Home for Christmas

Hey All! We are back in the States! We got back yesterday around 5pm and are still getting adjusted to the new time zone. I'm happy to report that our flights were uneventful and we got to avoid the New York area entirely. My heart goes out to the people stranded in those airports.

We'll be celebrating Christmas with my family tomorrow and then we're headed up to Appleton on Thursday to spend time with Brenda's family. Over the weekend we went to a couple of Christmas dinners in Frankfurt. On Christmas Eve we went to the English speaking Lutheran Church and afterwards had Barb's delicious baked ziti at the McCown's place (2nd year in a row!). On Christmas Day we ate Raclette at Florian and Marlar's place. Brenda and I feel very fortunate this year to be able to celebrate Christmas with our friends in Frankfurt AND our families in the US.

My relationship with the ziti was definitely love at first sight.

Barb and Brenda enjoying their red couch. All the cool kids have red couches.

One of Florian's more flattering headshots.

Florian and Elza

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season. Happy New Year and I'll talk to you next week!

Frohe Weihnachten!

Hey All! It's time that you met the newest member of our Frankfurt Family. His name is Cree.

Isn't he beautiful? We got Cree in front of a supermarket a few blocks from our apartment. Brenda's Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Ron helped us pick him out and even helped carry him back and decorate him. His name didn't come until the next day when, in her Christmas-fueled excitement, Brenda exclaimed, "Look at our Cree!". What she meant to say was, "Look at our cute tree!" Needless to say, we are totally in the Christmas spirit.

We had a great time with Ron and Marilyn while they were in town. As I mentioned last week, they came to two of Brenda's performances with several of their German friends. After the second performance we went out for a drink in the canteen attached to the opera house. At the stroke of midnight we all burst into a very operatic version of Happy Birthday in honor of Ron's birthday. Ron and Marilyn's German friends also had a birthday tradition they wanted Ron to experience. They sat Ron down in a chair and had four guys (myself included) each grab a leg of the chair and hoist him into the air three times. Ron wasn't expecting it at all and was surprised to say the least. Someone has a great picture of him as he's being tossed into the air but, unfortunately, I don't have a copy to show you.

The Nürnberg Christmas Market was really beautiful. There are a ton of shops, numerous eating options and even a teenage girl that has been selected to play the Christ child. Why baby Jesus is portrayed in Nürnberg by a teenage girl with long blonde hair is beyond me. We got to see her (or him?) talk, though, and she was nice enough to give all the kids some gingerbread.

Brenda and Marlar had their 2nd annual Christmas cookie bake off this past weekend. I played my role as quality control expert very well. I'm happy to report the cookies were delicious.

On Monday, Brenda and I head back to the states for a late Christmas celebration with our families. We are both really excited to go back. That also means that my next post will be coming to you from the US. Until then, Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

today's entry tomorrow

Hey All! We just got back from a great holiday party (thank you, Simon and Anna) and it is too late for me to post an entry tonight. Check back tomorrow!

Guests in town

Hey All! Here's a quick post to tide you over until the next one. Brenda's Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Ron are still in town and we are having a great time with them. We spent the day today traveling to Nürnberg and visiting the beautiful Christmas market there. Yesterday was Ron's birthday so we helped him celebrate (with schnitzel). Brenda had two (very successful) shows over the weekend. Ron and Marilyn got to see both operas and even invited some of their German friends to the performances. We have been having a lot of fun and the time has been flying.

Brenda at the Nürnberg Christmas Market

Unfortunately, I have to keep this short since sleep is always a high priority for me. I hope you are all having a great week and I'll talk to you soon!

Busy Bee-renda

Hey All! Guess who forgot what day of the week it was and, therefore, is a day late in writing this week's blog entry. In my defense, pretty much every day is Saturday for me so it can be hard to keep all of the Saturdays straight. My absent mindedness might also have a teensy-weensy bit to do with a certain video game that Brenda and I play. A big expansion came out for World of Warcraft yesterday and we spent a good part of the day (more than I care to admit) in that world instead of this one. In any case, it's time to fill you in on what we've been up to.

Brenda is currently in the middle of an intense stretch of performances. When all is said and done next week, Brenda will have performed 3 different opera roles (some more than once) and a gala performance totaling 6 performances in 10 days. That is a lot. I might also add that the 3 opera roles are in different languages (French, German and Italian). On Saturday, Brenda performed at a fundraising gala for Oper Frankfurt. She sang for a bunch of opera donors (aka rich people) and then rubbed shoulders with them over dinner. From what I've heard, her singing was very well received. She looked gorgeous to boot.

Sorry about the blurriness of the photos.

Come on Apple, why isn't there a 12 megapixel camera in the iPhone?

On Sunday, two of our friends, Juliane and Patrick, came down from Bremen to visit and see Brenda perform. We had a great time with them and they seemed to really enjoy Brenda's opera, Die Zauberflöte.

Brenda's Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Ron will be arriving in Germany tomorrow. We're really looking forward to spending time with them. While they are here they will see two of Brenda's shows. Also, we will all be going to Nürnberg to visit the famous Christmas Market there. Guess we'll have to drink more glühwein. Darn.

I hope you are all doing great and I will talk to you next Tuesday. Unless I forget what day it is.

Snow!

Hey All! We are living in a winter wonderland. We woke up yesterday to a beautiful sight: snow! I realize that snow may make some of you think of shoveling driveways and dangerous driving conditions but, since we don't have a driveway nor do we drive, it is a welcome sight to us. It means that Christmas is on its way and we are one step closer to going back to the US at the end of December.

A view from our kitchen

The other side of the apartment

Turkey day came and went and we did our fair share of celebrating. On turkey day proper we had a few people over for pizza and merriment. A great time was had by all even though no one ordered turkey pizza. On Saturday we went to the Marsh's house for their annual American Thanksgiving (come to think of it, are there any other kinds of Thanksgiving?). As in the previous years, it was filled with lots of traditional foods and lots of friends. The Marshes always put in a lot of work to feed the twenty or so people that attend and we certainly appreciate it.

Our apartment is filling with Christmas decorations and holiday music. We are getting into the holiday spirit and we need only one last piece to finish the puzzle; a christmas tree. The last time we had a Christmas tree was in NYC. We are long overdue.

Our new tree stand

Frankfurt's Christmas market opened a few days ago and we are very excited to go see it. It looks like we'll get over there tomorrow. Glühwein and Schneebälle here we come!

Have a great week and I'll talk to you next Tuesday!

Amsterdam

Hey All! I am writing to you from beautiful Amsterdam. As I mentioned last week, I am here visiting my friends Kris and Drew. Some of you may remember Kris as the guy who did a wonderful job playing piano at our wedding. Kris and Drew have lived in Amsterdam for almost two years and they both love it. I can understand why. Amsterdam is a gorgeous city with a lot of character and, in spite of its actual population, Amsterdam feels like a big village. I would definitely say it is one of the most appealing cities I've seen since moving to Germany.

Canals run throughout the city. As do bikers. There are lots of bikers.

I have really enjoyed hearing the Dutch language being spoken around town and on TV. I don't speak a word of Dutch but the language sounds like a mixture of German and English. Sometimes it seems like I could understand what's being said if I would just listen harder. Even if I could understand, however, the spelling and pronunciation of the language are different than any other language I've studied. Maybe I'll start learning Dutch as soon as I finish mastering German. (Don't hold your breath.)

That green thing in the middle of the picture is a public bathroom.

I would have to be pretty desperate to use something that public.

Based on her reports, Brenda has been enjoying her time in NYC. She has been having lessons and seeing lots of friends. I'm glad she's having fun but I'm looking forward to seeing her on Thursday when she gets back to Frankfurt. I head back to Main-hattan tomorrow. It will be nice to be back in a country where I'm only partially clueless about what people are saying around me.

I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving and I'll talk to you next week!

Dutch not Deutsch

Hey All! Things in Germany have been very wet lately. It has been raining almost everyday and the sun's appearances have been few and far between. Luckily the bad weather hasn't kept Brenda from rehearsals and performances but it has put a bit of damper on Frankfurt's usual charm. I'm sure we'll see the sun again sometime over the next six months.

On Sunday Brenda performed her first revival of the season. The show was Orlando Furioso. Brenda was in the show when it first premiered last season. If you would care to look at pictures of the production you can do so here. I had the pleasure of being in the audience on Sunday and enjoyed Brenda's performance thoroughly.

Last Saturday Brenda and I went to Wiesbaden to hear Handel's Messiah performed in a beautiful church. Our friend Florian did an exceptional job singing the bass solos. A boys chorus made up the choir. I had never heard a boys chorus live before. I am happy to report the kids did a great job.

This weekend Brenda and I both have trips planned. Brenda is going to New York to work with her voice teacher. She will be arriving back in Germany on Thanksgiving. On Saturday, I will be headed up to Amsterdam to visit our friends Kris and Drew. I have been wanting to go to Amsterdam for a long time so I am really looking forward to the trip.

I hope you have a great week and I'll be sure to send you a post from Amsterdam!

if you can't stand the heat...

Hey All! Not too much to report this week. Brenda has a show going up on Sunday (Orlando Furioso) that she first performed last season. I have been trying out new recipes lately. I made a delicious cabbage and pear thing a couple of nights ago that turned out pretty well. Tonight, however, I tried to make a simple pumpkin dish and it ended up exploding in the oven. I guess I still have a few things to learn.

I hope you're all doing well and I'll talk to you next week!

Happy Halloween!

Hey All! Halloween has come and gone and we celebrated in the grand American tradition - we carved pumpkins, watched a scary movie and ate pizza. Eating pizza is a Halloween tradition, right?

We have a blackboard in our apartment and Brenda decorated it for the occasion.

The carving in action.

The super scary squashes!

I hope you all had a great Halloween and I'll talk to you next week!

the lady in the red dress

Hey all! As I'm sure most of you know, I love seeing my wife's face. Well, now I have the opportunity to see it more often because it is on posters all over town! That's right, Brenda's beautiful likeness is being used to lure people into going to the opera. I anticipate sold out shows for the rest of the season. [Editor's note: while Brenda is excited that her picture is posted all over town, she is not exactly pleased with their choice of photo.]

That's her in the red dress.

A closer look.

In other news, we haven't been up to a whole lot since last week. Brenda has had a performance or two, we bought a coffee table and a rug and we're all caught up on episodes of Dexter. Life as usual. We went out to lunch today with Florian at a traditional Frankfurt restaurant in our neighborhood. I took the camera along so I could take a few shots for you.

The pitcher in the right part of the picture is called a Bembel.

It is what apple wine (a traditional Frankfurt drink) is served in.

Underneath the stained-glass image of the two men drinking it says (loosely translated), "Apple wine is a godly drink that makes some people fat and others thin."

Halloween is closing in fast and, as you may have guessed, it isn't a very big deal here in Deutschland. However, they do have decorations for sale some places and you can even buy pumpkins. We'll be carving pumpkins one of these days and should have a terrifying squash for you to behold next week.

That's all I've got for today. Have a great week and Happy Halloween!

Bremen

Hey All! The beautiful fall weather I was telling you about last week is gone. In its place we have full cloud cover and highs in the 40s. Oddly enough, I've actually been enjoying the gray weather and cool temps. They are signs that the fall holidays are on their way and that we get to dig out our bone-chilling Halloween decorations.

You may have noticed in the terrifying picture above that there is a rather attractive red thing in the background. That is our new couch! And the evil skull candle holder is sitting on top of our new table. You will get to see more pictures of our newly furnished apartment at some point but that point is not today.

You may remember that Brenda went to Bremen last week. She had a wonderful time with her friend Juliane. Here are a couple iPhone-captured pictures of her trip.

Brenda grabbing the leg of one of the Town Musicians of Bremen.

If wikipedia is to be believed then touching a hoof will make wishes come true.

The Town Musicians of Bremen standing on top of a fountain's water pipe. Beneath is presumably a statue of one of the Seven Lazy Brothers; the main characters from a popular Bremen story. The short, short version of the story is that the brothers were lazy but still became successful in the end. A story I find rather inspirational.

I had better wrap things up here. We are getting dangerously low on coffee and our favorite coffee roaster (oh Wacker's, how I love thee) will be closing in a little over an hour. I hope you are doing great and I'll talk to you next week.

the street where we live

Hey All! Greetings from sunny Frankfurt. Fall is in full effect here and we've been thoroughly enjoying it. I'm happy to report that we've made great strides in furnishing our apartment since I talked to you last. Florian was kind enough to take us to Ikea and fill his car to the brim with new furniture. He even helped us schlep it up the 65 stairs to our apartment. I think we can safely say that our home is now furnished. A coffee table would be nice, as would a few other things, but they will come in time.

Brenda is visiting a friend in Bremen at the moment. She is between performances and decided to use the time to get away for a couple of days. Unfortunately, she forgot to take our camera with her but nevertheless has promised that she'll take a few snapshots with her iPhone.

And speaking of snapshots, I took a few of the outside of our apartment building and neighborhood. Enjoy!

The front of our building.

The view from our balcony.

Our street as seen from our living room window.

A building on our street.

I hope you're all great and I'll talk to you next week!

Robot love

Hey All! The Tales of Hoffman, Brenda's first production of the season, opened on Sunday. By all accounts it was a huge success and, if you ask me, that is in no spall part due to Brenda's contributions. You can see pictures of the production by clicking here.

Oper Frankfurt also made a promotional video about the production which includes Brenda being interviewed and clips of her singing. You can see that here.

Brenda plays a robot in the opera. Her father (creator) in the show unveils her to a crowd of people and she proceeds to show them all what she can do by singing and dancing. Of course, the tenor immediately falls in love with her. (Brenda is pretty good at attracting tenors it seems.) However, before man and robot can live happily ever after, the villain disassembles her. Such is opera.

In other news, we're gradually getting more and more stuff for our apartment. On Monday, we went to Ikea and bought a couch as well as several other small things. The couch will be arriving today which means that we will finally have furniture in our living room. We still need a few more things but we're getting closer to having a fully furnished apartment.

That's all I have for this week. Sorry for posting a day late, I sort of forgot what day it was. I hope you all have a great week!

new apartment pics

Here are a few pictures of our sparsely furnished new apartment. These were taken the day we got into the apartment and at that point all we had time to do was put the bed and the kitchen table together. You'll have to forgive the low quality of the images. We used Brenda's iPhone to take the pictures.

The door you see behind me leads to our small balcony. Our apartment is on the 4th floor and since we're so high up we have a nice view of nearby rooftops. Whenever I step out onto the balcony I'm reminded of the opera La Boheme.

Here you can see our kitchen which we had to purchase in order to get the apartment. As a side note, neither Brenda nor I have owned major appliances before. I feel so grown up.

Our bedroom. It's very white at the moment.

Our living room. It is currently covered in boxes and suitcases.

Our bathroom. That glass window behind the bathtub allows some natural light to get into the bathroom. It will also allow for endless shadow puppet entertainment.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

opera singers on the move

Hey all! Ok enough chit-chat, let's get down to business. This is a busy week for us: Brenda is in her final week of rehearsals for the Tales of Hoffman, I started German classes yesterday and we are moving into a new apartment. Usually I have quite a bit of free time on my hands here in good old Deutschland but this week everything is happening at the same time.

We love our new apartment. Brenda was kind enough to take a few pictures of the new place but, since we're still sleeping at the old place, our internet connection isn't fast enough for me to post them to the blog. I will post some pics later this week.

On Saturday we had a great time picking out some new furniture at Ikea. At the top of our list was a bed, a couch and a kitchen table (with chairs). We succeeded in picking out all of the above and were able to buy the bed and table but the couch is on back order. The bed and table arrived at our new place today. I was in class when the items arrived but Brenda and Florian were at the apartment to receive our new purchases. Somehow Brenda suckered Florian into putting together the kitchen table and all 4 chairs as well as wiring in three ceiling lights throughout the apartment. When I got to the apartment after class we tackled the bed. If you've ever bought anything from Ikea then you know, putting their products together involves a little more than 15 minutes and a screwdriver. Florian, Marlar, Brenda and I spent somewhere around 2 hours putting the bed together. Of course, pizza and beer may have slowed the process down but at least morale was high.

My German class is pretty intense. I'm there for 3 and 1/2 hours, 5 days a week. My impression after the first two days of class is that my German is far worse than I thought it was. However, it seems to be better than many of my classmates' German but that is little consolation. I'm committed to the class for the next 3 weeks. I'm not sure if I'll continue beyond that point.

Brenda's opera premieres on Sunday. I'm super excited to see it and it seems like Brenda is just as excited to perform it. I'll tell you all about it in next week's entry. Until then, I hope you have a great week!

and finally, the pictures

Hey All! Here are a few photos taken in recent weeks. Enjoy!

Grüne Soße - a Frankfurt original.

Florian's first attempt at making this traditional Frankfurt dish turned out to be a big success. Once Brenda and I are in our new apartment we will have to try to make it ourselves.

Scrabble auf Deutsch

Brenda even won the 2nd game!

A snapshot taken in Dresden. I think it speaks for itself.

Marlar and Brenda enjoying a beautiful day at an apple orchard.

Have a great week!

Fall is in the air

Hey All! I had better just come out and say it, there will not be any pictures posted this week. Well, at least there won't be any pictures posted today (maybe I'll put some up before the next post). The thing is, our connection to the internet hasn't been very strong since we got back in August. Our friends, (and, I'm sad to say, former neighbors) Barb and Michael, were kind enough to loan us an internet stick so that we might stay connected to the internet while we're in between apartments. Brenda and I, downloaders that we are, have used up the downloading limit that the internet stick allows and are only able to access the internet at a very slow speed. (Think dial-up modem speeds.) Therefore, if I were to try to upload a picture, I could very likely see you in person before the picture ever makes it on to the interwebs. If I get a chance, though, I'll run to Starbucks and use their free internet to post some pics.

Brenda's work schedule has been rather full lately. Her show goes up in just a couple of weeks and, it seems to me, she is ready to go. We were both struggling with colds last week but we're finally on the mend and the show can go on. Brenda's rehearsals have been happening almost daily and, from what I hear, things are coming together nicely. I'm rather excited to see Brenda in her costume. Don't worry, I will take pictures.

Last week, Brenda and I had a first - we played German Scrabble. Florian and Marlar had us over for a nice evening of curry and, after dinner, we busted out Scrabble. I have a picture to post of Brenda and the board but I'm afraid that will have to wait until a later date. I think that, all things considered, Brenda and I did a good job with German Scrabble. We weren't amazing but we held our own and we came up with several words that surprised me.

On Saturday, Brenda and I ordered in delicious Indian food with Barb and Michael. We always enjoy spending time with them and we particularly enjoyed seeing the old neighborhood. We're excited to move to Sachsenhausen but we will definitely miss our cosy street (and great neighbors) in Nordend.

On Sunday, Brenda went with two of our friends, Marlar and Elza, to an apple orchard. They had a wonderful time walking through the fields and buying fresh apples, strawberries and apple wine. It seems as though fall has arrived in Frankfurt.

One week from today Brenda and I will be moving into our new apartment. We can't wait. Our current apartment has been great but we're looking forward to making this new place our own. We're even planning on putting pictures on the wall if you can imagine that. We'll post pictures of the new place as soon as we can.

That's all I've got for now. I hope you have a great week!

Dresden

Hey all! I hope you all had a great weekend. We certainly did because we went to Dresden! On Saturday, after Brenda and Florian finished their rehearsal, we hopped in Florian's car and headed east. After around four and a half hours we arrived at our destination with enough time to eat something before the show. "What show?" you ask. Well, we went to Dresden to see our friend Christoph perform the role of the Count in the Marriage of Figaro.

The beautiful Semperoper in Dresden.

If you care to learn more about it you can do so here.

The musical part of the performance was outstanding and Christoph was easily one of the best singers in the cast. Music aside, it was really a pleasure to sit in such a beautiful opera house and enjoy the incredible craftsmanship that went into making such an impressive building.

Mehrnaz and Christoph

After the performance we returned to Christoph and Mehrnaz' place, where we stayed for the night. Mehrnaz is Christoph's wife and Brenda and I met her for the first time that day at the opera house. We had a wonderful (wonnevoll) evening getting to know Mehrnaz and we had plenty of opportunity to use our German skills.

The next morning, Christoph and Mehrnaz invited over two other friends and made breakfast for all of us. The two other friends, Aaron and Annie, happen to be Americans. Aaron is a tenor who works at the Semperopera and he and Annie are starting their 2nd season in Germany this year.

Annie and Brenda

the boys

(in case you hadn't figured it out, that's Aaron on the right)

Sunday afternoon we did a bit of sightseeing and discovered how beautiful Dresden really is. I have been wanting to visit Dresden ever since I read Slaughterhouse-Five and am very glad we had the opportunity to go this weekend. Unfortunately, our time in Dresden was limited to 24 hours since Brenda and Florian actually have jobs. We look forward to returning sometime soon.

In other news, it looks as though the apartment in Sachsenhausen is going to work out. I'll feel more confident about it once we sign a contract but, until then, Brenda and I are both happy that we don't have to worry about apartment hunting anymore.

I hope you all are doing great and I will talk to you next week!

Blogging in the rain

Our new coffee maker. YAY!

Hey all! It's your favorite Iowan-living-in-Germany blogger (I'm counting on limited competition) coming at you once again with the news of the week. We are, at this point, still without a long-term apartment. The good news is, however, we have an appointment to meet with the owner of the apartment in Sachsenhausen on Friday. If that doesn't work out then we'll get back to scouring apartment websites.

We went to our first opera of the season on Saturday night. Florian, our good friend and avid blog reader, performed the title role in the Marriage of Figaro at Oper Frankfurt. The production was a revival from a past season which, by the way, Brenda and I had both seen on previous occasions. It was, nonetheless, an exceptional evening of opera with superb performances by everyone in the cast.

I am currently searching for an affordable language school in order to improve my German language skills. It seems that I'm at a somewhat awkward stage in terms of my proficiency. In general, I know enough to figure out what people are saying and can respond in relatively coherent sentences. I'm far from perfect, however, and I'd like to continue to improve. From what I've discovered so far, German classes are quite expensive. I may have found one option that is affordable but we'll have to see if it pans out. I'll keep you posted.

Brenda is at rehearsal right now for the Tales of Hoffman. She's still a few weeks out from the premiere but it sounds like rehearsals are going smashingly. Many of our good friends are in the show so I think Brenda is having a great time at work. By the way, there is a chance that we'll be going to Dresden this weekend and, if we do, I'll tell you all about it in the next post. Until then, have a great week!

How much for that stove?

Hey All! Week 2 back in Frankfurt has begun and it feels like we're headed right into fall. Things have been cool (highs in the mid 60s) and we've been seeing a lot of clouds but that's typical for Frankfurt. The temperature has been perfect for me but I would guess that Brenda doesn't share my enthusiasm for the cool temps.

Our search for a new home continues. We looked at a very nice two-room apartment in Sachsenhausen (a neighborhood in the southern part of town) a few days ago and are waiting to hear back. The location is great (it's close to the opera house) and the price is right. Keep your fingers crossed for us, or as the Germans say, press your thumbs.

Renting an apartment in Germany is different from renting a place in the US in one major way; your apartment might not come with a kitchen. It is very common, more often than not it seems, that people moving into apartments have to buy their own kitchens and have them installed. When it comes time to move out people take their kitchens with them or sell them to the next tenant, which would be the case if we moved into this place in Sachsenhausen. Just to give you an idea, a new kitchen can run you anywhere from a few thousand to more than 10 thousand euro depending on how nice it is. Brenda and I would prefer not to buy a kitchen if at all possible but, in the case of this apartment, we think it's worth it.

People looking for apartments in Frankfurt often have to go through a realtor. A realtor in Frankfurt charges almost 2.5 times a months rent as a finders fee which would, most likely, be over 2000 euro if we used one. We're trying to avoid that at all costs which is one of the reasons we are so interested in getting this apartment; it isn't being rented through a realtor.

Other than apartment hunting, things are moving along as usual. We've started watching the TV series Lost and I'm not completely sold on it yet. Also, I just finished reading a book that I loved called In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. I highly recommend it to anyone that eats.

And one last thing, you're probably wondering what's happening to Brenda's lovely face in the pictures above. Well, Brenda had to have a mold of her face made by the opera house so they can clone her. Strange but true. On a side note, if anyone wants to go as Brenda for halloween we're going to be selling masks of her likeness in order to pay for our new kitchen.

That's about all I've got for this week. I hope you are all well and I'll talk to you next week!