So-I am in need of some advice.
I found out quite by chance that there is an audition for the Berlin Philharmonic on the 15th of October.
I am quite tempted to take the audition; here is a short pros and cons list.
Pros:
A chance like this may never present itself again
You have to take the opportunities that present themselves
It would be something like the dream job, if it were to come to fruition
It would be a good chance to stay motivated, to learn and to grow
Just taking the audition would be a good learning experience
I have very little to lose
Cons:
I was so enjoying not being under pressure for the first time in as long as I can remember. I'm not sure I'm doing myself any favors by putting myself in the frying pan again
I may risk alienating some of my colleagues if I make moves to leave right after I've gotten here
I would like more time to learn and to grow into a position like that. I feel like I'm a bit too young
I am just starting to get used to being a Hamburger
So what do you think?
Hope to hear from you soon!
Erik
German word of the day
"aufgeregt" [owhf guh raygt] adj.- excited
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Just one of those days
Living alone has it's advantages and it's drawbacks. After having lived through college in either a dorm room that looked like a concrete jail cell or a house that was literally falling apart and could not be saved with any amount of duct tape, living in a nice apartment is certainly quite a luxury. My little apartment in Munich was also really quaint, -and by quaint I mostly mean small- but you couldn't really classify that as living alone either. You could hear anyone and everyone practicing in their rooms and knew therefore what everyone was doing most of the time; I cannot adequately express my gratitude for no longer having to partake in the Mozart bassoon concerto at 1:00 A.M.
Now, however, I have an official address to my name. I find it nice to be able come home to a place where I have some of my own space and that isn't falling apart or overly dreary (like it was when I moved in; no lights... that was a long winter). My apartment, for those of you who haven't seen it yet, has a bedroom, living room, bathroom and galley kitchen, and is situated in a very lively part of town with lots of cafés and restaurants (and riots if you're lucky). I even have nice neighbors who are about my age and enjoy a good coffee together on our front steps on the weekend. There are some days, however, when being alone is hard to bear.
It's not as if I were not seeing people most of the time. Yesterday there a five-hour rehearsal in very cramped quarters with about 90 other musicians in the orchestra pit (direct translation from german is orchestra 'grave'). Today was the dress rehearsal for the same piece, and considering that 1) the music is incredibly modern (which means in this case atonal and difficult), 2) the conductor got rather bent out of shape several times, and 3) the rehearsal was longer than normal, it went really well and there was a spirit of camaraderie that I've never felt in this orchestra before. After the rehearsal was over, I got called over by one of the tenors, who happens to have been my piano teacher in college(!), took up singing after I left, and voilà, shows up on the stage dressed as a cop and singing about how "the elephant really couldn't have sat on your caaaaaaahhr"---in a very high voice, of course (curious about the opera?). Needless to say, it was fun to catch up with him over coffee.
I have also taken up the habit of reading in the afternoons. In the operatic schedule, the afternoons are always free. There can be rehearsals in the mornings or the evenings, and the shows themselves are always in the evenings. So afternoons are always fair game, and I've found that there is something really cozy or "gemütlich" (see 'german word of the day') about going to a café, ordering an espresso and reading for an hour or two. The baristas know me pretty well by now and at one place I even get extra stamps on my card (every sixth coffee free!). I've read some good books in those coffee shops: all the books from Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi (a psychologist who developed the concept of flow-see www.flowskills.com; I did the english translation); Learned Optimism by Martin Seligmann, How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony by Ross Duffin, and Constructive Conscious Control by F.M. Alexander (the guy who developed Alexander Technique-http://www.alexandertechnique.com). I would recommend most all of them.
Then, off course there is practicing. I try not to practice too late at night, as not to disturb the neighbors, and if I do, I try to play something nice. I've been told that from outside, you only really hear a rumbling, as if from some large animal. I suppose this is a compliment? Taking a couple of hints from Mr. Alexander, I've also discovered some unfortunate habits, which it would behoove me to address. This has opened up worlds of 'opportunities', which could take years to iron out, but who doesn't like a challenge?
Then there are the daily comings and goings, like grocery shopping and recently, bread-baking-stone hunting. As you know, the simplest things can be quite adventurous. Miriam suggested in a bread recipe to go to Home Depot or Lowe's and pick up some marble tiles with which to line the oven. Simple, right? After hunting for several tile shops that exist on google maps, but not in reality--- no, wait; after first looking up the words 'tile,' 'marble' and discovering that you have to buy tiles at tile shops and not at hardware stores--- I happened on a little family-owned stone cutting business whose parking lot was full of headstones. When I asked for tiles for baking, he said they get that question all the time, that lava-stone would probably be better, but he simply gave me a granite one to give it a shot, as long as I would come back and tell him if it worked or not. I'm heading back on Monday to get a second one.
So, it's not like there is a lack of things to do, nor is there a lack of people to spend time with. It's just that some nights you don't like having to be on your own. Maybe it just is that way sometimes. It kind of reminds me of "The Monster at the End of this Book" where Elmo (?) tries to keep you from turning the pages so that you don't get scared by monster at the end of the book, which turns out---who knew--- to be him. So by writing this post, my evening alone has come to an end and the only scary thing about it is that google just told me it knows I use two gmail accounts without me telling it so.
Liebe Grüße and good night-
Erik
Now, however, I have an official address to my name. I find it nice to be able come home to a place where I have some of my own space and that isn't falling apart or overly dreary (like it was when I moved in; no lights... that was a long winter). My apartment, for those of you who haven't seen it yet, has a bedroom, living room, bathroom and galley kitchen, and is situated in a very lively part of town with lots of cafés and restaurants (and riots if you're lucky). I even have nice neighbors who are about my age and enjoy a good coffee together on our front steps on the weekend. There are some days, however, when being alone is hard to bear.
It's not as if I were not seeing people most of the time. Yesterday there a five-hour rehearsal in very cramped quarters with about 90 other musicians in the orchestra pit (direct translation from german is orchestra 'grave'). Today was the dress rehearsal for the same piece, and considering that 1) the music is incredibly modern (which means in this case atonal and difficult), 2) the conductor got rather bent out of shape several times, and 3) the rehearsal was longer than normal, it went really well and there was a spirit of camaraderie that I've never felt in this orchestra before. After the rehearsal was over, I got called over by one of the tenors, who happens to have been my piano teacher in college(!), took up singing after I left, and voilà, shows up on the stage dressed as a cop and singing about how "the elephant really couldn't have sat on your caaaaaaahhr"---in a very high voice, of course (curious about the opera?). Needless to say, it was fun to catch up with him over coffee.
I have also taken up the habit of reading in the afternoons. In the operatic schedule, the afternoons are always free. There can be rehearsals in the mornings or the evenings, and the shows themselves are always in the evenings. So afternoons are always fair game, and I've found that there is something really cozy or "gemütlich" (see 'german word of the day') about going to a café, ordering an espresso and reading for an hour or two. The baristas know me pretty well by now and at one place I even get extra stamps on my card (every sixth coffee free!). I've read some good books in those coffee shops: all the books from Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi (a psychologist who developed the concept of flow-see www.flowskills.com; I did the english translation); Learned Optimism by Martin Seligmann, How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony by Ross Duffin, and Constructive Conscious Control by F.M. Alexander (the guy who developed Alexander Technique-http://www.alexandertechnique.com). I would recommend most all of them.
Then, off course there is practicing. I try not to practice too late at night, as not to disturb the neighbors, and if I do, I try to play something nice. I've been told that from outside, you only really hear a rumbling, as if from some large animal. I suppose this is a compliment? Taking a couple of hints from Mr. Alexander, I've also discovered some unfortunate habits, which it would behoove me to address. This has opened up worlds of 'opportunities', which could take years to iron out, but who doesn't like a challenge?
Then there are the daily comings and goings, like grocery shopping and recently, bread-baking-stone hunting. As you know, the simplest things can be quite adventurous. Miriam suggested in a bread recipe to go to Home Depot or Lowe's and pick up some marble tiles with which to line the oven. Simple, right? After hunting for several tile shops that exist on google maps, but not in reality--- no, wait; after first looking up the words 'tile,' 'marble' and discovering that you have to buy tiles at tile shops and not at hardware stores--- I happened on a little family-owned stone cutting business whose parking lot was full of headstones. When I asked for tiles for baking, he said they get that question all the time, that lava-stone would probably be better, but he simply gave me a granite one to give it a shot, as long as I would come back and tell him if it worked or not. I'm heading back on Monday to get a second one.
So, it's not like there is a lack of things to do, nor is there a lack of people to spend time with. It's just that some nights you don't like having to be on your own. Maybe it just is that way sometimes. It kind of reminds me of "The Monster at the End of this Book" where Elmo (?) tries to keep you from turning the pages so that you don't get scared by monster at the end of the book, which turns out---who knew--- to be him. So by writing this post, my evening alone has come to an end and the only scary thing about it is that google just told me it knows I use two gmail accounts without me telling it so.
Liebe Grüße and good night-
Erik
German words of the day
"Gemütlich" [geh-`meut-leessch]; adj. Cozy, friendly, warm feeling usually associated with things like sitting together around a fire, in a café with a good book when it's raining outside, or drinking red wine with friends on a cold winter night.
"Liebe Grüße" [lee-buh Groos-sah]; Liebe= love, with love, Grüße=greetings
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Avocados for breakfast?
I thought I would start out this post with a few recipe ideas that have been developing in my kitchen over the last few weeks.
Toasted bread with hummus and sliced avocados, topped with cottage cheese, toasted sunflower seeds, salt and pepper.
This is actually surprisingly good for breakfast. It really gets you through the morning. You can toast a bunch of sunflower seeds all at once and just keep them in a jar on the counter. They taste good on almost everything.
In a similar vein...
Toasted bread with peanut butter and alfalfa sprouts.
The sprouts give it a bit of crispy freshness that makes you feel like you're eating something really gourmet- and they look cool.
Avocado, cherry tomato, mozzarella salad topped with Malene's salad dressing (equal parts mustard and honey, finely chopped garlic and onion, and 3 parts olive oil to 1 part balsamic vinegar) and toasted sunflower seeds.
This goes really well with something really hearty, like the potato soup I made the other day which was Ok but not fantastic. Any good potato soup recipes out there?
So this is what has been going on in the kitchen of my little apartment for the last several weeks. I have also taken the time to really enjoy the -how can I put it- 'diversity' of grocery shopping options here in the vicinity. There are a couple what we would call "normal" grocery stores, with lots of selection, but usually quite expensive. Then there are all of the discount groceries, which just put boxes of stuff out on the shelves and you have to do your best to sort out where anything is (it was this kind of grocery store where I couldn't even find salt when I first came to Germany, which led to my infamous rice, cucumber, garlic salt soup). Then there are all of the turkish and arabic markets which put out all of their vegetables outside, which gives it a farmers market feeling, even though they are the same vegetables as you would get anywhere else. They know all of the prices by heart; there are no receipts and very little plastic packaging (there is nothing like picking out your own herbs from a big bunch with your bare hands). All of this shopping is, of course, on a bicycle, so your shopping list has to take into consideration how much will fit in the backpack and how much weight you are willing to truck around.
With all of its intricacies, grocery shopping can be quite a fine art. You could also say, with the same reasoning, that it was a pain. There is no going to one place, finding the things you need, putting them in the trunk and going home, and I used to find that very irritating. I've found, though, that if you take the time to really look around and compare the prices of avocados, you get to see a vivid cross-section of Hamburgers- even if you do have to look for an hour for the only hummus in the city that comes in a small can written only in arabic.
German word of the day
"Salz" [z ahl tss] - salt
Toasted bread with hummus and sliced avocados, topped with cottage cheese, toasted sunflower seeds, salt and pepper.
This is actually surprisingly good for breakfast. It really gets you through the morning. You can toast a bunch of sunflower seeds all at once and just keep them in a jar on the counter. They taste good on almost everything.
In a similar vein...
Toasted bread with peanut butter and alfalfa sprouts.
The sprouts give it a bit of crispy freshness that makes you feel like you're eating something really gourmet- and they look cool.
Avocado, cherry tomato, mozzarella salad topped with Malene's salad dressing (equal parts mustard and honey, finely chopped garlic and onion, and 3 parts olive oil to 1 part balsamic vinegar) and toasted sunflower seeds.
This goes really well with something really hearty, like the potato soup I made the other day which was Ok but not fantastic. Any good potato soup recipes out there?
So this is what has been going on in the kitchen of my little apartment for the last several weeks. I have also taken the time to really enjoy the -how can I put it- 'diversity' of grocery shopping options here in the vicinity. There are a couple what we would call "normal" grocery stores, with lots of selection, but usually quite expensive. Then there are all of the discount groceries, which just put boxes of stuff out on the shelves and you have to do your best to sort out where anything is (it was this kind of grocery store where I couldn't even find salt when I first came to Germany, which led to my infamous rice, cucumber, garlic salt soup). Then there are all of the turkish and arabic markets which put out all of their vegetables outside, which gives it a farmers market feeling, even though they are the same vegetables as you would get anywhere else. They know all of the prices by heart; there are no receipts and very little plastic packaging (there is nothing like picking out your own herbs from a big bunch with your bare hands). All of this shopping is, of course, on a bicycle, so your shopping list has to take into consideration how much will fit in the backpack and how much weight you are willing to truck around.
With all of its intricacies, grocery shopping can be quite a fine art. You could also say, with the same reasoning, that it was a pain. There is no going to one place, finding the things you need, putting them in the trunk and going home, and I used to find that very irritating. I've found, though, that if you take the time to really look around and compare the prices of avocados, you get to see a vivid cross-section of Hamburgers- even if you do have to look for an hour for the only hummus in the city that comes in a small can written only in arabic.
German word of the day
"Salz" [z ahl tss] - salt
Monday, August 23, 2010
So it begins
So welcome one and all to my first attempt at blogging. Firstly, I would like to mention that until about a week ago I had never even considered the idea of making a blog. I have never liked them for the following reasons:
1. If you really wanted to say something important, you could say it in a personalized email, or heaven forbid, write a letter.
2. I don't like the idea of always having to sit in front of a computer to have interactions with people; often this seems to be at the expense of developing friendships with the people actually around you.
3. I am always suspicious of new technology that claims to make "connecting" with people more easy. I'm not convinced that just being "more connected" makes people have anything especially more meaningful to say, or makes the slow process of developing friendships/relationships quick and easy.
So. Why then, you're probably asking yourself, am I writing a blog at all?
I guess you could say it came from several places. It was Brita that first suggested it, so I'll give her the credit (-sorry I stole the same background as your blog-) I've also realized that one thing I always miss when I come back to Germany/Europe is familiar old things. This may be hard to imagine since most everything in Germany is older than things in Nebraska. But I mean more the things that are familiar to me. Going to the Mill. Running into people that knew you from grade school. Knowing where the gouges in the floor of your room came from. In a completely new place you get to start all over. Language, culture, weather, surroundings, you name it. You are always learning, whether you want to or not. It may be a tremendously exciting learning experience just to try to go to the grocery store, or try to walk down a sidewalk without getting killed by a bicycle. This is good, in a way (I'm always about learning), but it can be very tiring and you start to feel isolated when other people don't seem to notice the same things that you do. That's why it's so fun to have visitors. Then we can all marvel at the subway and the little bread roles together, and no one has to feel like an idiot to be excited about them.
I'll give you a little example. Yesterday I was playing as a substitute with an orchestra from Hamburg. We were playing a concert in an airplane repair and diagnostic hanger, between two giant jumbo jets, which were in various states of being taken apart and put back together. The place where the orchestra could change was directly underneath one of them and you could look right up into where the front wheels pulled into their little chamber. It was really really cool. During the concert you could see and feel planes taking off in the background through the giant, 4-story glass windows. Wow. It was amazing. And the other musicians? "Oh geez, we have to play this thing again..." "Yeah, you know, last year the food was better." "Yeah, and why did we drive to the cafeteria first? Now we have to drive all the way [3 minutes] back to the hall. That was someone's job to make sure things like that don't happen." "and no beer during the break, what's up with that!"
Now I don't want to make these people out to be bad people. They really do play this concert every year and it's not that exciting to them anymore. It's just that when something like that is so completely new and fascinating, it's difficult to join in complaining about the food.
Being in a new place completely changes the context for everything you think you know. It sheds light on parts of your personality that you didn't think you had and leaves others in the dark. I think it is one of the best and fastest ways to learn about yourself and the world and don't get me wrong, I'm very happy to have the chance to be here.
However, always being up for the challenge is sometimes more than I can handle alone. I hope that by writing about the things that happen here, you will get an idea of what it is like to be a real Hamburger, and probably more importantly, your comments will give me some of that midwestern sensibility that I sometimes so sorely miss. And maybe it really does make "connecting" quick and easy. I'm willing to give it the chance.
Looking forward to hearing from you---
German word of the day.
Tschüß [ch ew sss]= goodbye
Erik
1. If you really wanted to say something important, you could say it in a personalized email, or heaven forbid, write a letter.
2. I don't like the idea of always having to sit in front of a computer to have interactions with people; often this seems to be at the expense of developing friendships with the people actually around you.
3. I am always suspicious of new technology that claims to make "connecting" with people more easy. I'm not convinced that just being "more connected" makes people have anything especially more meaningful to say, or makes the slow process of developing friendships/relationships quick and easy.
So. Why then, you're probably asking yourself, am I writing a blog at all?
I guess you could say it came from several places. It was Brita that first suggested it, so I'll give her the credit (-sorry I stole the same background as your blog-) I've also realized that one thing I always miss when I come back to Germany/Europe is familiar old things. This may be hard to imagine since most everything in Germany is older than things in Nebraska. But I mean more the things that are familiar to me. Going to the Mill. Running into people that knew you from grade school. Knowing where the gouges in the floor of your room came from. In a completely new place you get to start all over. Language, culture, weather, surroundings, you name it. You are always learning, whether you want to or not. It may be a tremendously exciting learning experience just to try to go to the grocery store, or try to walk down a sidewalk without getting killed by a bicycle. This is good, in a way (I'm always about learning), but it can be very tiring and you start to feel isolated when other people don't seem to notice the same things that you do. That's why it's so fun to have visitors. Then we can all marvel at the subway and the little bread roles together, and no one has to feel like an idiot to be excited about them.
I'll give you a little example. Yesterday I was playing as a substitute with an orchestra from Hamburg. We were playing a concert in an airplane repair and diagnostic hanger, between two giant jumbo jets, which were in various states of being taken apart and put back together. The place where the orchestra could change was directly underneath one of them and you could look right up into where the front wheels pulled into their little chamber. It was really really cool. During the concert you could see and feel planes taking off in the background through the giant, 4-story glass windows. Wow. It was amazing. And the other musicians? "Oh geez, we have to play this thing again..." "Yeah, you know, last year the food was better." "Yeah, and why did we drive to the cafeteria first? Now we have to drive all the way [3 minutes] back to the hall. That was someone's job to make sure things like that don't happen." "and no beer during the break, what's up with that!"
Now I don't want to make these people out to be bad people. They really do play this concert every year and it's not that exciting to them anymore. It's just that when something like that is so completely new and fascinating, it's difficult to join in complaining about the food.
Being in a new place completely changes the context for everything you think you know. It sheds light on parts of your personality that you didn't think you had and leaves others in the dark. I think it is one of the best and fastest ways to learn about yourself and the world and don't get me wrong, I'm very happy to have the chance to be here.
However, always being up for the challenge is sometimes more than I can handle alone. I hope that by writing about the things that happen here, you will get an idea of what it is like to be a real Hamburger, and probably more importantly, your comments will give me some of that midwestern sensibility that I sometimes so sorely miss. And maybe it really does make "connecting" quick and easy. I'm willing to give it the chance.
Looking forward to hearing from you---
German word of the day.
Tschüß [ch ew sss]= goodbye
Erik
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