More Updates

When everything is running so smoothly and so busily, it's hard to find one particular experience to use as a starting point for a blog. Before I head out for the weekend with my Seminar on Holocaust and Literature, I thought I would take some time to fill you in.

Last weekend was The Longest Chorus Rehearsal Ever. If I had made it Monday night I would have had chorus 4 days in a row. 4 hours Friday, 7 on Saturday, 3 on Sunday (including our performance) and then another 2 on Monday. When monday evening came around, I just couldn't take it (not to mention had plenty of work to do) and stayed at home. The performance went really well (about 20 each soprano and alto, 4 tenors, 6 basses). The orchestra was wonderful, and our tenor soloist did a good job, especially considering that his foot had been operated on the day before. I was also pleasantly surprised by a really good sermon as part of the service. We performed the cantata as part of the Sunday worship service at the Nikolaikirche, which serves as the university church.

I've been riding my bike much more comfortably lately. I've ridden in the rain (the helmet keeps too much rain from getting on my glasses), I've managed to stop at a stop light and put my foot on the curb rather than get off the bike completely (and then start again without wobbling any more than usual), and getting to all the various chorus things all weekend I rode my bike all over town. I am beginning to feel like taking my bike somewhere is default, and walking is the exception - the opposite of how I felt a few weeks ago. I can also make turn signals now, this is a big step up.

I needed to get some new shampoo, and saw some that was certified to be very ecologically friendly and was relatively cheap, so I took it home. I think I now know the German word for "citronella". At least bugs will have second thoughts about flying into my hair.

All of my classes are going pretty well. I am certainly learning tons. It is a nice feeling to know more of the answers than a lot of people in the class. Yesterday I was one year off on when Goethe's Werther was published (I said 1773, but it's 1774). But the rest of the class was sort of full of blank stares, so. And if you ask, I can tell you what I understood about Gadamer. But it's better if you have a web cam or ask me when I get home - I don't think I can explain without hand motions.

Yesterday I got paid 30€ for telling this young man what I thought about a website. If I could find a job where I would really get paid 30€ an hour for giving my opinion I would be set.

I am leaving at about noon for the weekend. The class will arrive in Weimar in the late afternoon, have the equivalent of two class sessions, and have dinner. Tomorrow we'll be at Buchenwald from about 9 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon. We'll get the standard tour first, and spend the rest of the day with the director of the memorial, learning about what information they include or emphasize depending on the group who is visiting. It should be pretty interesting. Then Sunday morning we'll see Goethe and Schiller's Houses before heading back to Göttingen.

Britta is leaving tomorrow for Iceland and won't be back until the Thursday before I leave to go to Storkow for the weekend (in about two weeks). So for the next bit of time I'll have the place all to myself.

I am having a slight disagreement with my renter's and personal liability insurance I got when I came here - but what I like about it is the envelope I got today. The letter was problematic, but when the letter was out of the envelope, the inside of the envelope could be read through the clear cellophane window, and it says (roughly) "We cannot prevent you from getting multiple letters from us in one day, because putting the letters in envelopes is mechanized. Sorting out the letters costs more than the extra postage. Please be understanding." I love this because it means that so many people called and wrote in complaining about all the extra envelopes that it was worth it to them to print it on the envelope itself. Excellent.

I need to get on to packing my backpack and reading about torture for this afternoon, but thought I would write a quick note first. If you're reading this, I'd love to hear from you!