Friends and music

Yesterday Shin left to go back home (Vancouver) for good. He's the only Christian grad student in computer science that I know, and it's a pretty large department. He also plays the violin in church and we'll all miss that :). We never talked too much, but we went to the same church for like half a year. This is kind of annoying because I'm not used to people coming and going so much (and, of course, it's not the coming that I mind). I guess that's why people in general seem so cold here: they're used to not getting attached to other people because of this population circulation thing. Anyway, the good part is I got all this classical music from him (his play list lasts for a month or something like that - and I got the 38 best hours of it). It was really funny because he was recommending me stuff and he was trying to hum it and that's always funny because one person can't really reproduce the music produced by an entire orchestra. So we both ended up humming Brahms's 1st symphony as I walked him to the student center and said good-bye.

But God is wonderful and he doesn't let me philosophize too much (one of the things I love the most about Him). He has given me Samantha who suggested we go to IHOP for breakfast today. So here we are on a Saturday morning, driving, listening to (loud) Switchfoot and singing (yelling) along (loudest played song: "Something more"). It was really fun. The other day we were watching "La vita e Bella" and laughed and almost cried together (as Tim was snoring). Which brings me to where I wanted to get: I was listening to this really good sermon the other day, recommended by Jay. I like the part where the pastor talks about Acts 21:5,11-14. He's funny, but most importantly, he emphasizes that there's a special bond between Christian friends. Sam is my first Christian friend and from my experience, I totally agree with him. One of my ex-roommates has been my best friend for almost a year, but she wasn’t a Christian and I got over her leaving surprisingly fast.. So this strong bond must be because of the Christian thing :)

Update: This afternoon, Samantha started IM-ing me in Romanian. I seriously thought I'm hallucinating and that my brain had started to automatically translate without my approval. Turns out Samantha is determined to learn Romanian. I tried to convince her not to because it's useless, but that seems to have made her even more determined in this venture. Actually it was that and also the encouragement she got from reading a website in Romanian and understanding most of it (because words look a lot like their equivalent in Italian and she knows Italian). She gave me a link to a website where some American missionaries describe part if their cultural experience (shock) in Romania. Hilarious but true (mostly).

Here's what she said:

"Samantha:
Bunã ziua! [Hello]

Samantha:
Eu sunt învăţa limbă a ta! :D
[this is actuially not correct, but what she probably meant was : I learn your language - most Romanians would understand what she meant though]

Samantha:
Foarte bine, Noroc! :D [very well, good luck!]"

And may I just say LOL

Currently listening : Mozart - Symphony #41