Two other hurray’s

Two other hurray’s today.

I am now officially a guest student at Victoria University. That means that I will get a student id card, which gives me some privileges, such as access to sport facilities and a library card at reduced costs. We had to go through some bureaucracy to get this; I had to send a letter with four autographs: supervisor in Victoria, supervisor in the Netherlands, the Department chair, and me. The reply on my application was send to my home address in Vlaardingen, but luckily there was someone there to check my mail.

The other hurray is that I found an organ to play on. This morning I went to the sunday morning service in the nearby Anglican church. It is a nice church – the exterior as well as the interior – with friendly people, and a musical rector. The sound of the organ has a warm and friendly quality. I am currently studying Bach’s canzona. The manual parts I can prepare on the piano in the lab I work in, but to study the pedal part, I really need an organ. So, I am happy to have found one.

Apart from the organ, I also enjoyed the service. The Anglican liturgy is firmly rooted in the tradition of the Western church. I have a preference for traditional liturgy because of the objectivity. Adhering to an age-old tradition frees a church community (and worship leaders) from inventing all kinds of wheels. These liturgical forms have been polished and purified by time.