September 24-30

I can't believe September is over! This month literally flew by in a blink of an eye.

This past week included more Oktoberfest adventures, more settling in and meeting new people, a trip to Augsburg (for me) and GE's first play date with a classmate.

On Monday I went to Frauenchor rehearsal. I'm really loving this group. #1 - It's small--about 16-20 voices--so I feel like I'm getting to know names and faces much more quickly. #2 - I like the director's style. She pushes the group to really be musical, but doesn't spend a lot of time trying to *fix* so the pace of the rehearsal stays interesting. #3 - Diction. We're singing songs in German, German dialects, Swedish, and English. She corrects, but doesn't dwell on it and the singers respond. #4 - The song selections are almost all new to me with a nice mixture of challenging (Ola Gjelilo; Eriks Esenvalds) and easy (German Volkslieder settings), as well as a range of periods (Renaissance to 20th C.). I'm hoping their spring concert repertoire is as interesting!

I've wrapped up the little editing/proof-reading job I had and have put out feelers to a couple people for more. (If you know anyone working on something, who needs another set of eyes...) But I'm also digging into the music I brought along--plus I just bought some scores at a shop in the Altstadt, so I'm going to get into those too (Händel's Brockes-Passion). J is continuing to read voraciously and has begun to write in earnest on his sabbatical project: a book on how law can keep up with technology. So, we make "work" dates at different cafés: he reads, I study my scores and listen to recordings, or we talk about what we're working on, what challenges the girls are facing and how we can support them, and just generally enjoy having the time to connect.

Coffee at another café around the corner from our apartment building. Just a cup of decaf, always with a cup of spring water.

Tuesday evening we attended the Gymnasium Klassen Elternabend (parent meetings at the upper school). J went to the meeting for the 10te. Klasse and got some vague info about their class trip in November (apparently, the teacher doing the planning failed to show up so the other chaperones gave as much info as they had--basically, dates--and apologized for the missing teacher!) while I went to the 7te. Klasse and met the class teachers and some of the parents. Afterwards, J and I decided to see what the night scene was like... at the Oktoberfest. The weather has just continued to be pleasant and perfect for the festival--some are saying it's one of the bests years they can remember. We say, we brought the weather with us (sorry, Virginia--we left all the rain at home for you). This time we got a spot at a table in the balcony of one of the Wein Zelten (wine tents) where we were entertained by a live cover band and marveled over Germans' love for kitch. Watch the video here: Nymphenburg Sekt Zelt. 
 

The ceiling decorations in the Nymphenburg Sekt Zelt had an almost Christmas-y sort of feel to it!

The view from our balcony seats.

After we finished our drinks, we went wandering through the grounds and other tents, taking pictures and absorbing the ambience and celebratory spirit.

Inside the Paulaner Festzelt.

Inside a Kaffeezelt (coffee tents had live music too)! Click HERE to watch the cutest couple dancing.

The ceiling of the Hofbräu Festzelt.

We walked up to the upper level of the Hofbräu Festzelt for a view of the crowd.

The moon over the rides!

Oktoberfest at night!

On Wednesday I stayed home and did laundry, helped HR with homework, and later in the afternoon met GE at her school. She wanted me to walk home with her so I could meet her friend's mother and see where they live (near us), since the girls had started walking back after school together. They are Ethiopian, but have been living in Germany for some time. The mother's German is good, and E and GE hit it off at school. We made plans for GE to go to their apartment building to play on Friday afternoon--their building has an inner Hof (courtyard) with playground where they can play safely unsupervised. It's just on the other side of the canal from our building and GE can easily walk home on her own.

How many of you have traveled overseas or to another part of the US, only to meet someone who you have some connection to, or who shares a place/experience/acquaintance? I think of these connections as "it's a small world" stories. Often they're rooted in a Mennonite or family connection and those don't surprise me so much anymore, but sometimes there are others. Here's one of them: Thursday I went to the larger SATB church choir, the Himmelsfahrtkirchen Chor. The registration form for the their weekend choir retreat (in October) was due, but I still needed some information on how to sign up for the bus ride and who to give the money to. So, I asked the woman sitting next to me. She filled me in--she's a longtime regular--and introduced herself as J. We talked for while during the break about where we're from, what we do, etc. Then on Friday afternoon I took a train to Augsburg. I had arranged to meet with Liat Himmelheber, a mezzo soprano and voice teacher who is friends with a JMU piano professor, Gabe, who works with a JMU voice professor, Kevin, who I sing with on occasion in the Harrisonburg area. Gabe gave me some names and contact information for singers/teachers he knows from his years in Augsburg, which is just a 30 minute train ride west of München. Liat invited me to come to her home to talk shop. I had a quiet ride on a Regionalbahn, despite Oktoberfest tourists, and took my time walking to her home, detouring through the little pedestrian zone in the town's center. Once I arrived, we settled down at a table on her balcony over a pot of Chinese tea. As we exchanged personal information, I mentioned that I worked at a private school in Harrisonburg. "Oh! Which school?" she asked. I was sure she couldn't possibly have heard of EMS, but I said "Eastern Mennonite School" and began to try to explain what it was, but she interrupted and said, "That's where our son, QN, went for a semester!" WHAT?! When their youngest son (Q) was a junior, he spent a semester at EMS as an exchange student since the public school wouldn't take him. She told me he lived with the V family (they don't have any current students at EMS but have at least one graduate) who were friends of Gabe. IT'S-A-SMALL-WORLD-MOMENT. A little while later, we were chatting about what else I've been doing since moving to München and I mentioned that I'd joined two choirs. When I said I was singing with the Himmelfahrtskirchen Chor, she said, "My sister, J, sings with that choir in the soprano section!" The woman I sat next to at Thursday's rehearsal and who had helped me to get signed up for the bus, was named J and fit the description of Liat's sister. What are the odds?! ANOTHER IT'S-A-SMALL-WORLD-MOMENT.

On the way to Liat's home: a cat, surveying his domain. I miss my kitties...

Downtown Augsburg and a trolley. I didn't have a chance to see the Dom or much more than a quick walk through a corner of the Altstadt--so a day trip is in our future...

Beautiful open-air Markt on the edge of the Altstadt pedestrian zone.

Saturday morning I got up around 8 a.m. and went for a long run (I'm up to 4.5 miles now, peeps!). I've been enjoying crossing over the Isar by the nearest bridge and then running down to the next bridge south, crossing back over and coming up on the city side. This time I went to the 2nd bridge south. It continues to amaze me how I can be running in a huge city and feel like I'm in a huge green park, rather than a sprawling metropolis. I picked up fresh Semmeln (Brötchen) for the girls' breakfast from the Ihle Bäkerai at the corner behind our building on the way back.


After getting cleaned up, I abandoned the family again and rode my bike across town to the Café Katzentempel. I joined a MeetUp group: a woman's conversation group called "The Happiness Club." A life coach, JL, from Scotland, moved to München with her Italian partner four years ago and started a coaching business as well as support groups and conversation groups for women which she advertises through the MeetUp app. About 14 women met over coffee and brunch to share about the theme of "resilience." Really interesting group! Only one other American. The rest were from all over the world: Poland, India, Russia, Italy, Spain, Scotland, one German, China, and me.

On the way home I got the weekend groceries and then helped the little girls get some of their homework done. ME had made plans to meet up with a friend from school for lunch and then to hang out at our apartment. The little girls and I went to find J at the Oktoberfest grounds, but didn't stay long since it was crazy packed with people--literally like sardines and really hard to even walk through the grounds, let alone get inside any of the tents! We rode one roller-coaster and then, after finding J--no small feat in the crowd--we made our way back to our bikes and home.

The Alpina Bahn.

Sunday morning dawned crisp and clear. The Alpenhorn concert was scheduled for this morning on the stairs below the Bavaria statue at the Oktoberfest. Thousands of people turned out--by far the most German crowd we've experienced so far. We got turned out in our Tracht and rode our bikes to the Wiesn again. More rides, more good coffee, more German food, more people watching! I keep thinking I've had enough, but every time it's fun--I think half the fun (maybe more than half) is the fact that we're so close that we can just pop in for a while and satisfy the urge to see what's happening but don't feel like we have to stay for long because we can go back at any time. You can watch/listen to some Alpenhorns here and a woman singing a traditional German folk song here and some folk dancing here.

Best view in the house (in order to see the horn ensemble over the huge crowd)!

We got the girls little name clips (wood engraving on tiny clothespins) and a souvenir board for ourselves.

Balloons released at the end of the horn concert.

Getting ready to ride a crazy spinning "coal mining" coaster.

Trying out Kaiserschmarrn (What is Kaiserschmarrn, you may ask? It's a traditional chopped up pancake sort of dessert/breakfast that was the Bavarian emperor's favorite food).

We blend right in, don't we?

Sharing hot chocolate at the Guglhupf coffee tent.

And just to tickle your funny bone... The red squirrels that run around here... are impossible to photograph. I think I probably took about 20 just to get a few usable ones.