Tea Time with Gahiland - II. Vrolondia

Starring Jeannine Van Der Pol
Second Installation
Featuring: Vrolondia

Gahiland: Hello dear listeners, and welcome again to Tea Time with Gahiland. I am your host, Interdimensionally Acclaimed Journalist and Time-Enthusiast, Jeannine Van Der Pol. Today, I'm here with everyone's favorite Yggdrasilian Interior Minister--Vrolondia! Thank you for being here, please make yourself comfortable, have some tea, and we'll get started.

Vrolondia: Nice to be here Jeannine, but since I’m the only one, that's not really a contest.

G: Hahah, that just means you're everyones favorite by default, of course.

V: Haha, makes sense I suppose.

G: So, to get started, why don't you please tell us a bit about yourself?

V: Well, I'm 23, I'm a university student, and I like to cook, play the violin, and my gender has been a running joke on the RMB since at least 2009.

G: Oh? Are you genderfluid, then? Or something else?

V: I wouldn't say genderfluid, people always just assumed I was a girl and I got tired of correcting them :P

V: This will come as a shock to at least 50% of your readers, I am, in fact, male.

G: What?! Gods in heaven, I am simply appalled!

G: Heheh, I did actually think you were female up until a few moments ago.

G: For those of our readers who are not clairvoyant, we are conducting this interview through the popular gaming medium, Steam. Vrolondia's gender became apparent after looking at his profile.

V: Hahaha, you aren't the first, and won’t be the last.

G: Yes, that is pretty funny. So, you are a university student? What are you studying?

V: I'm a psych major with a bio minor. Sometimes I wonder if I'm secretly a masochist

G: Youch. Those are some tough fields of study. What do you want to do with those degrees after you graduate? Besides the obvious "find a job."

V: Well, I'm hoping to get into something in the healthcare field, the ideal job would be a psychiatrist but I don't know if I'm willing to shell out for another 4 years after this.

G: Oof. Sounds like some tough decisions you've got to make. Well, I'm sure whatever you end up doing, you'll be great. Healthcare is such a noble field to work in!

V: I agree! A friend of mine actually was my big motivating factor. First year, she passed away of a life long illness, and that’s when I realized what I wanted to do with my life

G: Oh my, that's tragic. I'm sorry about your friend, but I guess it's true that tragedy moves people. It's very inspiring, actually. Moving on from that a bit, you said you play the violin, didn't you?

V: I did.

G: Tell us more about that!

V: I've been playing for... must be going on a year now I think? Still pretty new to it, but I can play it pretty well I think. Mostly play fiddle tunes over classical violin, but I love to play in the Cape Breton fiddle style.

G: Fascinating. Why don't you explain to our readers how the Cape Breton fiddle style differs from classical violin?

V: When the French Acadians of the Canadian Maritimes were all moved out to Louisiana in the 1700's, Scotland was going through something called the Highland Clearing. This caused a massive Scottish migration to Nova Scotia, which brought the fiddle style. Afterwards, Scotland went through a period of classical Violin enthusiasm, which drastically changed the style. It can be argued that Cape Breton fiddling has more of the traditional Scottish fiddle elements in it than Scottish fiddling.

V: Classical Violin, on the other hand, originated mostly in Italy and southern France, and went on to influence the local styles through Europe.

V: Including Scotland

V: but not so much Cape Breton

G: I see. Are you from Scotland or Cape Breton? Or do you just happen to find that style fascinating. (Not that it isn't, of course!)

V: Oh gosh no, I'm not Scottish at all. Closest link I have is a Scottish great grandma. I just heard it one day and fell in love with it, so I learned the grace notes. It's unique because it sounds a lot like bag pipes, you smash down on the bow and start on the wrong notes then slowly work your way in, almost like listening to a Highland choir singing. Except it's a violin and has nothing to do with singing, bagpipes, or Scotland.

G: Ah, so it was love at first sight. Or, in this case, at first sound. How lovely! So, why don't you now tell us how you came across NationStates?

V: Ooooh, NationStates. It's quite a romantic story, you see. I was in class one day and this guy I hated was talking about it, and I thought "Man, that game sounds terrible. It has nothing to do! I would never play that game." Here I am 6 years later, helping to run a region of 500 people.

G: Hah! How funny. Were you ever so wrong, huh? So, let me ask you, what drew you to Yggdrasil specifically, then?

V: Well, I was young, naive, and I liked the idea of a peaceful region that liked anime. It was either this or some other region I don't remember. I decided to check this one out and liked the community.

G: Aha, of course. Now, one last question before we end things. I'm sure many people are wondering. Just who is that young anime woman in your country's flag picture?

V: It's Ayano from Kagerou Project, which is a vocaloid song series. It's a very, very, very long story as to why I keep her up there, but to put it simply, I hit rock bottom a few years ago and fell in love with Ayano’s Theory of Happiness. Decided that I needed to fix my life, so I put that up there to remind me to make the best of the situations I'm given.

G: Oh, I see. I'm certain lots of people have experiences like that where they have a song, an image, or other put up somewhere to help them through difficult times. Well, it seems we are out of time. What a moving note to end on. Thank you again, Vrolondia, for joining us today.

V: Anytime, it was fun being here.

G: Yes it was. And thank you, readers, for tuning in. This has been Tea Time with Gahiland. I'm Jeannine Van Der Pol, wishing you a great evening! Goodnight, everyone!