both away from and staying with the convention I can confirm that while I loved it all, I was happiest with everyone else. There are so many things I could say about this amazing experience, but I think I'll stick with two words ― Thank You.

My relationship with Spanish

I wish I were more fluent in Spanish. Not only am I in love with the language, but it would make translation so much easier. Yet can you ever be fluent in a language other than your native tongue?

For example: the word 'dichoso' I found defined as 'happy' and 'dammed' I was confused, but assumed it was an auto-antonym. I thought this for months, until I finally got around to talking to a native speaker, and within a minute of explaining my perceived definition it was explained that the word meant 'fortunate' and the definition meaning damned was actually not in there as the speaker being subject to some sort of curse, but in the sense of 'that damned book!' Unfortunately I did not know this and have undoubtedly made a fool of myself in front of anyone who reads those older translations. Not my best move.

It's not that I'm terrible at Spanish, but I can sense the gaps in vocabulary like a child can sense they're being left out while adults spell out words. I have never liked that feeling, hence why I learned how to spell P I Z Z A early on in my youth. (Incidentally, that word is spelled the same in both English and Spanish. The more you know).

I started learning Spanish when I was only 5. My elementary school used to have weekly Spanish classes for every grade, and while that was nice while it lasted, it stopped after my year in kindergarten. I had the option to be put in the two-way program, but I was passed up because I had 'no aptitude for the language'. In reality, I had no aptitude for that teacher. I thought she was annoying, so I failed on purpose. What can I say? 5-year-old me was petty and had no concept of consequences.

It wasn't until the 6th grade that I started another Spanish class, and at that point I had forgotten almost everything except how to make a trill. We don't have them in English, but trills are awesome. One of my favorite party tricks is to trill while humming 'Hedwig's Theme.' That and chest isolations while dancing are my best selling points while trying to convince people of my awesomeness.

After 6th grade and memorizing Ciega, Sordomuda I went to the Middlebury Monterey Language Academy (now called Middlebury Interactive Languages) and did 4 weeks of language immersion. My Spanish skills went up, and up again when I returned to Middlebury after 7th grade. In high school I skipped a year in Spanish and my junior year I was slated to take the AP course for Spanish, only to switch to a school that had no Spanish classes. In college I started at a fairly low level because I had the hubris to take the exam at 2am. In any case, my Spanish skills have taken a while to catch up because I was starting at such a low level again. I've finally worked my way back to the top, but vocabulary gets me every time.

This summer I am going to the Middlebury Language Schools, so I will hopefully learn more there. That said, it will be 7 weeks of no English, so I will most likely be creating posts in advance, or just writing them in Spanish and translating them back to English once the 7 weeks are up.

In the meantime, classes are done at Brandeis, so finals are about to hit me hard. I'll make a new post as soon as I finish and/or when I get stressed out from working on things and want to use this blog as a pre-draft of my reflection papers.

Cheers,
Talia