Canada rocks my world.

I was in Vancouver this weekend auditioning for the Banff Centre. I have auditioned for them a few times before. It's always a good excuse to visit some great friends in Vancouver and indulge in lots of yummy tapas and sangria at our favorite restaurant. Generally, I think they prefer to hire Canadians, but the audition went very well, and I'm hoping that the fact I'm an alumna of a Canadian University might help me out a little. If only they knew how much I really want to be Canadian! Canada is so cool!

First of all, the spelling. I feel so much more sophisticated going to the theatre, or attending a centre for something. Secondly, it's great to feel like I'm getting a refresher course in French every time I go to the grocery store. Also, it (well, Vancouver and Victoria, anyway) really feels like home. When I went to Indiana after finishing my bachelor's degree in Victoria, I found that immediately I had met a circle of Canadian friends. I felt, still feel, I think, more of an identity as someone who has lived in Canada than I do as an American, in broad terms. Of course, Seattle, is probably the most Canadian of any major US city, so that probably has something to do with it.

Canada, like the US, has had new designs for their money in the last few years. The picture of the queen has been aged appropriately, and her picture is bigger on the front. I noticed a quote on the back (in English and French, of course!) by Gabrielle Roy: "Nous connaitrons-nous nos-memes seulement un peu sans les artes?" "Can we ever know each other even a little without the arts?" On their MONEY, people! I mean, come on! How cool is that?

In other news, I'm ready to get cracking on my spring projects -- the St. Matthew Passion and the first opera known to be written by a woman: La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall' isola di Alcina, by Francesca Caccini. I'll be performing this with the Northwest Puppet Center. I'm totally excited about both of these projects, and ready to dive in. There are some exciting things in the works for next fall (one having to do with Canada, even!), but more on that later when they solidify a little more.