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.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
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!
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!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
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 s
ome 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!
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 s
ome 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...........
Sunday, November 15, 2009
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!
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!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
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!!!
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!!!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
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
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
Sunday, November 1, 2009
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?
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