Canal Days and the Sun's Rays.doc

In Canada, Canal Days is an annual marine hertiage festival held in Port Colborne. In Amsterdam, canal day is every day.

April, as I've said, is a bit of a wolf in sheep's clothing: it appears beautiful and full of joy, but once you peel back the spring artifice there is a mountain of school work to keep one chained to the desk. I'm currently camped out in the Theaterwetenschap library (theatre science, but of course). We heat actors in test-tubes over bunsen burners to determine their emotional recall abilities and dissect characters with scalpels and protractors to determine their 'super-objectives'. It's all very messy stuff - all in a day's work when you're a scientist though. This section of the library has the AC cranked up unbearably high. If there is one thing I can't stand it's when, during the warm months, indoor temperatures are reconstructed to feel like the cold weather we left behind. I'm thinking of registering a formal complaint, but I don't want to mess with the Head Theatre Scientist here. Maybe the temperature is low to keep the theatre cadavers frozen.

We had long days of class on both Tuesday and Wednesday. I continue to enjoy my Key Theories in International Performance Class. Unlike the first year PhD class in Theatre Theory I took at UofT, which was rewarding but extremely challenging, I actually feel comfortable expressing my ideas and contributing to class discussion. We have only two more classes of it in the next two weeks and then we present our portfolio presentations in mid-May. Once this course ends, it will be the last formal class of my university education. Mucho looking forward to that.

After our classes on both days, a few of us rewarded our efforts with some after-school drinks. Each of the two days we migrated to a patio close to the school (there are a few to choose from) to blow off a bit of April steam. On Tuesday, we camped out on a patio which is situated across from another patio and separated by a bike path. Prime people watching territory. It was a bit funny - all the chairs on each of the patios were faced outward to catch the sun. I'm sure it made an intimidating route for bikers cruising down between the packed groups. Yesterday, we choose a patio further down the closest canal. In addition to tables and chairs outside, people sat with beers on either side of the canal. This type of chilling is too difficult to pass up. We enjoyed a few drinks, discussed our respective thesis proposals, and watched the boats float by in the afternoon sun. If I had to choose the most beautiful feature of the city, it would be the canals. Not only do they provide an easy way to navigate the city, but being surrounded by water is a pretty special way to spent your time. Their brilliance takes on new meaning when the bridges are all alit in the evenings.

Other important thoughts today:

1) In preparation for next month's 'May'hem (read: May visitors) I'm trying to get ahead with my final essay for the term. The abstract is due in a month and the final is due in June. I've started the paper and decided on a topic: Attempts at Intercultural Theatre as Expressions of an Imagined Global Citizenship. Wish me luck. The topic is a bit out of left field, but I hope it pays off.

2) April is half over. This makes me extremely happy. If you're a dedicated reader you know why. If you're not, what's stopping you?! Bookmarking makes returning very easy.

3) I'm headed to Rotterdam on Saturday - it's the second largest city in the Netherlands. We're going to visit a museum, have some dinner, and see a show from the international Needcompany.

The novelty of biking through the city during spring days hasn't worn off. I don't think it will while I'm here. I wonder if it wears off for permanent residents. Probably not.

Doc's Prescription of the Day: Sunshine, pure and simple. Even if you can't enjoy it hanging off the side of a canal, open those blinds and curtains and let it stream through.