Day 117: Where’s my turkey?
36yearsago.com
Vienna 1971—A Student Journal
A year of music, study, travel, sightseeing &
friends.
Day 117
— Where’s my turkey?
27-November-1971
(Sat.)
TRANSCRIPT
Letter from Walter. He left the Peace Corps.
Disappointing, he said it didn’t live up to his
ideals. He didn’t regret his experience. That’s good.
Went to “anti-opera” contemporary concert. Very
interesting type of live “music” theater. Wrote down
my comments on the program.
Found out that I missed Thanksgiving. I didn’t even
realize it. (Perhaps that means I’m a Communist.)
This is the first Thanksgiving I missed, and boy, do
I miss that turkey and stuffing. Hmmmm, hmmmm, ohhhh,
hmmmm, slurp………..
REFLECTIONS
Cousin
Walter and the Peace Corps. My cousin
Walter and I kept in contact a lot when we were
growing up. My mother, brothers, and I often went to
his mother’s house, Teta Anna, for family gatherings.
After college, Walter joined the Peace Corps. That
was very noble of him. He is a good person. I
remember him telling me fascinating stories about
being in an African village and helping to build a
water well for the village. At the time, the Peace
Corps was an important organization for volunteers
wanting to help poorer nations around the world. It
may still be. I was surprised that he left because he
wanted to help the world. He still felt the
experience was worthwhile. We still see each other at
annual family picnics.
Anti-opera?
Another
concert of contemporary music, along the veins of a
theater event. I generally enjoy these music events,
though they can also become very similar to each
other. I don’t know what was anti-opera about the
event, and am sorry that I don’t have my notes to see
what I was thinking.
Europe
and the avant-garde. I believe
that Europe has always been more open and receptive
to contemporary music, for example, the avant-garde
genres of electronic music, music theater, multimedia
events, “happenings” and such. This is certainly true
of contemporary art as well. I am willing to bet that
this is true today as well. Another example of this
acceptance is the popularity of American jazz
throughout Europe.
No
Thanksgiving? Can it be?
Yes, I basically forgot about Thanksgiving, an
American-only holiday, and didn’t have any turkey. I
missed it. Well, at least my adolescent humor has
returned. I was getting nervous about being so
serious.
John
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