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I took classes at Latvijas Universitate with a few other exchange students from Estonia, Finland, Italy, England, and the US. One of the most interesting was Professor Stranga's history class. Most of our classes took place in the room, pictured on the left. We also had access to free email here, so it was a popular place. |
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Another interesting class I took dealt with Latvian ethnomusic. The professor was skilled at playing dozens of instruments and was well known as an expert. One night he played the kokla and sang to us for hours. We went through a lot of beer and wine and our candle even burnt out. |
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Alina was our coordinator for the exchange. Her and her staff were great at helping us find the right buildings and getting our student papers in order. The last day of class she treated us to champagne and chocolates. |
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One day, our class was invited to challenge a Latvian soccer team in the Ukranian school gym. We threw together a team (I watched) but were badly beaten. During the halftime, the Ukranian school children danced a few traditional dances for us. They were very cute and somewhat shy. |
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Our music professor also played the bigpipes during the halftime while the dancers huddled against the wall. |
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One of my best musical experiences was at the Jazeps Vitols Music Academy. I decided that I should take lessons and was able to enroll with Normunds Viksne as my teacher. I learned a duet with him, and a great Chopin piece. The rooms in the academy were lovely and most pianos were in excellent condition. I practiced a lot and vastly improved. It was somewhat difficult to understand all of the music terms in Latvian, but with time I was able to communicate. |
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