User:Vltava 68

Committed identity: 09FCBF0317E6CDFA7F8344D3312CFF8EA6CE40EA is a SHA-512 commitment to this user's real-life identity.

Welcome to my userpage. I will describe some vague details of my personal life here, as well as my work on Wikipedia. Please go to English Wikipedia if you wish to contact me and receive a quick reply.Vltava 68 (talk contribs)

About Me

I am a high school student. I wish to maintain confidentiality over my name, exact age, where I live, etc, etc.

Music

I love so-called classical music. My favourtie composer is Antonín Dvořák. I wish to become a musician of sort (even though I don't feel that I have the talent). I mainly prefer orchestral music, though I also enjoy Lieder, operas (mainly ones such as Leoš Janáček's that have more interesting plots instead of soap opera type ones such as Luisa Miller), ensembles (I prefer ensemble music of all sorts, such as concert bands, quartets, trios, etc.), and choral music.

What I hate would be pop icons: pop stars, rock bands, etc. As far as I am concerned (no offense to anyone), those people sing like crows and mindlessly bang on the drums (they seem to think that that's what percussion consists of), thinking they are making music. I can tolerate jazz; there's less of a focus on singing and so you still have instrumental music at times; this being one reason.

Languages

I am a native speaker of English. I used to learn Mandarin, which I hated (partly because of the attitudes of the teachers to my nationality and the characters). I am now learning French, which is more enjoyable. I generally hate Romance languages such as Italian (not a very good thing when I have to memorize performance directions for my music theory), Spanish, Portuguese, and so on.

I used to think that English was one of the most consistent languages pronunciation-wise. I have recently shed that idea, after learning enough German to read texts without understanding them and saying "Auf Wiedersehen". In fact, even Czech seems more consistent; one knows that "ch" is pronounced like a "k" and not like "ch" in "church", or in Czech, like a "č". Unfortunately, I do not know any of the two languages, I can merely guess and be corrected when listening to Lieder (mainly by Schubert) or asking a Czech to give me the pronunciation for something that looks impossible (usually, these days, involving the dreaded "ř". (Actually, a rather obnoxious friend of mine tried telling someone that that was a nice idea. I promptly wished I have never dragged her off a few months before that to get the pronunciation for a bunch of names for a research paper I was then doing.)

History

Although I have stated that I am interested in Czech and German history, I believe that my focus is mainly on Czech history. However, I am not an expert in it.

Interest in the Czech Republic

It's a very long story. The following are some points I remember:

1. Having Antonín Dvořák as my favorite composer while quitting piano and listening to sound clips of different instruments.
2. Browsing around my school website and coming across the name Leoš Janáček in someone's résumé.
3. Coming across a riveting article in TIME that described the 1968 invasion.
4. Having teachers who were and are willing (Well, one did tell me to quit bothering with matters such as people saying "Czechoslovakia" instead of "Czech Republic". Verbatim: "Take it easy.".) to help me with matters such as history, pronunciation, and music (They're my main interests.).

Politics

I am interested in politics. I enjoy reading about dissidents and that sort of thing. I used to really care about the Three Gorges Dam and its effect on people; unfortunately, I sort of got bored and disillusioned with it. That said, I have never been in Student Council. Of course, it fails to do anything fruitful besides initiating days where students can wear costumes based on various themes.

Sports

I hate sports. The only ones in PE I've ever liked are hockey and football/soccer. Orienteering was fine, but I really hate the running part of it.

Work on Wikipedia

I basically joined Wikipedia for the sake of improving certain articles and creating new ones. I frequently edit, mostly at home, without logging in. (No, I will not tell you my IP.) My editing generally slows down when I have my studies to attend to. It speeds back up during the holidays, maybe when I'm sick and actually at home (I frequently have to go to school anyway even if I fall ill with something like a flu or cold.), and when I wake up too early.

No, my real name is not Vltava; I just chose it as a username since I really like the piece and wanted something with a ring to it. My real name is also geographically and artistically related, though unfortunately not to music.