We all have them…or at least I hope that everyone does. It is just a too much fun part of life. Those things that we would have once been hideously embarrassed to admit about ourselves, but now that we are (way, way) over 30 are just fodder for funny stories. Like the time I was patched into a co-worker’s music play list through the Intranet (how I love technology!) and was listening, again, to a current Britney Spears tune. I pretty much would never, ever, ever, admit to listening to Britney Spears, and was always thankful that my little bud earphones didn’t let any sound leak out. Except that one morning, when the sound seemed to be so low I could barley hear anything. So I kept turning up the volume on my computer, louder and louder. And louder. Until I realized that the buds were in my ears but the cord wasn’t plugged into the computer so the boppy song was now blaring from my computer speakers. And AbeBooks has an open concept office, sort of like your old science class with everyone sitting at tables together, not even a grey partition to separate you from 15 other people. Ah, that was a good one.
The last couple of years my guilty pleasure has definitely been the Twilight series which Rebecca got me on to. Once someone observed how much I was enjoying the books and asked if they were really also appropriate for Rebecca. They aren’t appropriate for me I explained, as they were written by a 20-something year old author intended clearly for 16-year old girl audience. No 40-year olds anywhere in this equation. And I’m an English Lit major for crying out loud! Ah, but I love them…obsessed might be too strong of a word. Or might not.
Well, the movie came out in North America a couple of months ago, but was only breaking into theatres mid-January here in Austria. This has been quite a mini-crisis for me, as only some of the blockbusters here come out in English with subtitles, and then only for a couple of showings. I started scouring the theatre listings daily, imagining myself hopping the train to Vienna, or even catching a cheap flight to the UK to make sure I didn’t miss it.
And then last week something caught my eye in the listings for the theatre that showed the most English films. A Sneak Preview that was classified as Fantasy, playing one day before Twilight was starting. I looked into it further, and Sneak Previews are always in original version. Could it be?! Markus called, but the whole point of these showings are that the title is kept a secret. Well, nothing ventured and all that. I skipped to the theatre with great anticipation in the afternoon, and bought tickets for Rebecca and I.
We went early, bought some popcorn and waited impatiently. I was pumped, but of course trying to set myself up to not be disappointed. Well, when the first line played, that was it. Rebecca, who had watched the first few minutes online, knew that it was Twilight. I gave her a high five (which she only somewhat embarrassedly returned) and we settled in to enjoy. I can’t comment if it was, by any objective standard, a good movie. I’m suspecting it was only in the middling range, but I really couldn’t say as I had just so much fun.
And so that sums up one of the realities of living in another country. Most things, if not everything, is harder. But even the most simple outings can become an adventure if you are open to it. Even when they are just a little bit inappropriate.