The Adventures Continue...

A lot has been going on the last couple of weeks, and although I've had the time to write about it, I haven't had the motivation.  I'm really sad about the passing of my dear Aunt Mary Jane, but I honestly don't want to deal with it emotionally until I'm home with my family.  I suppose denial is part of the grieving process.

But time doesn't stand still, so I guess I need to update all of you on what's been happening over here in Deutschland.  Two weekends ago I returned to my friend Susi's in München for a girls' weekend.  It coincided with a voice lesson in the city with an American professor from the Musikhochschule.  This teacher has lived in Germany since 1978 and she struggled with some of the English words at first, like "diaphragm" and "soft palate."  But she was patient and her teaching style was peaceful, for lack of a better word.  She practices Eastern meditation and breathing exercises, so I think that contributed to her personality.  This teacher confirmed my suspicion that I am not ready to audition for schools in December.  First, I still have no idea what I should be singing.  And second, I am still not singing consistently, because I have more technique work to do.  Also, I found out that graduate students in Munich are on the emerging professional level, and basically, I don't have a chance there.  However, she said that there are a lot of other Musikhochschulen in Germany, and I have a good chance at the other ones.  She said that if I stay and study privately for the next few months, then I'd be ready to audition in June for the other schools.

On the one hand, it's frustrating to have to wait...again.  But on the other hand, I would rather be prepared before I start a master's program, because I want to get the most I can out of the experience.  So that has led me to the decision to search for a job here in Germany and study privately until the next round of auditions in June.  (Most of the schools I want to apply to don't have auditions in December anyway, so es ist egal.)

with Susi at Schloss Nymphenburg

My friend Susi observed my lesson and thought it was really funny.  It was her first voice lesson :)

We had a lot of fun that weekend watching movies, playing board games, and skyping with my sister/cousin Sarah.  We walked around the grounds of beautiful Schloss Nymphenburg and enjoyed an afternoon hot chocolate in the sunshine.  We also visited the castle in Dachau (no, I did NOT go to the concentration camp...I know the war was awful, I know we must not forget what took place...but I've seen enough movies to know what happened and I don't need to see it in person...thank you very much).

From München, I headed back to Susi's parents house in Spaichingen.  Once again, Kurt and Elvira were amazing hosts and we had a week full of activities!  Besides a daily Spaziergang (walk), highlights from the week included:

Visiting Rheinfall near Schaffhausen in Switzerland

Seeing Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss at Oper Stuttgart - staging was too modern for my taste, but still educational

Walking around Burg Wildenstein, which is now a youth hostel next to the Donau River

Baking a good ole sweet potato pie!

Attending festivities in Spaichingen for the first night of Faschingzeit, where they crown the Prinzenpaar

Unfortunately, I woke up sick on the day I was supposed to depart Spaichingen.  I had awful stomach pains all through the night, and by morning I was starting to get worried.  It wasn't my usual kind of stomach pain (I can tell the difference between pain from eating too much bread or sugar, pain from the flu, or pain from being a woman).  Kurt has a friend who is a doctor, and he graciously stopped by to see me on his way to work.  He felt around to determine that it was NOT appendicitis (whew!), and that I simply had a stomach bug.  Apparently the German stomach bug is different, because I felt atrocious.  He prescribed some medicine, which Kurt picked up at the Apotheke.  Don't ask me what it was, because I have no idea.  All I know is that 20 minutes after taking it, my stomach pain went away and never returned.

On the plus side, I learned a new word that day: Durchfall.  Some German words make perfect sense.  Durch means "through" and Fall is a fall.  Hence Durchfall means "diarrhea."  Oh the practicality!  (For the record, I did not have diarrhea, but everyone kept asking me if I did...)