Track 1 – “WINDY SUMMER”, 杏里 (Anri)
The closer you get to Halifax’s harbourfront, the stronger the wind gets, bringing with it the scent of salt and sea. Down by the water, it’s a lot colder than you’d expect due to the wind. It took a while for me to get the hang of how to dress for both the drastic changes in temperature and Halifax’s mercurial weather. One day it’s gloomy and drizzling (or worse, an outright downpour), and the next it’s blazing hot without a cloud in sight. Fortunately, the city’s been spared the worst of the heatwaves that have been hitting other parts of the country recently, but the sea breezes are still a welcome reprieve from the summer heat.
Track 2 – “Take A Walk”, 庸俗救星 (Vulgar Savior)
I’ve taken to walking everywhere to get around the city, partly out of a desire to save money, and partly because there’s no need to take public transit when everything I need is a short walk away. It also means that I have the privilege of not experiencing Halifax’s infamous traffic jams, which just about everyone I’ve met has complained about. It’s been a good way to get to know the area too. (Evidently, I still have a long way to go on that front. Just the other day, I gave directions to a pair of French tourists and didn’t realize that I sent them down the wrong way until it was too late. Whoops.)
Track 3 – “Sonetto 104 del Petrarca in E Major”, Franz Liszt & 임윤찬 (Lim Yunchan)
Coming from a background in music theory, I’m always pleasantly surprised by how similar the work I did in undergrad is to the work I do now that I’m in law school. Close reading and careful attention to detail are essential for not only capturing all the nuances in a musical analysis, but also in a legal analysis as well. My internship with the Centre for Law and Democracy is research-focused, with my main tasks consisting of drafting memos on Canadian and international legislation, news articles, and UN reports. Sifting through these different sources doesn’t feel all that different from poring over scores, carefully scrutinizing phrases until I understand each part in isolation and in the context of the work’s broader themes. Except this time, instead of just deepening my understanding of a piece, I’m helping to support projects meant to build and maintain healthy, transparent democracies around the world. It’s wild to think about, where I’ve come from and what I’m doing now, and to reflect on the far-reaching impacts that human rights work can have.
Track 4 – “Garden”, 藤井 風 (Fujii Kaze)
Besides the harbourfront, the Halifax Public Gardens might be my favourite place in the city. Nearly two centuries old and the last remaining Victorian garden in the country, the botanical gardens are such a beautiful and relaxing spot with carefully maintained, rotating horticultural displays and a surprisingly brave duck population. I make an effort to try and work remotely at their cafe or take my lunch break at the gardens whenever I can, or to see one of their free concerts at the bandstand which feature local folk, jazz, and classical musicians. Lately, I’ve started waking up extra early to join my friends at the Gardens’ weekly birdwatching tours before work. I’m definitely not a morning person but it was all worth it for the moment when I managed to identify a black-capped chickadee on my own for the first time. (Before that, the only birds I could confidently identify were Canadian geese.)
Track 5 – “Las transeúntes”,
Esteban Copete y su Kinteto Pacífico
One of the CLD’s main projects is maintaining the RTI Rating database, which provides a detailed evaluation of every country’s legal framework for exercising the right to information against a set of 61 indicators that uphold international standards. Recently, I’ve been reviewing the database’s entries for one of these indicators, which means I’ve had the unique opportunity to analyze the same law in 140 different countries to see how well they perform against one of these standards. I’ve always been interested in languages, having studied linguistics briefly in my undergrad and various languages over the years, so it’s been really cool to read legislation in so many different languages and to learn about the legal frameworks of different cultures. While I typically rely on translation apps to make it easier, I’ve been challenging myself to review the original text of the laws written in Spanish since I’ve been trying to learn the language for a while now. It’s been great practice so far, not only for my legal research skills but also for my linguistic skills too.
Track 6 – “Closer to You”, Sammy Rae and the Friends
As someone attending law school from out of province, summer break has usually been my chance to spend quality time with my friends and family back home. Interning in Halifax this summer has meant that it’ll likely be another year until I see most of them beyond a video call here and there. At the same time, though, this has caused me to become more intentional in the way that I maintain my relationships; to bridge past that distance and keep my loved ones close without the easy buffer of geographic proximity. Even with that challenge, I’m still incredibly grateful for the opportunity to intern here. It’s been such an amazing experience so far to live and work in Halifax, and I’ve already learned way more than what should be possible in just a month and a half. I can only imagine how much I will have grown at the end of my time here.
