How Studies and Everyday Life can be Entwined

Good evening, dear readers!~



Today I want to tell you about a remarkable connection I've discovered between my studies and personal interests. It's just an example, but I think it's a very good one to reveal that studying at university can build up many links to everyday life. It not always may seem to be entwined with it that much, and often I have the feeling that what I'm studying isn't that present in the world around me... No way! Learning about the most various topics in an enclosed university doesn't necessarily mean that what you're doing research about is in vain: It widens your worldview and gives you thousands of facets to see life in brighter colours than before.
And today I realized some connections in the following case:


At the moment I visit a class dealing with novellas, and of course we have to read lots of them during the semester and we discuss about their contents and backgrounds etc. Recently I was reading E.T.A. Hoffmann's "The Sandman" - not really my favourite story, but that doesn't matter in that place.


First fact: When I passed by the theatre of our city I saw the promotion for the latest opera which will be performed: "The Tales of Hoffmann" by Jacques Offenbach. Finally I realized that especially this Hoffmann is meant and that also the novella's story is part of this opera - quite interesting!


But now to the second and, in my opinion, more interesting link. One figure in "The Sandman" is called Olimpia and becomes the model for Leo Delibes's protagonist in the same-named ballett "Coppélia". I was quite surprised when I stumbled over this connection and instantly was reminded of Japanese musician Kaya's song also called "Coppelia". I wonder whether he is aware of the origins of the figure...
Of course I also have read the lyrics carefully, and if one wanders around three corners with this background knowledge one really could interpret the lines as the thoughts of the Coppelia from Delibes's ballett as well as the thoughts of Hoffmann's Olimpia. Both figures are lifeless puppets and not able to think or feel at all - on the other hand, Kaya's Coppelia apparently is animate and having emotions. Nevertheless, Hoffmann's Olimpia is a puppet sitting close to a window and the young student Nathanael is observing her with a telescope and finally falls in love with her, not knowing that she is just a puppet. Although we never get to know whether Olimpia has emotions or is able to think in "The Sandman" itself, Kaya's lyrics could depict the counterpart of her mind, if she possesses one. Although the novella is from 1816, we can see that the figure of Olimpia/Coppelia is still present in recent intertextuality.
So, if I would have to put the results in a formula, it would look like this:
E.T.A. Hoffmann, "The Sandman", Olimpia -> Leo Delibes, "Coppélia", Coppélia -> Kaya, "Coppelia"
Moreover I of course loved the fact to get to know more about one song of one of my favourite artist randomly by studying - I hadn't expected such a thing ^___^


So, as a conclusion and message to all of you: Whatever you're doing as a job, whether you're studying or not - always keep holding your eyes and your mind open to everything around you. You may discover connections between things you haven't expected they could be entwined in any way. Here the bonmot becomes reality: Whatever you're learning about or dealing with, and how unnecessary it seems to be; you never know whether you will need this knowledge one day, so bdon't refuse it.
I found out about the value of this saying myself, and I want to encourage all of you to do it the same way.


With best wishes~
Junsui

Little hanami

Good day, dear readers!~


Finally I'm writing an entry here again, and this time it will be about cherry blossoms! No long time ago I found out that my town also has an alley of sakuras, and of course I also went there quickly for a little hanami - so let's have a look on these~

So this is one of our trees close to my house, and I'm still not sure which kind it exactly is...

One of our little bushes in the garden ^__^ the other one, an almond, will bloom later

And here we finally have this sakura alley I've found! I was quite impressed we have such a thing in our town, and I was glad to see that they're already in full bloom. Because the winter still doesn't want to leave everything is blooming slower this year, but luckily these ones are working perfectly with their inner clock~

Quite beautiful, right?~ At least I was able to do my very first hanami in this way ^__^
Oh, by the way, one funny fact: There was nobody around in this side alley, only some Japanese tourists who enthusiastically took photos of the trees xD (sometimes I'm asking myself why they're travelling abroad to see Europe and then return to their habit of searching their home afar...)

Well, just some impressions of these beautiful trees and this wonderful event returning every spring. It makes me feel the revival of nature best, even more than the greening trees and leaves. A pity that their blooming time is just so short... I would love to enjoy this splendour longer.


Thank you for reading and see you~
Junsui