Edible epiphanies

two nights ago I cooked a delicious meal of spaghetti with a fresh tomato sauce, balsamic reduction (thanks to a fellow Fulbrighter) and cheese bread. However, I was devastated by my discover that a clove of garlic is too much for some people, namely my room mate, who was reduced to picking schunks out of my incredible invention.

I have long that that it is utterly important to know when to keep ones mouth shut. Today, I learned that opening my mouth is sometimes more important. Standing in the kitchen of my apartmen doing dishes this afternoon, I finally found and executed the direct correlation between singing through the passagio, and opening your darn mouth. The result, some surprisingly good and easy high notes.

As of yet, I have been unable to incorporate Piernay's lessons into my high voice. I don't know if this is what he has been trying to get me to do, but it feels and I think sounds pretty good. I will have to wait to Friday to see what he says, if I can reproduce it in the lesson.

I have been putting off posting for a time I could really write all that I have wanted to, but instead I have waited untill I can't remember everything I wanted to write. Haha. Oh well.

I have been incredibly lucky here. I have made some wonderful friends, my room mates included, as well as a student from Peru, with whom I speak a mix of Spanish, German and English. Other friends come from China, Italy, Poland, and Canada making my time here more international than I even expected.

I was starting to go crazy not having any poetry here. Fortunately, someone sent me Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. Wow. I read a little bit of it about a year ago and aparently was not in the right mood. I definitely am now. I look forward to reading it over the next weeks.

It is curious. I have rather little that I must do here. I am taking a few courses: Italian, foundations of speech, Feldenkrais, a theatre games course, vocal technique, voice lessons and coachings. Still, I only have about 10 hours of class a week.

Fortunately, that means I am able to read and spend time along the neckar or practicing.

Lessons are going well, but I am changing a lot to take artificial darkness and tension out of my voice, so I have a few holes in my voice.

This picture is from the top of the Heiligenberg in Heidelberg. I rode my bike there a few days ago and returned to hike the philosophenweg with my peruvian friend. Heidelberg is beautiful in Herbst. This pic makes me think of a picture frame filler.

It is funny. One minute here I will be following everything in a conversation and the next I am completely lost. It is frustrating, but keeps me motivated to continue studying German.

post a week after written

pretty ood...tired...but god
and so it goes when your keyboard is not terribly sensitive.
Today begins yet another new chapter in my Deutschland experience. Today after three weeks of living with a guest family and riding an hour by streetcar to school each way, I finally move into my WG! (apartment in Mannheim, only 10 minutes by bicycle from the school) And may I say that cruising through a completely flat city at 10:30 at night on the way to a party is a pretty awesome time. In fact it was better than the party itself, though i finally was able to salsa dance a little without being entirely self-conscious.
In spite of the inconvenience, the homestay has been a good experience. It is funny, as I have been in Germany, I have eaten more Mcdonalds and heard more American pop music than I did in probably 22 years of life in America. Anyway, it has been interesting living in Fußgönheim (as the sound of the ever relaxing voice of the street car pronounces the name beautifully in my head with a slight emphasis on the Füß). The town is surrounded by agriculture and it is not uncommon to get stuck behind a tractor on the main street where my family lives. They are right across from the church and ever 1/4 of an hour the bells chime, along with a furious display at various important hours throughout the day. Benjy, my families dog, never fails to howl in misery.

This picture is from Speyer, a town near Fußgönheim.

Wachenheim

Today I rode my bike 10 km to a town named Wachenheim. It rained, blew like the dickens and was ultimately rewarding. It is quite funny though, the beautiful little European towns....with huge farming vehicles hulking through the streets.

The dog who bit me and a new home

I am free! Free of that cursed application! I just hope I make it to the interviews….

I had a truly German cultural experience yesterday. I went to Ikea. While strolling the vast warehouse of housery, with Ricky Iglesias playing over the speakers, I had a epiphany. I was in one of those dreams where everything is the same, but you can’t understand a word anyone is saying. Really though, I have had a surprisingly good time the last few days doing terribly ordinary things with my host family. It is a really cool experience and very different from anywhere else I have lived in Germany. My host family lives in a little town called Fußgönheim. It is about 15 km out of Mannheim, 50 minutes by S-Bahn, and you can walk from one end of the town to the other. The family lives across the street from the one church in Fußgönheim, making it remarkably easy to find, as the point of the steeple is the highest point in the town.

My host mother teaches guitar and my host father works at a chemical factory which seems to be one of the largest employers in the area. My room is comfortable and thank the lord I have internet (it is sad how dependent I am, but in my defense, enrolling in a school in a foreign country requires particular access to information).

My newly made American friends are now dispersed throughout Germany, though a decent sized contingency is in Heidelberg, 25 km from my flat in Mannheim.

Speaking of new friends, my new roommates seem really cool. They threw me a birthday party and are so cool that I was sad to move out for the three week home stay. Fortunately, My guest family is really nice as I have already said.

Today, I also had my second lesson with Piernay….man….stressful…but good. Then I got bit by a dog (several times in fact...not bad....just a split knuckle), ate spaghetti, and went to bed. Im allgemeinen, it was a pretty good day.