Erste Weihnachten in Deutschland!

and what a lovely Christmas it was. Unfortunately the lovely snow that was covering the ground only a few days before had vanished after a warm snap (4 degrees). Charmaine, Timmy and I spent the 24th at home listening to Christmas Carols, eating Schnitzels and drinking Kölsch. On Christmas day we went to a nice party at Joe and Kathleen (American singers working in Köln - I am working with Joe in the Kinderoper at the moment).On the 26th I had my final performance of The tales of Hoffmann and after that we went to a Cocktail bar around the corner from home and also visited a cool little bar for a nightcap after that.

The only bummer was when we realised (a day too late) that the day we thought the shops would re-open, the 27th, happened to be a Sunday this year which meant everything was still shut! GRRRR! So we had to eat a Döner kebab for lunch (which served as a bit of a hangover cure as well)

Tomorrow after the Kinderopera we are all going to Berlin to celebrate NYE and spend a few days seeing the sights and drinking some beer other than Kölsch (not that I'm complaining as Kölsch is quite yummy). Before I go, here are a couple of photos of Köln in the Snow.

Pure as the driven snow

Its quite amazing how the first snow of the season transforms so many people into children. On thursday afternoon we got our first snow fall. I was riding my bike to the gym when it started falling and rode past many people gazing out their windows watching the snow falling. When I'd finished at the gym I exited the building to discover a fine white dust covering everything. Char spent a bit of time sitting on our windowsill with a cup of tea watching the snow fall through the light of the street lamps.

The next morning we woke to discover that about 2 inches of snow had fallen during the night, covering everything in a beautiful blanket of white. The park 30 meters from our house was quite pretty.

It is now starting to get seriously cold (well at least for someone has spent the last 4 winters living in Sydney) we have had quite a few days now that have had a top of -1 or 0 and yesterday was -9 for most of the day before dropping to -14.

A few days ago our friends Chris and Adam came to visit and we had a great time at the Christmas markets drinking Glühwein (mulled wine) and eating the sort of food that i'm pretty sure are well out of the running for a heart foundation tick of approval!

I also love the fact that hey serve the Glühwein (or hot chocolate with rum) in real mugs! After paying the 2 euro deposit with the first order you just bring the mugs back everytime you want a refill and when you've had your fill of warm red wine they give you the deposit back (or you let them keep the deposit and throw the mug in your handbag). Imagine how many plastic cups get saved from the landfill! Also, the fact that you have to take them back to get your deposit means that there aren't empty cups and rubbish lying around!

As I write this it is snowing again and I am looking out our bedroom window at a view that has been dramatically improved with the addition of some snow...

Aladdin und die Wunderlampe

A couple of weeks ago I found out through the grapevine that I will be appearing topless (albeit with blue and green body paint) in the upcoming "Childrens" opera Aladdin. Had I known a little earlier I would probably have curtailed my love affair with Wurst, Bread, and Beer (well at least a little!) As it is I have joined a gym and have 6 weeks to whip this body into something that the children wont recoil from in horror. For added proof (in case anyone needed more) that there is NO god, I have to do this in the middle of the Christmas period, the time when I traditionally gain a few kilos from all the merry making. ARGH!

If I don't manage to lose the kilos and tone up a bit I will have to convince the makeup department to paint on some muscles or something! Oh yeah - I forgot to add that I will probably have to wax or shave my chest so that they can do the paint.

The glamour of life in the theater never ends!

Christmas time has begun

Tomorrow is the first day of Advent and for the first time in a lot of years I have an advent Calender. Charmaine purchased me a "sexy advent Calender" which has some lovely ladies in swimwear on the front. I am yet to find out if there is a surprise behind every box (Pun intended).

For some reason Christmas here feels a lot more real. In Australia I enjoyed the Christmas time only in so much as it was a time for a few days off to spend with my family and drink and eat too much. I really didn't get into the whole "Christmas spirit" and Char and I never bothered with a Christmas tree or lights or anything like that.

Here however, things are different and I think it is because it conforms to the image of Christmas that we see in every film we see or story we read. Even though its often 30 degrees in Australia we still persist in a Santa in thick coat with fur trimming and a lot of us still eat a cooked lunch. Its nice, but there is something about it all that feels a bit phoney and borrowed (I guess because it is) to me.

In Köln the Christmas markets have started. Char and I went on the weekend and wandered around all the cute wooden huts selling all sorts of yummy foods from Reibekuchen (kinda like potato cakes made from grated potato), crepes, fruit dipped in Chocolate, grilled meats of every variety, Glühwein (mulled wine), hot apple juice. There were also heaps of different hand made gift stalls with things made from wood, glass, felt, leather etc. We will have to go back a few more times to sample all the tasty delights that are on offer.

Tonight Char and I have been invited to our first dinner at someones house. Raphael is in the Opera studio with me and doesn't speak much English which means that when we hang out we speak only German - which is great (although at times, tiring) for me. Tonight will be a great test for Char to see how much she can understand and respond in German without looking at me for help to much.

The Devil is in the details!

To date my German knowledge has been advancing quite steadily. I now have no problems interacting in everyday situations and can even have some quite decent conversations on varied topics with my german friends and Colleagues. I have however made a few humorous mistakes...

The first one was when I was relating to a friend that I had watched "Aschenbrödel" (Cinderella) in german the previous night. In my excitment I neglected to pay the attention to pronunciation that was needed in this situation and I elongated the "A" sound at the start of the word. An easy mistake to make and one might think "not that big a deal". My friend, however, stared at me quizzically with a smirk on his face, prompting me to scan over what I had just said. You see the difference in sound between the word for ash - Asche, and the word for a persons derriere: Arsch is quite small, but i'm sure that "Arschenbrödel" is a completely different type of movie altogether!

I moved to Köln in the middle of summer and was immediately struck by the level of humidity. I reminded me of a sticky Sydney summers day. I immediately looked up the word for Humid and discovered it to be "schwül". At language class the following week I made a comment about how "schwul" the weather was, to which the teacher replied with a giggle. Sensing that my sentence had not had the intended meaning I inquired as to where I'd gone wrong. The two little dots above the U was where I had gone wrong. Such a small difference but it changes the sound from U as in "Pull" to U as in "Hugh" and changes the meaning from Humid/Muggy to......... Gay! The irony is, it was the day after the Christopher Street Parade (Huge gay festival) and if I'd said my sentence the day before I would have been correct no matter which way I said it!

Shortly after I started working at the Opera I overheard a conversation where two elderly Germans were talking about the "Abo" that they'd just bought for the Opera. I was horrified that A: they were using such an outdated and racist word, and B: there seemed to be a people smuggling operation where my native countrymen were being purchased by Germans to be put to work in some aspect of the Opera. It was probably instigated under the Howard regime but I thought since K Rudd's apology that this sort of thing would have been stamped out. I was horrified and spent my train ride home wondering whether to call the Embassy or the Police first. Just to be on the safe side I decided to consult my dictionary upon arriving home. Imagine my relief when I discovered that in German "Abo" is short for Abonnement which is in fact a Subscription! Still, I wouldn't have put it past that nasty old Howard!

Castles, alluring maidens, and gynecological dinners!

This weekend we took a trip 2 hours up the Rhein to a small town called St. Goar. The scenery is quite stunning and the train follows the Rhein, going through lots of cute little towns and villages and past a few Castles perched on the Hills/small mountains along the river. The town of St Goar has 3 Castles in its near vicinity. Burg Rheinfels was once the largest Castle on the Rhein was started in 1245 by Count Diether V of Katzenelnbogen, however was partially destroyed by French Revolutionary Army troops in 1797. Nowdays for 3 Euros you can wander round the ruins completely unsupervised. I was totally surprised that they pretty much let you go anywhere too. There are a few areas that are fenced off but all the fence consisted of was two bars with a huge gap that even I would have no trouble getting through! We had a map which led us through the ruins and explained points of interest (in English, but I did try to read many of the Information boards dotted around the Castle in German with various degrees of success). Next time we come back we will bring a torch so that we can explore some of the dark small passages that snake around the ruins. Unfortunately taking a photo every meter or so for the light of the flash is a horribly frustrating was to travel - It also made me feel like I might have a seizure. My favorite bit of the map we were given was in the Foxhole section where it said "on the left you will notice some stairs leading down. For safety reasons the entrance is locked by iron bars. This is where the mine tunnel begins. The tunnel, hardly 1m high, has several turnoffs. It can be passed and leads us back into the battlements" The iron bars it mention was actually a gate similar to that on a sheep paddock and had no lock. Unfortunatly our lack of "approriate lighting" meant that we will have to save that particular adventure till next time. Maybe when Timmy comes at Christmas time?

The town of St Goar (or to be more accurate its sister city accross the river, St Goarshausen) is also home to the Loreley, a 150m tall rock that juts out into the Rhein. It is the subject of much Folklore. It is said that a maiden, named Loreley, threw herself off the rock in despair over a faithless lover and was transformed into a siren, luring hapless sailors to their deaths. There is a poem about the tale written by Heinrich Heine that is one of the most well know German poems. We walked up the steps carved in the mountain side to to the top of the rock and were very glad that we did...........

That night, after resting our weary legs from all that walking and step climbing, we headed to a Hotel restaurant for some dinner. We were one of two couples eating there that night and at a table a few meters away was the Proprietor and his wife on laptops watching the TV. Suffice to say, this establishment wont be winning any "ambiance of the year" prizes! I'm not a huge fan of TV's in dining rooms at the best of times but when the program requires footage of a woman receiving some sort of gynecological exam, I think, my dear people, that it is definitely time to turn it off and put some music on!

Visitors

We have been living in Köln for only 4 months now but we have already had so many visitors. It has been really nice seeing the numerous family members and friends and showing them our favorite spots and discovering new ones together. This weekend Char's Mum and her friend came to stay. We had a great weekend filled with Wine, Cheese, Shopping and laughs and we now know about a lovely cafe in the neighborhood that the ladies discovered.

The weekend was also pretty busy at work too.

First was opening night of Hoffmanns Erzählungen on Friday night. I am singing the role of Wolfram who is one of the students at the start. I only sing a few words but it is a great production. Char, Judy and Jill came to see it and all 3 loved it.

On saturday night I sang in perhaps the strangest venue of my career: A kitchen showroom!

This weekend was a music festival where all sorts of different spaces from private lounge rooms, to foyers of businesses around the city were used as performance venues. My fellow Opera Studio colleagues and I sang a concert of Arias, Duets and Ensembles from various Operas that are being performed this season in Köln.

I sang a bunch of things from Don Giovanni and really enjoyed singing some great music with a group of wonderful singers. The audience were (or should that be "was" - hmmm... I can't decide) lovely - very warm and appreciative. After the concert we stayed for a bit of mingling combined with a glas or three of wine and a bowl of soup...

The perfect way to end a concert!

11/11

Yesterday I saw a monk walking along hand in hand with a strumpet. I also saw a man dressed as a nun, 27 Pirates and a group of men dressed as tampons.

The 11th of November is the official opening of Karnival and the streets were alive with all sorts of costumed folks drinking, singing, dancing and generally having a good time (there were even drunk hoards on the street at 9.30 in the morning as I rode my bike to work!)

After yesterday the Karnival festivities are put on hold until the thursday before the beginning of Lent. The town goes crazy with street festivals, drinking, costumes, parades, and more drinking until Ash Wednesday where the sins of the previous 5 days debauchery are washed away.

Bring it on!!!

where are you sleep?

It has now just clocked over to 1:00am and I am now officially annoyed that I can't get to sleep. My mind just wont shut down despite the alcohol that has slowed it down somewhat. I am hoping that by emptying my mind onto this screen that I will be able to drift off to sleep. I hope, though that my ramblings don't send you to sleep too.

This weekend we embarked on our once a year visit to IKEA. This is a store that has the potential to send even the most chipper of us into a pit of despair! And that is before you even begin your DIY flatpack nightmare.

As you have probably anticipated, this trip didn't go well...

Everything started quite well as we set of into the drizzle with our bellies full of eggs, mushrooms and tomato courtesy of my lovely wife. Our main mission was to get a new cover for the couch in our apartment that started life cream in colour and then got dyed brown and then green. Suffice to say that Pamela Anderson's dye job is more convincing!

Things at IKEA first started to go downhill a little when my belly started rumbling and my blood sugar began to plummet, but we managed to avert a full scale disaster with a trip to the IKEA Cafe to dine on some delightful meatballs (The sign assured me they were meat but they were unlike any meat I've ever eaten - maybe a weird Swedish beastie?)

So, fighting off indigestion we made our way to the Sofas, picked out the colour we wanted (Red by the way) and then went to an info desk to find out where we could pick up the cover. I told her that we had a 2 seater "Ektorp" Sofa Bed and would like a new cover in Red. She typed away and then gave us the code and the location on the shelves downstairs where we could get it.

We grabbed the cover, along with a few bits a pieces that always find their way into your trolley and commenced our 1 bus and 2 train journey back home, content in the knowledge that I had come out in as good a mood as I had gone in.

This good mood only lasted as long as it took to get home, rip the cover off the couch, take out our beautiful new cover and realize that we had been given the wrong size. The package we took home (and which had no description on it except for the code which matched the one that the "Helpful" woman printed out for us) was for the 2 seater couch without bed which is a completely different size.

After this realisation there was much ranting combined with swearing in 2 different languages (a feat which I am secretly proud of). I eventually calmed down with the help of beer and schnitzel but not before uttering such grandiose statements as "That has ruined my week" and "This would never have happened to Tony Soprano" (I may be watching a little too much tv at the mo).

Wish me luck this week as I head back into the lions den to see if I can get the proper cover! Yay

Its now 1.44am and my not only am I still awake, but I am angry again too!

Oops

Autumn days and separate doonas

It is well and truly Autumn here now. The park near our house is quite pretty with lots of trees in various shades of yellow, orange and brown and with a carpet of leaves on the ground which makes me want to be 5 yrs old again so I don't get such weird looks when I run through piles of leaves squealing with delight. I have realised that the average temperature at the moment is colder than I am used to in the dead of Sydney winter and I am quietly nervous about my first German winter.

When Char arrived in Germany we went out and bought a new Doona as the only one in the apartment when I moved in was a single (although they don't use the single/queen/king system here!). We bought the largest size, as recommended by our helpful shop assistant due to my length. Imagine our surprise when we got home and it was not much bigger than the single doona it was to replace! I guess that people here sleep with individual Doonas. We gave it a crack and I have to say that I LOVE IT! Those midsleep battles for the doona are now a thing of the past and I can also drag my doona out to the couch for some late nights watching the Sopranos while Charmaine gets her sleep before her early start at language school.

Today we went for a nice bike ride along the Rhein and stopped to take some photos in a nice park that we passed that had ducks in a what was either a large pond or a small lake. And as I write this we are patiently waiting for our oven to do its business with a chicken we introduced it to earlier........mmmmmmm sunday roast!

Yum - still, its never the same as Mums is it?

I'm a naughty Blogger!

After a number of messages chastising me over my recent lack of blogging I have decided to get cracking again....

It has been one month since my last meeting...errrr... post.

I have now finished our run of Carmens for this year (we have another four performances in June). I really enjoyed performing the role of Morales, which is smallish but has some really nice stuff to sing. By the last few I was really having fun with the character (quite the sleaze) and not worrying so much about my top Fsharp! hehe

We are currently in the end phase of rehearsals for the first Kinderoper of the season Die Feuerrote Friederike (the fire red Friederike) and all is going well. I am sharing my role and don't start performances for another month so I'm hoping that i don't forget everything. We are also rehearsing La Traviata and today is the first rehearsal for Hoffmanns Erzählungen (tales of Hoffman).

When I write it down like that it gives the impression that I am busy but compared to life as a chorister in Australia it is a walk in the park! I have had plenty of spare time and have been learning some new arias for Auditions and am starting to learn the role of Don Giovanni.

Since I wrote last Charmaine has arrived. It is so great to have her here - she is currently in her 5th week of an 18 week intensive language course and is doing really well. Unfortunatly there aren't many people at the school at the moment and the social scene isn't as good as when I was there (the advantage is that we got a 25% discount because its off peak!)

Tomorrow night we are going to our first swing class. It took some tracking down but we have finally found a swing community in Köln. Hopefully class is good and we can meet people that are as cool as our swing friends in Melbourne and Sydney.

That is all for now, I have decided that rather than waiting for inspiration for my next post that I will write a post every Sunday night with a reflection on the week that has been.

Thank you to the readers that have hassled me into resurrecting my blog.....I'll try not to disappoint.

C

Rehearsals begin

Three days ago I had my first rehearsal for Carmen.

I hadn't realised how much I had missed the rehearsal room until I walked in and felt right at home. It had been about 4 months since I last worked in the theater and I think that break has really renewed my energy and drive.

As Moralés, my scene is at the beginning of the Opera and after a read through of the dialogue the Director got straight in and blocked my scene. Its not a huge scene or a huge character but I am enjoying playing it none the less and I do have some lovely phrases to sing.

The following day they added the Chorus gentlemen to the scene and it felt really surreal to be amongst them. It felt like I was dreaming that I was back in the OA chorus again - but for some reason everyone was speaking German! Witnessing their banter and camaraderie made me realise how much I will miss my friends from the chorus.

It is a fairly International cast with Principal artists from Israel, Spain, Netherlands, Australia(me) and of course Germany. The director conducts most of the rehearsal in German but then will translate if anyone didn't understand. I find that I understand most of what is said to me but every now and again a word pops up that I need to ask about.

It is 2 weeks till opening night and I can't wait!

Nippes Nacht

No I didn't forget a letter in the title. Nippes is the name of the suburb I live in!

Last night was Nippes night and there was a concert in Schillplatz (a small square a 7 min walk from home) starting at 5pm. That finished at 7 and that is when the real fun started...

For 7 Euro you buy a wrist band that allows you entry into about 20 different bars/cafes that all had 2 or 3 bands playing between 7 and 11. It was great - the suburb was alive with all sorts of people wandering around popping in to different bars to listen to some music and have a glass of wine or Beer. Looking at the map on the program I was astonished at just how many places there are to go out within a 10 min walk of my house - Dangerous!

I listened to some funk, German Rock, a cool little Jazz trio, a punk band, a gospel choir (singing lots of Mo-town stuff really well) and then finished it up with a sweet Funk band that was playing at a big outside area. Unfortunately all my friends from the language course had departed that day (or weeks ago) and I went alone. I did meet a few people and had a lovely chat with a German women who's friend was being picked up by one of the guys that I had been talking to earlier in the night.

By 11 I found myself quite tipsy and decided to take the 5 min walk back to my bed. I love festivals that are close to home!

Gestapo Museum

Yesterday some friends and I went to the Nazism Documentation Center in Köln. It is in EL-DE house, a building that was used by the Gestapo as a Prison, Interrogation and Execution Center.

The upper floors house the usual collection of Photographs, Documents, and assorted Paraphernalia which was interesting but very similar to other Museums. What was most powerful for me was the basement, where the original prison cells still remain.


During the war approx 90% of Cologne was destroyed - The major building left standing was the Kölner Dom, an amazing (even for an Atheist) Gothic Cathedral which was built from 1248, and is one of the largest churches in the world. It was only spared demolition by allied bommers so that they could use it as a landmark for orientiering.


So... where was I...

EL-DE house was somehow spared desctuction and in the years after the war, the cells were used as storage and archive areas until it was turned into a Museum in 1988.

The stone cells are tiny (around 3meters x 2meters), and sometimes held up to 20 people! The walls of most of the cells are still covered with the writing of the people that were held there and a selection were translated on the walls opposite the cells. It was these messages that I found most heart wrenching.

The people writing them had no idea if they would be getting out alive and if they would ever see their families again. Even if the Gestapo didn't execute them, a large number died from diseases from the overcrowding.

There were all sorts of messages, from bewilderment about why they were there, to despair, to rage, to longing for their loved ones or homeland. Some wrote messages so that the world would know what happened there, some expressed regret that they didn't cherish their freedom when they had it, others wrote deeply personal messages that I felt a little intrusive reading - A bit like opening someone elses diary.

That night, I tried to imagine what I would write on my 10cm by 10cm patch of wall if I was in a dark, crowded cell, listening to tortured screams, bombing raids, and the sounds of executions, eating my piece of bread in the morning and wondering whether I would be alive that night.

I could not decide what I would write,

and I wept for the people that had to.

How was the disco?

I'm glad you asked!

Well - I am almost disappointed to confess that the school disco last weekend was a great night. I would much rather regale you with humorous tales of lameness than talk about the 50c beers, the cool music from various parts of the globe and the nice atmosphere. There were even some yummy German snacks - including my favorite... Peanut butter flavored little thingies that are the texture of cheetos! We stayed there till about 2am from what I can remember and then left for a bar that someone recommended. I can assure you that I won't be following his recommendation again! We wandered around the streets looking for the place until some of us got sick of wandering and just went into the next club that we passed - It was OK but I actually prefered the atmosphere at the CDC Disco.

The Disco was organised by Lucas, a 17 yr old who is doing his Zivildienst. In Germany it is compulsary for all males to do 9 months service service in the Military or alternativly, they can elect to do Civil service instead. Most end up working in retirment homes or helping the poor or typical Community service jobs. A few very lucky ones manage to score themselves jobs helping out in places like Language schools. Lucas, who interestingly did an exchange year in Australia a couple of years ago, is in charge of putting together the excursions, sporting events and other extra-curricular activities for us to enjoy when we probably should be studying verb conjugations. It is quite strange in Germany which, from what I have observed, seems obsessed with equality and eliminating discrimination (i guess people can learn from mistakes) that it is only the Men that have to do the service. I have been told that they will be getting rid of the compulsary service and that this will create huge problems for the health/community services industry who have relied for so long on VERY cheap labour.

Pfand and games

I am in love with the word Pfand.

It means security (as in deposit) and, just in case you are wondering, the gender of the word is Neutral.

The Germans are into recycling like nobody I've seen before. My apartment has one bin for plastics/packaging, one for paper and one for regular garbage. I also have a bag for glass bottles which I have to take 30 meters down the road to the communal bins where I separate it into Brown, Green and Clear glass! Next to my glass bottles are my Beer bottles and plastic water and softdrink bottles which get taken back to the shop to get my Pfand back.

When it is written down like that it actually sounds very anally retentive and I bet you are thinking that I have a kitchen full of rubbish bins. I can assure you that only a small portion of the kitchen is devoted to refuse... My bedroom is a different matter!

How many of you in Australia would carry an empty coke bottle in your bag so that you could put recycle it when you got home? My guess is....None. But here, I do it all the time. A bottle of coke costs around 1.20 Euro. But, the Pfand on these bottles is around .15 Euro (which at the moment is about AU$5!). It is a similiar story with Beer bottles and with large coke bottles except with these the pfand is .25 Euro! Brilliant! As far as i'm aware the only paid domestic recycling sytem in Australia is the 5c per aluminium can you get in South Australia which is pretty stingy in comparison.

If you can't be bothered taking the bottles down to the shop that is fine, you can put them in the bin or leave your beer bottles next to the bin and let the homeless or unemployed collect them! Beats begging! I was at a park where maybe 200 people were sitting around drinking and there were 3 guys who each had a section and were loading the beer bottles into shopping trolleys - one guy was onto his 2nd trolley! He could probably make 100Euro doing that, and at the same time, rids the park of beer bottles that the drunk youths certainly wouldn't be taking to the bin!

I also encountered the Pfand system at the Ping Pong place I went to (see previous blog: Dr Pong). I bought a glass of Mineral water was charged a a whopping 3 Euro! The barstaff must have noticed my confused gazing at my change filled hand because they explaned that the drink was 1.50 but there is a 2.50 Pfand! They also gave me a token which I was to return with the Glass when I was finished. This was to stop people stealing the glasses to return them for the cash. Only if you return the glass and the token will you receive your money back. Brilliant. Not only do they stop people stealing glasses (At 2.50 Euro you could buy them plenty cheaper!), but they also reduce the instance of broken glass around the floor!

The other handy thing is if you run out of change for the bus, all you need to do is grab some empty bottles from the kitchen on your way out and take them back to the kiosk on the way!

Germans - Gotta love em!

besser spät als nie!

It has been a while since my last post - Apologies everyone.

I have now been in Köln for about 3 weeks. I am living in a suburb called Nippes - which still makes me giggle on the inside every time I see written somewhere. Its only about a 7 min bike ride or 20ish min walk to the centre of town which is very handy indeed. My apartment is small but nice. I bought all the furnishings and appliances from Abe who was living in this apartment last year, which made moving to Germany soooooo much easier as I didn't have to look for somewhere to live and then buy everything (usually in German apartments you even have to bring your own kitchen - all that is there are the pipes coming out of the wall)

I am nearly at the end of my second week of the second block of classes. I'm studying at the Carl Duisberg Centrum and I'm the only Australian here! I don't think there is even a New Zealander! I am really enjoying the mix of cultures and nationalities. My German is improving quite noticably but I am still struggling with the grammar. I think the Australian education systems choice to not teach grammar during my generation has done me a disservice as I have to learn grammar terms and concepts at the same time as the German application (this results in much frustration)

I got a tour of my new Opera House by my new Boss Herr Rupert Burleigh. The original was destroyed, along with almost everything in Köln except the Cathedral, and the replacement is not what I would describe as beautiful but it does have some charm and is quite interesting inside.

Tomorrow night there is a "Disco" at the language school - I'm having some serious flashbacks to my high school days which is the last time that I have used the word without referring to a genre of music. I am picturing a mirror ball and some cellophane covered fluro lights, perhaps some carrot sticks and french onion dip on a trestle in the corner. I really hope it isn't lame.

I will let you know in a few days!

Strawberries

Strawberries are in season now in Germany and they are really yummy. The best ones I have tasted so far were ones that Abe and I picked ourselves while I was visiting him in Nordhausen on the weekend. Near where he lives is a strawberry field and you can go and pick your own for 2 Euro a kilo.

We hand selected only the reddest juiciest ones and soon had a 2.5 kg box full.

When we got home we cut them up and drizzled some balsamic vinegar and sprinkled some suger over half of them and then put them aside for our dessert. We put the other half in a pot and made some jam.

I thought I would test the macro capabilites of my camera on my favorite Strawberry...

Unfortunatly everything doesn't always go to plan and the following morning while I was supposed to be looking after the simmering Jam I started to watch The curious case of Benjamin Button. I think you can work out the rest - It is still to painful for me to put into words...

I did love the movie though.

Dr Pong

No - that wasn't the nickname I received from my classmates after forgetting my deodorant on the first day of school!

It is the name of a very cool bar in Prenzlauerberg (a cool suburb of Berlin) that Chris van Tuinen had told me about after his last visit to Berlin. My classmates and I went there to celebrate our last class together.

The decor is a cross between abandoned warehouse and friends garage and you could walk past there for two months and never know it was there (In fact Paula from class did just that - she had lived DIRECTLY opposite the bar and didn't know it was there.

The first thing you see when you tentatively open the door, wondering if this is the right place, is the competition table tennis table. When we arrived there were around 30 people circling the table, beer in one hand, bat in the other, taking it in turns to hit the ball. When you miss a shot you sit on the sides, or go into the other room where there are some couches and a small bar. When the final 2 people are left at the table they play a proper game of table tennis (first to five) and then when this game is decided the loser taps their bat on the table and everyone jumps up to do it all again.

Pleasantly, despite the amount of beer in my system (or perhaps because of it), I managed to finish in the top 4 or 5 most times. I made the final 2 a few times and I even won one game. Here is a photo of me celebrating with my friend Nick from class...


The only downside to an unventilated room full of mainly men sweating it out around a table tennis table made me marvel at the double meaning to the bar's name.

This was the first time I had seen a bar like this and we all had a fantastic time.

The night after Dr Pong, I was walking home after having a quite dinner and when I was almost at my front door noticed a bar accross the road that I had never seen open before. I was going to walk past and head to bed until I spied through the window...............A TABLE TENNIS TABLE!!!

So, in I headed, swapped my drivers licence for a bat and played up a storm while chatting with locals.

It was the perfect way to spend my last night (for now) in Berlin.

Ich liebe Berlin

I was having lunch at the small cafe across the road from the Goethe Institute where I am studying and noticed the following...


if you're eyesight is on the downward slide here is a closer shot...


Thats right - for the last 3 weeks there has been a clothes line running from the top of a street sign to a power pole!

I can't stop thinking about this clothes line! Who put it there? How long has it been there? Why is this person interested only in having dry socks? Is someone wandering around in wet undies, too embarrassed to hang them on the line?

I fear that I am destined to see out my days never finding the answers to these important questions!

On another note - Tonight (as many other nights since I've been here) I have enjoyed a dinner of fabulous ingredients cobbled together from my local deli. I throw it together, sit on my balcony with a beer purchased at the newsagent (YES - you can by beer in the newsagents here!). Tomato, Cheese, Amazing Salami, Olives, Gurkins, and great German Bread!



Not long till I leave Berlin - 2 more days of class and then perhaps some celebratory beverages as I say aufwiedersehn to my newly made friends.

Then - on to Köln and Chapter 2 of my German adventure.

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

Just in case you didn't get the reference.......here are a few of my favorite things in my apartment


The first thing to greet me as I entered my apartment in Berlin was not this Chicken, it was a man by the name of Stephan Hann. I am staying in his apartment with him. He is a fashion designer/artist that makes clothes out of paper and other salvaged materials - Click here for some examples of his work . He is very nice and extremely interesting but also leaves me to my own devises most of the time which is great. He is also a bit of a neat freak and insists that I dry the tiles and bath after every shower I take - For me that really takes some getting used to!

This chicken was in fact the second thing to great me....it did give me quite the greeting though!




This is the freundlich little fellow that greets me every morning and reminds me to dry the above mentioned shower (he does tend to mumble though so sometimes I have to say "noch einmal bitte?" to which he repeats his request a bit more clearly.


When I was deciding which shower gel to purchase I went down to my little local supermarket (which is a bit like a Priceline with some food thrown in) and wandered the isles wondering which one I should buy until I saw this one...



Unfortunately it is yet to deliver on the "happy time" I had in mind! - I'm thinking of writing a strongly worded letter to Nivia pointing out their failure to deliver on said "happy time". But it will have to wait as my German Teacher says that we won't be covering contract law until week 4.

The final photo is of an old friend.....



Yep, I know its hard to imagine but there amongst the assorted figurines...... good old JC. I had no idea they had him in Europe too! The magic of the Internet - who would have imagined ten years ago that we would now live in a world so liberated of traditional cultural and language barriers that this little man would come to be known all the way over here in Germany. I'm yet to travel to Italy but I wouldn't be surprised if they have heard of him there too!

Action Packed weeked 2

This weekend started with a bang when we went to see Salome at the Berlin Staatsoper and I have my first experience of being in a audience that has booed a performance. Immediately after the final chord there were a few people that booed however these few were quickly drowned out by a chorus of Enthusiastic whistles and bravos. The main boos (from I would guess 1/3 of the full house) were reserved to the Lady playing the role of Herodias. I did think she was pretty average but I felt really bad for her, I'm guessing she didn't feel to crash hot about it either as she didn't come out with the rest of the cast for the second curtain call. I thought in general that the production and all of the singing (with the exception of Betty Boo) was fantastic though.

After the culture came some culture-shock. My new friends from school and I went to a club/bar called White Trash Fast Food. It is a really cool bar in an old Chinese restaurant. Upstairs they were playing everything from Run DMC and Salt n Pepper to Blink 182 and Greenday and had quite an eclectic mix of punters and healthy dance floor. Downstairs in the basement were a mass of sweaty long haired, black clad heavy metal enthusiasts doing their best to dislodge a vertebrae in their neck.

Sunday I met my one of my friends and we had some lunch and then went to this enormous flea market in a park next to one of the few remaining pieces of the Berlin Wall. The market was huge and was like the Glebe markets and the camberwell markets got married and had seven children. CRAZY. It also has a few beer garden areas and while there we heard an Australian guy who performs on his own and uses only his voice and a slide trumpet. - He was quite amazing the weird things he could do with his voice. He would sing/hum/yodel/beat box a phrase and record it and play it on a loop. Then he'd layer heaps of other layers on top and eventually when the backing was all there would sing a song to it. Really cool.

On the way home my friend was feeling faint and we stopped for a rest. He looked really pale and just went I suggested he should sit on the ground he started to have a seizure. I helped him to the ground and then held his head so it didn't smack on the concrete and a passer by called an Ambulance. He eventually came around and the ambulance came and sorely tested my German medical vocab and my Charades skills and we went to the hospital. Turns out that this is the first time its happened to him - he's staying at the hospital overnight and maybe tomorrow so they can run test and make sure hes OK. When I left him he seemed back to his normal self albeit feeling worried and a bit sorry for himself. I will go and visit him tomorrow morning and take him an English magazine or two.

After that drama I went to the Komische Oper's performance of La Traviata (in German). I HATED it. There was some great singing but the production was the most nonsensical thing I have ever seen. I have seen it before, sung 2 small roles and been in the Chorus in two seasons and i still had trouble following what was going on. I thought I was in for a second booing session (One I would have been sorely tempted to join in on) but I was astonished that not one boo could be heard. What sort of topsy turvey town is this???

Now I'm home tucked into bed after doing a bit of homework for class tomorrow. I'm going to sleep much better than a baby tonight!

Its time to speak out!

Well - I've been here over a week and I can't maintain decorum or my silence any longer!

What the hell is going on with this toilet?????

Now - I had been warned that I may come across this type of Toilet whilst on my travels in Germany but I certainly didn't expect to have to use one for my first 27 Days here. I must also add that the warning did nothing to alleviate the alarm and discomfort that comes from have to go through the motions with this contraption.

For those of you how haven't yet had the misfortune, this is what is know colloquially as the German Poo Shelf Toilet. Instead of the business plopping down into the water like in conventional toilets, with the GPST, it sits there on the bone dry porcelain shelf, taunting your nose with its vicious insults, inches from your nether regions. On occasion, in a moment of distraction, you may happen to glance down.... BIG MISTAKE! What greets you is a sight that I cannot describe for fear of turning away readers after only my third post.

Now - after you've finished up and hit the flush, water rushes across the shelf (hopefully) carrying the filth with it down the hole. Thankfully I have not had the following experience but I have heard of people who live on the top floor not having enough pressure to banish the mess and having to resort to encouraging them along with a wad of toilet paper. There is also the problem of too much pressure and propelling Mr Turdie over the lip of the bowl and across the bathroom floor. I guess the second floor has the ideal water pressure for the GPST.

I have a feeling that this toilet was designed by a woman because (and this I only discovered AFTER my first use) if you pee standing up you are very likely to end up with significant amounts of what I will call "splashback". The only other option for standing is to have extremely good accuracy and aim straight down into the water. This is not only uncomfortable, and fraught with danger, but EXTREMELY loud. It was on my second visit that I noticed this sign:

I think that with the sale of each GPST they must give away one of these signs. I wonder why he doesn't have a neck...

The same man that gave me the heads up about these toilets also thought to pass on that it is possible to purchase special plastic utensils for rummaging around in your stools. Perhaps Germans swallow a lot of valuables? - I can just see them thinking "I can not corn eating remember!"

I find it hard to believe that it was not the allies first order of business to round up and destroy all GPSTs and save future generations years of misery - but then, i guess if they did, what the hell would I have written about today?

First weekend in Berlin

Well - I think I am in love with Berlin

Saturday night I went with some class mates to the Berlin Staatsoper (State Opera). We saw the final performance of Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera (The Masked Ball). If you are under 30 you can purchace tickets 30 minutes before each performance for 13 Euro. It was amazing. The Tenor, Piotr Beczala, singing the main role of Riccardo was stunning - his phrasing was beautiful and his top register was so exciting. The rest of the cast was great too- the Baritone sang well but his acting, unfortunatly, was a little overdone and one dimensional.

Before going to the opera I went and checked out the Pergamon Museum. It is worth the price of admission along to check out the Pergamon Alter - it gave me goosebumps when I saw it. It also houses a huge section of Islamic art and Greek and Roman art from up to 700BC.

Today I went to the Jüdiche Museum (Jewish Museum) which is housed in a very interesting building designed by Daniel Libeskind. The shape of the building is reminiscent of a deconstructed Star of David and houses many exhibits from all aspects of Jewish History. The holocaust section was particularly powerful but the three spaces which captivated me the most were the Holocaust Tower , the Shalechet (Fallen Leaves) and the Garden of Exile - Check out the link above for a description.

I am limping quite badly now due to my blister on my foot but i'm determined not to let it stop me. My bike should arrive on Tuesday so I can give my feet a little rest after that.

Berlin: First impressions

I have only been here for 3 day but I'm already going to join everyone else and say...."Ich Liebe Berlin!". The first think that struck me was just how many people ride bikes here (The second was how strange it is to see no one wearing helmets). My bike arrives in a few days and I think I will head to a quite area near home and practice riding on the wrong side of the road for a while before I unleash myself on the city - It has taken me four days to stop looking the wrong way as I step out to cross the road. I can't wait to get on the bike and start exploring the city properly.

Other things that I think are fabbo about this city (and Germany in general) are: The Sausage, the Bread, the Beer (you can pick up a case of 20 500ml bottles for 8 euro (16 aussie dollars) and its great beer too. Wine is also really cheap - A very drinkable bottle might set you back somewhere between 2 and 4 euros.......I think I've died and gone to heaven.

Tonight I stopped off at the supermarket on the way home from class and picked up a couple of beers, a loaf of georgous Schwarzbrot (black bread) and some cheese and sausage and I don't think there is much better than that combination for a ripper quick meal.

My brain is hurting after another full on class. I have skipped a level from the one I did last in Sydney so I'm feeling a little under the pump. I think its better to be like this than comfortable though. We were given a few hours worth of homework tonight so I'm going leave this post there and get cracking on it.

C

Tall people were not built to fly

After 23 hours on 3 planes I have finally arrived in Berlin. I was disappointed to note that on my flights we did not have individual screens. So, I had no choice but to sit through Inkheart, Bride Wars, New in Town and then..........Inkheart again! grrrrr oh yeah, I nearly forgot to mention that I had to pay for alcoholic beverages on the first flight! grrrrrrr again

perhaps what was more annoying than the movie and booze situation was the fact that my legs didn't fit. Not only could I not straighten them, but I couldn't bring my legs up to form a right angle with my knees without inserting them well into the seat in front of me. And that was before he reclined! My poor pins were forced to spend the majority of the flight in a pergatory for legs as if waiting for their god to decide which way to send them. I have decided that I am not coming back to australia until I can afford Business class, or when I can feel my toes again, whichever comes first.

One pleasant and quite amusing aspect of the flight was the amount of cowboys on the flight who wore their cowboy hats the entire flight. There was also one gentleman (term used quite loosely) who was wearing a teddy bear hat. Now I know some of you are probably picturing a teddy bear attached to a hat, but you would be wrong. This man (who looked like Vin Diesel's younger, but no less scary, brother was wearing a teddy bear AS a hat. The teddy was lying on its stomach with its front legs hanging just in front of the guys ears and its head resting just above his forehead. I noticed him in the lounge before boarding and assumed he was goofing around. I am still not sure that he wasn't, but if he was, he was certainly very committed to the gag. I was also interested to observe that when he went to sleep on the plane he pulled little Ted forward a bit so that his paws were dangling in front of his eyes - Hat/sleep mask and toy for the kiddies all rolled into one - I gotta get me one!