Spinning Words

St. Andrew’s Night

Posted on November 29, 2015 by Diana

Note to self: when washing a cup and drying it with a napkin, throw the latter in the bin, not the first. If by any chance you do the other way around, don’t rest amazed that you have nothing to pour coffee into.

Note to self, again: you should fly back to London, you’re out of Milky Way. Sad!

Going back to serious stuff (as if I am ever not serious), I am just writing to remind you that tonight is Saint Andrew’s Night and tomorrow is Saint Andrew, an important celebration in Romanian culture and the patron saint of my name. I wrote about it before here, so if you want to find out what it is all about, read it there. It is mainly about a beautiful Christian celebration but also about customs that are rooted in the Romanian folklore. Some sort of Halloween but less commercial and more embedded in tradition. It’s about spirits coming back to haunt the places they left behind, paying debts and suffering in agony for the evil they did during lifetime. It is about vampires and witches dancing in the woods, about deserted churches and ghosts. This is about the Gothic picture that Bram Stoker described so nicely in his book “Dracula” that yes, had Transylvania, a Romanian region, as setting for the plot. It’s a beautiful magic story, for those who believe in magic. A silly story for those who don’t and a frightening one for those who are superstitious. If you are part of the last group, I hope you ate garlic before going to bed. I am not superstitious but I do eat garlic, mainly because I find the story behind this celebration beautiful and because it is, as I said a few rows up, a day of importance to me.

Unfortunately I think reality offers more horrors than our beautiful magic stories, but I don’t want to talk about that now, I will update myself with the latest news tomorrow and probably forget all about owls, vampires, werewolves and celebrations.

Until then, happy name day to all named after Saint Andrew, Apostle of the wolves, the apprentice of St John the Baptist before being one of the 12 Disciples, bringer of Christianity to the territories that are now part of Romania. Enjoy this beautiful day in all its customs and traditions!

Posted in Day to Day, English | 2 Comments

Soundtrack of a Week by the River

Posted on November 24, 2015 by Diana

Going back to London, I think it is time I make a quick review of the songs I got stuck with and that keep playing in my head and,some of them, in my Spotify playlists again and again. First, the easyest thing to do is to go back to the tennis tournament and remember all the tracks they played. Well, fortunately for me, some I have no idea what they are called, they were just not that interesting to remember. But some, 4 to be more precise, are worth mentioning. The first surprise came with the fact that they played Heroes by David Bowie after every match and after every interview with the winner, both in single and in doubles. I already wrote about it here.

Then they had the usual smile and wave song, kiss-cam, “oh my, that’s me on the big screen” song. That was Happy by Pharrell Williams. No, this one is not in my Spotify playlist. It didn’t make it there not even after they drove me crazy with playing it at the 2014 tennis tournament in Bucharest.

Another song that they used when teasing the crowd was Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars. The guys at the tournament used it when two ticket holders from the upper tier of the O2 were the lucky winners of two tickets closer to the court on the lower tier. This one really made people agitated and happier than the kiss-cam song. Not in Spotify either though it’s a fun song and it might make it there.

Then comes a song that I grew to like a lot and that they played very often. It’s a very catchy track and probably the very fact that they played it almost entirely before every match made it get stuck in my head and it will stay there. I also have to remember to check the whole discography for these guys, I might find something else that is interesting. And now that I actually watch the video I see that Noel Gallagher is actually the singer, sis & I doubted it was his voice we were hearing.

And because now I look at the pictures I took and I remember the good times I had last week watching tennis, walking the streets holding a hot cup of coffee and nervously attending my first conference, I’ve been having this song on repeat for a few days now:

This one pretty much reminds me of me trotting without a map and precise direction, with an exact idea of where and when I want to get to a certain spot but, above all, it reminds me of the bridges over the Thames and the boats going under them, daytime or nighttime, of Waterloo Pier and of the frozen Big Issue sales-girl from one of the Golden Jubilee Bridges.

Now I am really sorry I didn’t take a picture of every place that reminded me of Harry Potter. But I am almost certain I lived close to the Leaky Cauldron for a week. And I still have some songs in my head but I have no idea who sings them so I am afraid that until I run into them on the radio they will remain a mystery.

Posted in Away, English, Music Stuff | 1 Comment

That’s all, folks

Posted on November 22, 2015 by Diana

Well, what can I say now? What should I start with, my first conference or the tennis? Tough choice.

London from behind the window of Westminster Uni

My first conference was at Westminster University. It was pretty much the first time I was among so many scholars, each of them, just like me, focused on their study, convinced that it is the most important of them all and defending it in all possible ways. And then you get really good constructive criticism and encouragement to take it further. Or at least this is what happened to me. Boy was I nervous. But instead of sticking my nose on my notes or reading from my slides I tried to make eye contact with my audience and see if they aprove or not of what I am saying. They must have liked it, they asked questions and offered me suggestions on what I should read further. My reading list grows nicely. Next time I will do even better cause I sure hope there will be a next time. I didn’t use to like politics, or maybe I didn’t understand what politics really is and here I am now seeing it everywhere and looking for it in everything.

Year end no 1 team: Horia and Juls

The tennis. Besides the fact that Horia and his partner, Juls, have defeated the Bryan Brothers for the first time in their career, have qualified for the final of the ATP World Tour Finals and have clinched the year end number 1 in the teams rankings, tomorrow they are playing the final against…drum roll… Florin and Rohan. Florin is the other Romanian, which means that yes, a Romanian will get the title. Which one, I have no idea and I don’t care. I’ve seen them both live this week, they play some of the best tennis they ever played, they both deserve to win just as much but I won’t take sides. I am so happy they made it there and I am so proud of them. They had my full support throughout the year, I can’t wait for the 2016 season to start so I can say “here we go again”. Respect guys, you are amazing! (not that any of them will ever read this post but if I run into them at a tournament I will make sure to tell them that. Until then, above is a picture of the guys with the No 1 trophy, credit to whoever took it and put it on Getty Images).

To make it even better the singles final is Federer against Djokovic. They meet again, after the match they played on Tuesday. You can read about it here. It’s gonna be a fun evening tomorrow, I hope my plane lands on time for me to take the train home and catch both matches. Yes, tomorrow I go back home. I don’t really feel like leaving London though but maybe this time I am going to make it back here sooner than 3 years. I miss Stockholm though. And my research projects waiting for me at work. And my U2 book sitting on the table next to my bed. And my Swedish lessons. And the list can go on.

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Coffee, wine and a walk (or London, Part 2)

Posted on November 21, 2015 by Diana

Politics is everywhere

With me back in school mode, my tennis holiday is over. My time in London is not and with every day I spend here I remember why I like it. This city is full of life. But I am aware that this might happen because I moved to a place where I lived before, I even remembered how to get to my hotel and managed to take the correct exit out of the tube station, and besides that, I spent my day in Westminster University.

They make the playlist, not just pick it

Tomorrow is a big day, I will present part of my thesis in front of people that are not my teachers and classmates so I am quite nervous about that. The funny thing is that today I actually met people with the same research interest as me, more or less.

Other than that I really miss going to the tennis matches, it’s semis day tomorrow and both our boys are playing. If they both win, which I really hope, they will play in the final against each other which would be awesome.

In other stories, I spent the evening walking around London from Oxford Circus to Waterloo, back to Embankment and home on the Bakerloo line. It’s quite cold here in London but everything seems possible after two glasses of wine. I took on the streets without a map, again, listening to my music (thanks Spotify) and eating Milky Way. I had a dilemma there: should I eat Milky Way or Maltesers? The chocolate bar won. It’s funny because I’ve only been in London in November and, even if I was expecting it to be horribly rainy and cold, it’s been actually really nice. That might also be because I like colder weather and because I spend more than half of my time here watching tennis.

We meet again…

The city is in full Christmas spirit and it is awfully contagious. The special Christmas coffee drinks in the cafes are really tempting, I am really sorry I can’t drink more than two or three every day. I still think I have time to try them all. And speaking about coffee, in the past two days I bought coffee and breakfast in a very small and shabby looking boutique somewhere near Aldgate East where just the salesmen made it worth buying things there. I must say though that the sandwiches were really good and the double shot coffee was delicious. Yes, double shot coffee because the regular coffee in London is not strong enough for me. It is good but being used to the Swedish coffee… And this morning, when asking for a coffee, the man who handled my order remembered that I want a double shot late with no sugar, darling (read this with a British accent).

Regent Street

A few days ago when ordering my breakfast I was a gorgeous lilly. And all the men ordering were “sir”. Besides their good products, they sure know how to make themselves liked by customers and they have plenty of those. One morning there were 5 of us in the queue. All of us got out of the shop with what we ordered in about two minutes, and I think there were only 3 men working behind the counter. If I ever go around there I will surely pay them a visit and have my breakfast at their place.

I’ve been in London for the first time 3 years ago. After returning home I decided to apply for a Masters programme in Stockholm which now led me here again. It is, in a way, amazing because here I was tonight, under the London Eye, listening to Big Ben strike 21 hours, watching the water and the lights just as I did 3 years ago. The difference is that 3 years ago I ended up doing that by accident, now I went there with this purpose. And now I am in a hotel room writing this and watching BBC News. And I think I will go for the Maltesers before I doze off.

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Barclays ATP World Tour Finals 2015 Part 2

Posted on November 20, 2015 by Diana

Day two of my visit at the O2 was a big, big and exciting day and I had a good reason for that. Wait for it, I will share it soon.

Bopanna/Mergea vs Murray/Peers

The day started with Florin’s match against Murray/Peers. Bopanna/Mergea are at their first presence as a team at the World Tour Finals, Bopanna has played here before but for Florin this is the first time. And what a first time it has been. They were playing against the crowd’s favourites (Jamie Murray is Andy’s brother). Somehow the outcome of this match was predictable. Qualifying as the 8th team just a week before the tournament started, Rohan and Florin seem to enjoy their presence at the O2 a lot. And I enjoyed seeing them play. They won 6-3, 7-6 (5) and qualified for the semifinals after just two matches and as the number one team in their group.

Berdych vs Nishikori

The second match of the day was Berdych vs Nishikori. I like Tomas, he’s one of my favourite players, three times winner of Stockholm Open, been there to see him win twice but this match was just… I have no words to describe it. Except the second set that proved to be a bit more spectacular and exciting, the rest was so… well, I wouldn’t say boring but you expect some different kind of tennis when you have the first 8 players of the World in front of your eyes. I guess this happened because it’s been a long tournament calendar this year and most players are really tired. Even so, sitting in my seat, drinking coffee and just listening to the silence of the tennis hall was worth enjoying the moment.

Bryan/Bryan vs Bolelli/Fognini

After the break my excitement was getting out of proportions but I still had to wait. I saw another doubles match: The Bryan Brothers vs Bolelli/Fognini. The Italians are old friends of mine meaning that I’ve seen them before in Bucharest. They won the doubles crown at Australian Open this year which led them on the draw for the year end tournament. But this time my thoughts were: what are these guys doing here? Now, doubles tennis is different from the singles. It’s faster, more exciting, it demands a lot of communication between the partners, a lot of instinct and trust in each other. And it’s way more spectacular, that is why I like to watch it, thought it is not that popular (people don’t know what they’re missing). The Bryans dominated the game and got it over with fast with a 6-3, 6-2 score.

Federer vs Djokovic

After this my excitement was unbelievable. I was about to receive the best birthday present ever and even now I can’t believe that I actually saw Federer playing against Djokovic on my birthday. What more could I ask for? I mean this is the duel of the moment in tennis. I have seen so many matches between these two guys on TV and most of them have been breathtaking so I was expecting the same. And I got what I wanted. Compared to all of the other players and all of the other matches these guys played unbelievable, it’s like they were out of this world, unreal. And the atmosphere in the venue was astonishing though it was more than obvious that nearly everybody was on Roger’s side (no wonder he won the fan’s favourite award, again). The match ended too fast, it was too short, I wanted more. This match was an example of tennis art. And of course it was this amazing because Federer won. Did I tell you that watching him was one of the reasons why I am so excited about attending this tournament? Yup, I did. What an amazing end of a day!

This was supposed to be the final day of tennis but because we couldn’t get enough and because there were still tickets for the next day, we treated ourselves with some really good tickets for another evening of tennis.

Rojer/Tecau vs Dodig/Melo

On the last day we only attended the evening session motivated by the fact that Horia and Juls were playing in the doubles match and Ferrer and Wawrinka held the spotlight for the evening’s singles game. Tecau/Rojer took on Dodig/Melo in a beautiful display of doubles tennis. Melo is the World number one in doubles but as a team, together with Ivan Dodig, they are the third. Horia and Juls are the second team in the world and the Wimbledon champions. They had breaks from early in both sets but, after winning the first one, they lost their advantage in the second and the match was pushed into a tiebreak. This made things quite exciting as in a tiebreak anything can happen and a doubles match can be very easily turned around. Luckily they played really well and ended the match 6-4, 7-6 (3) which brought them an early qualification to the semifinals.

Wawrinka vs Ferrer

The last match for this year at the O2, and I say this year because I sure hope I come again one day, was Ferrer vs Wawrinka. The Spanish tennis player had an early advantage in the first set but he lost it and from then on it was all down the hill for him.

Happy me

Both players hit really hard from the back of the court and Wawrinka was the one who managed to change the pace and turn the game in his favour more often than David. The Spaniard bowed after a 7-5, 6-2 result.

And with theses being said and these matches being played I looked around at the arena and just said: see you next time, maybe next year. What a treat it is to watch the best of the best play right in front of you!

Posted in Away, English, Tennis | 1 Comment