October 1-7

Monday, October 1

Where did September go? I find it disconcerting how time seems to go both slowly and yet speeds by and all of a sudden it's a new month. I continue to work on staying present and try to absorb the sensations, emotions, and experiences right in this moment. My life and work in the US is usually so focused on planning and thinking ahead--it's hard to stay present! So, I'm using this year to slow down, stay in the moment, focus on the people and the experiences and not on the stuff, the worries, the stress. It's refreshing.

Speaking of refreshing, Monday dawned cool and rainy--what I think of as standard Deutscheswetter (German weather), but also qualifies as Herbst (fall). The trees are beginning to turn colors, the ivy on the walls a brilliant red, the air is heavier and the light has changed. Herrlich!

J and I rode our bikes through the pouring rain (in appropriate rain gear, as one would expect; there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing) to the KVR office (Kreisverwaltungsreferate München -- i.e. German bureaucrats!) for our 8:20 a.m. appointment to present all of our Unterlagen (documentation) in order to be approved for our extended stay visas. We stood in one line, then waited for our number to be called, and then sat in the office with a friendly city employee while she checked off all the items. Once she had verified that all the necessary documents were in her hands (about 20 different things including our Anmeldebestätigung, passports, Schulbestätigungen, Mietvertrag, Hochzeitsurkunde, Geburtsurkunden, Arbeitsplatz Einladung... -- city registration confirmation, school enrollment verification letters, rental contract, marriage certificate, birth certificates, invitation letter from the Max Planck Institute, the kitchen sink...), she dismissed us and said to come back in about an hour to pick up all the documents after she had processed each visa application. J had an appointment with the director of the Max Planck, so he headed out while I parked myself in the Italian café downstairs to wait. At the appointed time, I returned to her office where she was just finishing up. I took all the paperwork downstairs to another line for the Kasse to pay for all the applications. Once I had settled up I was given another number and all the documents, receipts, and passports were handed off to another employee to actually print and apply the visas to the passports! So I sat and waited another 30 minutes or so until my number was called. Geschafft! We are all now "official" for travel...

In the afternoon HR and I met with a gentleman who works for Münchener Nachhilfe (Munich tutoring). We had waited longer with MK when we were living in Bonn to get her some extra support for German and this time we decided ahead of time that we would most likely seek some after school tutoring for HR and/or ME, if we felt like it would help. HR is doing great, all things considered, but her German is not as advanced as ME's and her school situation is more challenging than GE's, so I started doing some searching and found a couple of options. This one is just down our street and is reasonably priced. She'll go twice a week for 45 minutes of Mathe (Tuesdays) and Deutsch (Fridays). We just pay for about 5 weeks at a time, so we can decide anytime whether to continue or to leave it.

ME stayed after classes for her wind ensemble and choir rehearsals. She has quickly befriended the other female trumpet player, commiserating with her that they are the only girls playing trumpet at their respective schools and enjoying the camaraderie for this year. On Fridays she also stays after class for a theater group--although she's disappointed that they won't put on a show while she's here because they're working on a big production that won't go on until next fall, so she can't have a role. She'll do support work though and be included in the warmup exercises and that sort of thing.

The rain cleared off by mid-day and I did a little grocery shopping and went to the Frauenchor rehearsal in the evening. During a break, the director asked me to sing a couple of solos in Britten's Ceremony of Carols for the Weihnachtskonzert. Yay!

Tuesday, October 2

Last week, GE's teacher had written a note in her homework planner asking if I could meet with her during her planning period this morning--nothing urgent or of concern, but she didn't elaborate about what she wanted, so I was curious. I wrote back "Kein Problem," of course, and showed up promptly at 8 a.m. at the school. We sat down in the Küche since her classroom was being used for another class. Fr. H said she really just wanted to find out more about what had brought us to München, what we hoped GE would be able to achieve this year, what did she *need* to achieve this year--if anything in particular--in order to return to school successfully in the US, and what had she already covered in math and other subject areas at her school at home. So, we chatted at length about all of the above. She seemed excited to be able to be part of GE's experience and said that it was clear she was already making huge progress in the language and had no difficulties with socialization skills (no surprise--GE has never known a stranger and language has never been a barrier in that respect). She offered to use some texts and workbooks with GE from the 1st and 2nd grade levels, so that GE can advance her reading and writing skills in German. I think she was relieved that she wasn't under pressure to make sure GE passed the fall exam that all the 4th graders must take in order to advance to the next phase of the German school system! I assured her that the most important thing for us was that GE learn as much German as possible, that she enjoyed school and made friends. So far, that all seems to be happening and the class is enjoying having her in their midst.

A poster on one of the classroom doors: "Children learn first with their hands, only then with their brains." Love it! GE's school schedule incorporates regular intervals to break up teaching/learning periods to work on Projekte -- in other words, projects, crafts, hands on learning.

The Gymnasium dismissed early due to the holiday tomorrow. ME had plans to go with her friends to Oktoberfest, so she wore her Dirndl to school and left directly from there, storing her backpack and bike at a friend's apartment near the Wiesn grounds. HR needed new fall boots, so I met her at the school and we rode to the discount shoe store where I'd gotten GE's Turnschuhe a few weeks ago. When we got home, there was a message from J that he had staked out a spot at a table right next to the band in the Hofbräu Bierzelt! I quickly changed into my Dirndl (one last time!!! I promise, this really is the last time!) and headed to the Wiesn to find him. This time we had actual Germans at our table, so we shouted in Deutsch with the group of 30-something-year-olds. We texted ME to join us when she was done hanging out with her friends. She arrived an hour or so later and had an Apfelschorle while J finished his Mass. Then we headed outside to find some cheaper food and ME convinced me to ride one more crazy swinging ride (sorry forgot to take a picture!).

It really is just apple juice with sparkling water!!!

THIS GIRL! Need I say more? So much fun...

Wednesday, October 3

No school. Feiertag! Tag der Deutschen Einheit (Day of German Reunification). We slept in, read in bed, and had a quiet morning at home. The banks and shops were closed, so no errand running. HR had invited a friend over and another asked if she could join them, so at 2 p.m. HR met them at the school to show them the way to our apartment. They hung out in the girls' bedroom for a while--giggling a lot--then headed outside to take a walk and find an Eis Café, hanging out afterwards on the swings outside, and occasionally calling me on the phone to help translate something that they couldn't communicate to each other through the combination of HR's patchy Deutsch and their inadequate Englisch.

In the evening J and I went out to the movies (Marvel: Venom) at the Royal Palast Kino on the Goetheplatz, about a 10 minute walk from our apartment. The sun was setting as we left to walk over and we suddenly noticed that the ivy on the cemetery wall had begun to change to a deep red. My phone can't quite do the colors justice, but you get the idea.

Thursday, October 4

Some of you have asked: how do you manage to do grocery shopping for 5 on a bicycle! Well, it's rather a fun challenge in both simplicity and practicality. I try to pick up groceries every other day or so, planning the lunch and evening meals for that day and breakfast for the next, plus a few other necessities as they arise. I've purchased some inexpensive pannier bags (saddle bags) which clip onto my rear basket. This lowers the center of gravity onto the center of my rear wheel, making it easier to balance. I have a collapsible picnic/shopping basket that I plunk down into the basket. I tend to put all my fresh produce or things I don't want to get squished or crushed (eggs!) in this basket, rather than the saddle bags. I have a basket on my handlebars as well, in case I need additional room or just don't want my purse to be sliding around and banging into my knees while I'm pedaling.

After dropping off my groceries at home, J and I took our respective work into a café near the city center so that I would be close to one of the shops where I could pick up a few remaining school supplies for the girls before going home. Later in the evening I went to the church choir rehearsal. Tomorrow I'll leave with them for a retreat weekend!

Loaded down after a shopping trip!

Writing and score study... I bought my own full copy of the Elias score in Deutsch and need to study the text--having sung it four times before in English, the Deutsch is the only thing that really throws me off. I also had my markings in the choral score that Herr G had loaned me which I needed to transfer to my score. Coffee Fellows café is right on the edge of the pedestrian zone, has great WiFi, and with the weather being sunny and mild, they had their front windows wide open, so although we were seated inside, the air was fresh and the ambience was as if we were sitting outdoors.

 

I also downloaded a recording of a Deutsch performance. While listening I suddenly realized that the mezzo soloist listed on the recording is one of the names that Gabe and Kevin (profs from JMU) had given me as a possible contact for finding a teacher/coach. Small world.

Inside, not inside...

Friday, October 5

I went for a quick run after seeing the girls off to school, then showered and went to meet a woman I met through the Happiness Club MeetUp group last week. She had invited me to join her for tea at the Tushita Teehaus. We got along great and she's invited me to join her book club too.

My lovely, delicate Chinese green tea.

After lunch I packed for the weekend away with the Himmelfahrtskirchen Chor and biked over to the church to meet the bus at 4 p.m. The girls stayed home with J: GE had a play date with E; AS, our former exchange student, came to town with her boyfriend for Oktoberfest and took ME downtown to shop on Saturday, and the girls and J all pitched in to clean the apartment while I was gone.

Meanwhile... I sat next to Liat's sister, J, on the bus ride to Kloster Baumburg in Altenmarkt an der Alz. We chatted about family, music, and German culture--laughed about the small world and the complete chance of having sat next to each other at last week's rehearsal--the day before my meeting with her sister in Augsburg. The weather was gorgeous and the view of the Alps even more stunning! Once we arrived, we had about a half-hour to settle in before a light supper, followed by rehearsal. After rehearsal, most of the choir grabbed drinks (the Kloster is also a Brauerei!) and gathered in the dining rooms to quatsch und plouder (chill and chat; "Gemütliches Beisammensein" - literally translated as "comfortably being together").

I enjoyed getting to know some of the choir members better, speaking and thinking almost entirely auf Deutsch for a whole weekend (my dreams were intense, ya'll!), singing and making music (happy place!), and the beauty of the surroundings. Herrlich!

Our schedule for the whole weekend:

Typisch Deutsch: they love to move, so before we warmed up in the mornings, there was always a group movement exercise, sort of in the style of gentle cardio workouts with steps, stretches, and balance. There were also spontaneous short walks through the countryside in the mornings and during meal breaks.

Disembarking from the bus outside the Kloster wall.

Stunning view entering the grounds.

The view of the Bavarian Alps from my shared bedroom!

Zoomed in on the mountains with my Nikon camera. I really couldn't get enough of the landscape.

Our shared room, the "Rosina Zimmer."

The hallway.

Same view from the window, but by morning light instead.

Wandering around the grounds... Old stone wall behind the church. On the other side is a steep drop off to the river and village below the bluff.

Fall colors creeping into the ivy on the wall.

Need I say more?

In the morning light.

The rehearsal space (not in the church, unfortunately, but still a nice sound).

One of the quiet "Nebenzimmer" (side rooms)

Additional rehearsal or quiet time space.

Gardens behind the Kloster. They grow their own herbs, fruits and veggies which were part of the meals and Haustee (homemade teas).

Later in the afternoon my eye was captured by the bright yellow of the tree in the parking lot against the church and crystal blue sky in the afternoon sun. Herrlich!

Kaffeepause... The choir took a break from rehearsal in the late afternoon to enjoy Kaffee, Tee, und Kuchen together. We all sat outside, because... the view, the weather, the company!

Before dinner, I went into the church which had been decorated for Erntedank Sonntag (harvest thanks Sunday). Be sure to read (use translate.google.com if you can't read the German) about the church's history HERE.

"Danke" in red berries over the entry gate into the sanctuary.

On one of my walks during a break in rehearsal, I stumbled upon this gorgeous stone barn.

Typisch: countryside walking/biking paths passing through the farmland and woods--free and open to anyone to walk for as long and as much as they like!

Through the woods along the Alz river.

The "letter" from the 150 year old Ash tree down the hill from the Kloster, explaining how it came to be so big and have such a huge crown of leaves, what it's bark and leaves have traditionally been used for...

The Ash tree... with a couple of people for perspective on its size!

The church and grounds in the evening light.

The sun has set...