What I really liked:
* Our hotel Seeschloss on the beautiful Kellersee. I loved how the lake looked all misty and serene in the morning. And it was so fun to go boating right outside the hotel. Frau Lau, the front desk lady, was so nice and helpful and funny. She was so patient with all our requests- about the boats, and the internet, and lost keys, etc.
* The walk from the hotel to the rehearsal barn. It reminded me a lot of Michigan's Kal-Haven trail. I love feeling like I'm walking through the woods, and these were legitimate German woods. It felt nice to breathe in freshly oxygenated air every morning! The bride over the little river was beautiful with the willow tree that draped over it. And the field of sheep with their bass "maa"s were so cute to greet us every afternoon.
* Maestro Rudolph Piehlmayer. Our German opera conductor. He was so wonderful to work with, even when he wasn't happy with the way we sounded. I will forever remember him and his catch phrases: "Have a look to me!" "Many Thanks!" "I'll KILL that cat!" "SUGAR IN THE MORNING!" "Good tea, good coffee!" And when he mistook the word "erotic" for "romantic". I loved how he changed into a new shirt during every rehearsal break. And how he wore man scarves, and fidgeted with them during performances of Don Giovanni. I really feel like I made him proud of me during my DG cello solo. And that's a good feeling.
* The nice guys who served us food twice a day- especially Andre, the sweet one with the curly hair and glasses. Nicest Germans ever. He always made sure there was enough vegetarian option for me.
*Our two faithful bus drivers- especially Dieter. I loved how they would come to our shows and clap loud for us from the front row. I loved how they would blast the English pop station on the radio- classics like "Have you really ever loved a Woman" and "As Long As You Love Me." I loved how they would tell us to Schlaf Good every night as we were getting off the bus. They were my two favorite German grandpas.
*THE MUSIC! We seriously played some good music. I love Don Giovanni and Hansel and Gretel. Even the music for the opening, closing, and chamber concerts was good. Playing good music all summer long is enough to keep me happy.
* My roommates and our apartment. Nobody had a room as awesome as ours. Instead of just a regular hotel room with 4 beds stuck in it, we had a suite with two rooms, two bathrooms, a living room, a refrigerator, a hot plate, and our own dishes. Eutin life of luxury. And I really appreciated Leslie Richards, for being super awesome and low key and punctual and great for late night talks. I feel like I learned a lot from her about vocabulary and Mahler. And everything else that was on the classical music radio station.
* Our day trips to Lubeck and Hamburg, and our overnight stay in Berlin. Even though we only really had 4 days off out of the entire 6 weeks, we really made the most of them. And they were incredible places to see! Train rides are lots of fun! And a cheap way to go! It was nice and refreshing to take a break from our little Eutin.
What I really didn't like:
*So much rain and cold! I am normally a lover of the rain, and I did appreciate it for the first few weeks, but the problem was that I didn't pack rain appropriate shoes, or warm clothing in general. I was expecting Utah summer weather. I should have known better.
* The general lack of festival organization. For example, telling the orchestra that rehearsal starts at 10:00 am, and telling the singers that rehearsal starts at 11:00 am. Or promising the musicians that they would have practice rooms, and never ever having practice rooms. Or thinking that it's ok to have an outdoor farewell concert in the pouring rain. Or promising two meals a day, every day- remember that?
* Drama with Mr. Neeley, our American conductor. Maybe just Mr. Neeley in general. The one I spilled tea all over, remember? He missed the first two weeks of rehearsal, even the dress rehearsal for Hansel and Gretel, and then expected to storm in, take over, and conduct everything? And be ornery at the world, because he just broke up with his girlfriend? And show up to rehearsals 5, 10, 15 minutes late? And have an obvious hate for cellos- blaming all problems in the orchestra on them? Ok, maybe now I'm exaggerating. But he was an unprofessional royal pain to work with, and I'm not at all sad to see him go.
* Lack of adequate internet. Now, I would like to think that I'm not internet dependent, but when skype is my only method for contacting my husband, and super sick mom for 6 weeks, I feel like a decent connection is necessary. They promised us free internet at the hotel and the rehearsal barn, and neither of those things really worked out. So we had to buy internet cards from the hotel. Then they sold too many for the server to handle, and we repeatedly crashed the server with our internet needs. Man, I'm glad to be back in America.
* The slugs. They were huge and ugly and slimy and everywhere. Glad I only stepped on 4 of them.
Favorite memories:
* Playing our opening concert in a barn. A legitimate barn with rafters and dirt floor. And filling every seat. And bringing the audience to tears.
* The German opera audiences who would camp out in their rain ponchos and blankets to watch outdoor opera in the worst weather. And how they would clap for a good ten minutes straight after each show. I never felt so loved by an audience in my life.
* Eating a marzipan vanilla crepe on the pier of the Elba river harbor in Hamburg. Also being serenaded on that same pier by an accordion/ guitar duo of old men singing "beso me mucho."
* Every dessert I ate! Marzipan walnut cream cake, tiramisu, italian eis, apple strudel, blueberry tarts, white chocolate cake, nutella and cherry crepes during intermission... man. Everything sweet was delicious! I had to make myself a one-dessert-a-day rule to hold down a semblance of self control.
* Mint tea at breakfast. Every morning. And during most intermissions.
* Trying to order food in German for the first time, at a Turkish restaurant. And not having any idea what I was going to get.
* Walking home from the farewell party by myself in the lovely misty rain on a peaceful lovely night. Alone time was hard to come by.
* Trying on lingerie in Berlin with Brecklyn and Jessika. Actually, all of our shopping in Berlin. Particularly the Indian shop with all the cool incense and the Aladdin pants that I should have bought.
* The Holocaust memorial in Berlin. And the Brandenburg gate. And the Berlin Wall.
* Our Berlin hostel- the guy from Copenhagen who was there studying graffiti art who told us all of the crazy places to get drugs and party the night away. And the stupid girls who said they were from New York... actually Connecticut. And the other crazy guys who told us how awesome we were that we were going to bed at midnight in Berlin- cause we were above the party scene. Yeah, we're so cool. They tried to convince us that they were getting married in the morning. I was too tired to care. But they made the night interesting. I felt like I was sleeping in an orphanage. Like little orphan Annie.
* The wanna-be breakdancers in front of the fountain in the middle of Berlin.
* Canoeing on the Kellersee with Brecklyn. I wish we would have gotten all the way around the lake. It was funny when the storm came, until it started to thunder, and then it was kind of more scary. Also, trying to maneuver the surf-board-paddle boats. I'm sure we looked ridiculous, but I'm glad that we shared one. And that we sat down the whole time.
* All of the cool churches! Especially the dome cathedral in Berlin where we went to the prayer meeting. And the church in Lubeck with the fallen bells and the organ where Bach learned counterpoint. And the charred steeple in Hamburg that was destroyed in the air raids.
* The marionette museum. Creepy but awesome!
* Buying fresh blackberries, blueberries, and grapefruit from the farmers market on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.
* Visiting with new KU friends in the sun room of the party house in the middle of the night. Drunk people are funny to talk to when you are one of the only sober ones in the room. Also, friend Steve who came to visit our hotel room out of the blue that one night.
* Eating nutella on everything- toast, pretzels, Bananas, apples, pancakes, crepes, spoons, croissants...
* Playing truth or dare at the Don Giovanni cast party. Serenity Eyre knows more about me than most people on the planet. Yikes.
* Morning walks around the lake with Sufjan and Damian on the ipod. And the spot where the trees clear out where I would stop and do some yoga and stretches. Beautiful. Every German I would pass would smile and say "moin!"
Least Favorite Memories:
* Forgetting my music
* Spilling tea on Mr. Neeley and his cream jacket
* Breaking the big stack of dishes at the cafe
* Falling off of the bike I stole from the barn, scraping up my hands and covering myself in mud on the crazy rainy day that I forgot my music for the second time and had to go home really fast to get it before rehearsal started.
* The day when we were going to have the farewell concert outside on the opera stage, but it was raining crazy hard again, and while we were doing the sound check, the tarp covering the stage broke, and we all got covered in rain. Luckily, only the brass instruments got truly drenched by the tarp water. My cello dried out and is just fine now, but I think we were all pretty shaken up. Stupid plan, festival directors. 1200 tickets had to be returned.
* The day when they served spetzle with sauerkraut covered in cold white wine sauce for dinner. Barf!
All things, good and bad, came to an end. I'm glad I went to Eutin. I had a great time and made some great friends while playing great music. It will always be an amazing memory. But I'm grateful to be home- where you can buy egg rolls and cafe rio tostadas and understand the language. Where my husband and garden and bed live. Where I can make my own dinner and sleep in and enjoy the sunshine and summer weather. Where the internet works, and Harry Potter plays in English. Yeah, it's good to be home.
2 comments:
Welcome back!!!
YAYAYA! love you and your german adventures/misadventures. you're the best.
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