Life like opera – A very needed break

As I already wrote in my last article, after the Christmas I was going through a pretty big crisis. Physically, mentally and professionally. There as one blind those were my workoholism and some troubles in my personal life. I spent the whole semestral holiday constantly training for the opera plays in Vienna and Olomouc. Therefore I started the semester pretty upset and exhausted. To be frank, the coronavirus quarantine came just in the right time for me.

I read the news about closing the borders came during the second week of March. But according to the older news, the lock down was already supposed to happen on Saturday evening. So I planned, that I will practise for the opera, I will manage to go to the final practice on Friday morning and in the afternoon I will already be on my way to Prague. Obviously I was pretty shocked, when I came to theatre on 9 o´clock to practise and an hour later I received a call from my also shocked friend, a flute player from the orchestra, and she told me that the government is closing the borders and if we do not want to go to the obligatory quarantine, we need to be on the train at 10.30 o´clock. I packed my stuff, ordered a taxi and called to all the people from the orchestra to tell them that I am sorry, but I will not be able to be at the final practice. Luckily everyone was understanding and They new how uncomfortable this situation was. The taxi arrived and we managed to be on the train at 10.30. It was a pretty interesting experience. As if everyone on the train were friends. We changed the information we knew, we were caring each other and somehow understood each other. We were incredibly happy when finally crossed the borders before noon. Everyone was buying the bottles of Champagne and we started to party a little. I do not think I will ever be able to forget this moment.

The quarantine did not begin well formed. After two years of living alone I was not able to go with the rules of our family house. Every sound that was not from me was bothering me. I had no privacy, I could not sing anytime I wanted. I just had to respect the rules. I was pretty upset with my parents and my siblings and I actually still regret it, but I was angry with them only for a while. The first days of quarantine, I felt pretty empty inside and I only slept, ate and drank either a bottle of wine or beer. Also my sleeping schedule got worse. At the end of March I decided to change that. I started to wake up at 8 in the morning and I made a list of things I wanted to get done. Practising singing was not something I had to do, but something I wanted to do. I also cut down my drinking and began running. Until this day I ran 160 kilometres already and I lost 6 kilograms. I started to eat healthy, more vegetables and less carbs. And I feel amazing!

In the end, the unplanned holiday started to be something amazing form. I studied a lot for my singing, I wrote many poems, which my friend put into music and I will also have a premiere for my own singing cycle. I recorded a CD with Dagmar Pecková and Jaroslav Krček. My first CD ever, so I am really excited. I organised a music festival with my friend, it is called Classfest and it will take place in Central Bohemia on the first week of September this year – what makes me really happy is that my friends and colleagues (and there is almost thirty of us!) are doing this just because they love music and their friends.

There will also be many professional actors and the cherry on top will be Jaroslav Krček himself.

I am full of happiness and I am currently going through a very happy part of my life. From the beginning of June I will come back to Vienna and I will study for my exams. It is great, changing the environment after the weeks. But honestly? I love Czechia. The longer I am in Vienna, I am starting to realise how much I love my home country. I realised, that I love Vienna and I am happy in here but it is definitely not a place where I would want to raise my children. It is just different.
When I was born there was probably a pretty bizzare setup in the space, because my soul is basically sarcasm, irony and dark humour. I do not like small talk where I need to take care of what I am saying just to make sure no one is offended. I definitely do not want to bully anyone, definitely not, but I like making fun of everything. And I do want to tell a compliment to my colleague without being accused of sexual harassment. Which is not normal in Austria. I think that the society in here is too correct and they do not have any sense of humour. So I try to be funny at least in my social bubble.
Anyway. I will go through the semester and enjoy my summer. I will probably be free, since many projects were cancelled and that is exactly what I need. But I do not think I will be able to relax for more than a week. This summer will be mostly about meeting my friends, preparations for ClassFest and some operas in August. I cannot wait for the next months!
 

So, Vinca, got speed!