I am from Germany, and I am at the moment an exchange student in Australia. It is mainly to improve my English, and also for the experience. I am so far enjoying it a lot, the people are very nice, and I was worried about making friends but it hasn’t been difficult at all. It is very different, but I like it, even though no one can say my name properly.
I joined the choir at the school I am at, because I do it at home a lot, and they thought it would be good because it is quite popular there apparently, and they are quite competitive about it. The school does have a focus on the arts when it comes to extra-curriculars, and so they are very good. I have been enjoying it, the pieces they choose are very different and there’s a different culture around it as well.
Specifically, we are doing a piece, it is Fire by Katerina Gimon if you are familiar, it’s not uncommon but it isn’t very popular. It can involve a lot of screaming, depending on how you choose to do it, and they have gone very heavy on the screaming, like it is proper screaming. The piece is often done by just women, because it tends to sound better. The school I am going to is only girls, so that has a lot to do with it. Our director is also the activist type, so she thought it would be a nice piece to make a statement about women’s rights or something like that. I don’t fully understand it, but I like it.
I have been dating my boyfriend since last year. He is from Germany as well, but we have been talking a lot while I have been away, we call and message a lot. He has always been supportive of what I do, so I had been telling him about it. But he did not like it this time. He said that first of all, it was weird for me to be getting involved in politics while I am here, and that it’s unnecessary. And that it doesn’t even sound good, and people don’t want to be listening to hysterical girls screaming.
I said that it’s not supposed to sound good, it’s just the style, and he said if people are going to listen to it, it should sound good, and trying to make it about women or whatever else does not change that, and trying to is stupid. I said that it’s fine if he doesn’t like it, but he doesn’t have to insult me, and he said he wasn’t, and that I care about the whole thing too much. I know he isn’t the most happy I did the exchange, and I understand, I miss him as well. But I also want to do things on my own, and this is a good opportunity for me. And he understood that. He’s normally really supportive of me, and I don’t really understand why this is different.
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Don’t let him steal your
>He said that first of all, it was weird for me to be getting involved in politics while I am here
It’s never weird to be involved in politics – politics affects everything around you.
>hysterical girls screaming.
Oh so he’s just a misogynist then. Got it. I wonder if he’d care this much about you being involved in politics if it wasn’t in the context of women’s rights
Is he jealous of you?
You’re on the otherside of the world, thriving and living your best life, loving what you’re doing, finding joy in the arts with other like-minded young women and expressing yourselves. If he can’t be happy for you then he’s not the right fit for you.
So women taking political statement = hysterical girls screaming. Atleast thats what I get from him.
It sounds like he thinks the idea of a vocal piece involving ‘a lot of screaming’ sounds like very much not his idea of a good time, and he’s not expressing his distaste for the idea in ways you find appropriate.
I personally also think that doesn’t sound like something I’d want to listen to, but I wouldn’t try and pretend it was about politics or try and dissuade you from being involved. I wouldn’t particularly want to hear about it either, though.
Is this the piece? https://youtu.be/C6C7g1yg1wA?si=vhcgca64UTcB4met
I’m a singer and Australian, and I would have loved to do a piece like this in highschool, though I’ve done choral pieces in a similar vibe as an adult.
This is freaking powerful, and I’m sorry your boyfriend isn’t being supportive.
Here’s the piece if anyone wants to listen to it. It’s very powerful and I can imagine it’s fun to perform. It is inherently about women and female rage as far as I can tell, I don’t think that’s the director’s interpretation.
https://youtu.be/z81WIluw1zQ?si=XOmrDWj4abtYzQwi
As an Australian, I welcome you being ‘political’ while you’re here. This seems like an excellent way to do it.