the grind

Hey all! I'm afraid I don't have much to report this week. Our (Chenda's) routine is moving along as usual. Brenda had her second performance of La Traviata, and it went very well. She gets to sing three more performances, and I have no doubt that she's excited to do all of them.

The law school grind continues. Final exams are looming ever closer and the pressure is beginning to mount. I'm doing my best not to think about the stress and competitive nature of law school. Instead, I focus on my routine and look forward to the highlights in my day: talking to Brenda in the morning while drinking coffee, talking to Brenda in the afternoon/evening, and the half an hour or so before bed when I stop studying and start unwinding. Brenda and I have even gotten into the habit of playing video games together. We can race each other in Mario Kart on the Nintendo Wii while being an ocean apart. Ain't technology grand?

Well, I'm going to call it a night. I hope you all have a great week and I'll talk to you next Tuesday!

Halfway

Hey All! It feels like it's been a long time since I've written to you. I guess it has been two weeks. Isn't it great that Brenda has been contributing to the blog more often? Not only does it allow me to get my homework done, but you get my better half's perspective on life in Germany. I think it's a win-win situation.

Since our last entry, Brenda has sung her first performance of La Traviata. There are pictures of the production with Brenda in them which you can see here. From what I hear, the performance went really well. Some of the audience members even gave Brenda a standing ovation which, from my experience, is rare in Germany. Brenda has four more performances and, believe it or not, I get to go to one of them. That's right, in a couple of weeks I will be flying to Germany for the weekend. I will be spending about 48 hours in Germany before I have to turn around and fly back. It is going to be worth it, though. I really want to see Brenda perform this role. Plus, I could use some German beer. Law school is stressful.

I don't remember if I told you or not, but in my first week of law school I hit a deer on my way home. My car suffered some damage to its front right quarter (and the deer suffered some damage to its back right quarter). I took my car into a body shop last week to get it fixed and, while it was being repaired, I got a rental car. Well, a rental truck actually. It was a brand new 2012 Dodge Ram. And it was huge. I didn't go into the rental agency expecting to get a truck. I was going to ask for something more fuel efficient like a Corvette or a Cadillac Escalade. Alas, I had to settle for a truck so I got to spend a couple of days feeling like an escapee from a monster truck rally. I actually had a blast driving it around town. I could barely see over the steering wheel and I spent most of my remaining student loans putting gas into it, but it was worth it.

My rental truck in the law school parking lot.

Tomorrow marks the halfway point of the fall semester. I will be 1/2 done with the semester, 1/4 done with the year, and 1/12 done with all of law school. As you might imagine, I have developed a routine that allows me to get my work done, spend some time at the gym, and regularly talk to my wife. Brenda and I video chat using Skype and it makes being apart a lot more bearable.

This is how Brenda and I spend a lot of our time these days.

Well, I had better call it a night. I hope you are all having a great week, and one of us will talk to you next Tuesday!

Libiamo!

Hello all you wonderful people! (Br)enda signing in today, here to tell you about the past week's excitements. I believe the weather gods of Frankfurt were trying to help me ease back into German life, because every single day was absolutely beautiful. Pretty great, considering we didn't get a very warm summer in England! I wasn't able to spend too much time outside during the week, since I was so busy rehearsing, but I did manage to enjoy a few coffee breaks outside! One especially nice coffee break occurred along the banks of the river Main, watching the swans swim by. I would like to say they swam peacefully by, but they kept hissing at some dogs who also didn't seem pleased by the swans' presence...

Rehearsals for La Traviata have been going extremely well, and I can barely express the excitement I feel to sing the role of Violetta for the first time! It's one of the operas that first made me fall in love with opera, and it's just a huge honor to sing it at Oper Frankfurt! We open the show on Saturday, so we'll make sure to let you all know next week how it went!

During the weekend, I busied myself with relaxing with friends. :-) After rehearsal on Saturday, I went over to Marlar and Florian's place, where they let me read on their sunny terrace while Marlar baked and Florian studied, and then we had what will probably be the last barbeque of the season. Florian grilled all the goodies, veggie and meaty alike, and Marlar provided freshly baked savory muffins. She made them specifically for a party, but hey, we had to try them and make sure they were edible! And boy, were they!!

On Sunday I went to my new gym to have an appointment with a sports doctor. The gym takes people's health very seriously, so they make you see one of their doctors to test your vitals, flexibility, strength, and stamina before you can even work out there! I'm happy to report that I'm in normal/above average health! Later that evening I went to an opera premiere at Oper Frankfurt. I had many friends in the show, and they all did such a fantastic job! The opera was in French, and included much dialogue in French, and they really nailed it in my opinion! Speaking on stage can actually be a lot harder than singing for opera singers, so this was quite an accomplishment. The rest of the audience seemed to share my enthusiasm! Bravi Tutti!

On Monday, Germany celebrated the Tag der Deutschen Einheit, which commemorates their reunification in 1990. Since it's an official holiday, most stores were closed, but more importantly, we didn't have rehearsal! After sleeping in (it may have been a late night...), I went with Florian and Marlar to a village near Frankfurt called Erlenbach and had coffee and cake at the home of another singer in Frankfurt, named Juanita. We were also joined by Anna (another singer!) and her two gorgeous sons. Sadly, their papa Simon had a show that night so couldn't join in the fun! After the snack at Juanita's beautiful place, we walked to an apple orchard nearby -- the same apple orchard I had visited last year with Marlar and Elza actually! We had a great time just chatting, snacking and drinking apple wine and juice, and were amused by the antics of Anna's boys. You'll see the hay scattered behind Anna - they used to be in nice neat stacks! Ahh good times at the orchard... The boys confessed to being a bit itchy after their romp in the hay...

Anna, Thomas and James

Juanita with the Apfelwein Bembel (pitchers)

Mmm fruity!

Don't worry, they're just pouring him some apple juice!

They don't start them THAT young here!

So that was my week! Chad's week was filled with... wait for it... Studying!!! I know, hard to believe. He did spend the weekend at his parents' house, (where he still studied a lot) and I know he always loves seeing his family! We still Skype every day, and seeing each other's faces while we're talking seems to make the distance a little less difficult! As you can see from this following picture, we do enjoy making faces together...

Have a great week all!

dream law

Hey All! Much like last week, I am writing to you from the comforts of our couch. Unlike last week, Brenda isn't here to keep me company. I'm happy to report, however, that she is safely back in Germany and has begun rehearsals for La Traviata. It sounds like the first two days of rehearsal went well. The opera opens on Saturday, October 8th. If you care to learn more about the production you can do so here.

Over the weekend I went to St. Paul to visit our friends, Dan and Whitney. I was only in St. Paul for 24 hours but we made the most of it and had a great time. On Saturday night Whitney and I went to Minnesota Opera's production of Così fan tutte. Dan sang in the chorus of the opera, and he had a lot of stage time. It was a beautiful production of a great opera, and I highly recommend it to anyone who finds themselves in or around the Twin Cities.

I should probably think about getting some sleep. You'd think that sleep would be a great chance to stop thinking about law school, but I keep having law school related dreams. My dreams tend to relate to whatever issue I read about in the homework that day. So tonight's dreams should contain riveting discussions of what constitutes consideration in forming an enforceable agreement, and the obligations, or lack there of, of a bystander in saving another person's life. Uh oh, did you just fall asleep? Sorry about that. I have that affect on people these days.

Until next time, have a great week!

We have a couch!

Hey All! My homework is done, my wonderful wife is sitting next to me on our new couch, and I just poured myself a glass of Malbec - life is good. Brenda got back from New York late Saturday night. Her time in New York was very productive. Brenda recorded a CD while she was there and worked extensively on her next opera role. Now that she's back in Iowa, we're enjoying each other's company as much as we can before she flies back to Germany on Friday.

Brenda's parents came down to Iowa City for an overnight trip yesterday. Brenda showed them around town while I was in class, and then I joined them for dinner last night. They seemed to really enjoy the two vegetarian restaurants they tried in Iowa City - The Red Avocado and theFair Grounds Coffeehouse.

Law school has been very busy, but I think I'm doing a good job of keeping up. It's hard to tell, though. For most of my classes my entire grade is based on one test at the end of the semester. I guess I'll find out if I actually know what's going once the classes are over.

I had better get back to spending time with my wife. I hope you're all having a great week and I'll talk to you next Tuesday!

city lights

Hello all! Another week has gone by, and Chad is swamped with homework, so I'm taking over the blog for the week! However, we realized it was blog day a little bit late, so this won't be a spectacular post. :-) BUT! I have pictures! Oh yes, I know you love pictures...

I'm in New York right now, taking lessons to prepare for my upcoming role in La Traviata and also recording a CD of songs by the composer Lowell Liebermann, whose opera I performed at Juilliard five years ago! It's so great to sing his music again, and I can't wait for the disc to come out!

I had a wonderful time in Minneapolis with Drew, and as Chad told you, we did lots of fun things, including my first trip to the huge Renaissance festival in the area. I've never seen so many nerds in one place. It was a beautiful thing.

And now, PICTURES! Have a great week all!

Holding my beautiful niece Beatrice

for the first time!

Drew and Bettina at the Renaissance

festival. Oh yes, they wore costumes.

Happy twins at the apple orchard!

Taunting and feeding the goats at the petting farm

at the apple orchard.

Drew made friends with the donkey.

That's a big ol' chair.

Dining al fresco at the Minneapolis restaurant

Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge.

Dan and Whitney were with us! And a mask

friend was too...

High school buddy Lara and the twins in a Minneapolis

pub called Merlin's Rest. It had a British theme,

so I felt right at home. ;-)

fair maidens and gallant knights

Hey All! I'm cutting my blog deadline a little close this week; I have nine minutes left before Tuesday is officially over. Anyway, my wonderful wife got sick of me studying all the time and decided to go visit her sister. Brenda arrived in Minnesota yesterday and has already been to a renaissance fair and been apple picking. Not at the same time, of course. Jousting is strictly forbidden in apple orchards. At least I think I read that in one of my law books. All of these laws start to run together.

The happy couple together again.

This past weekend Brenda and I went to my home town to spend some time with my family. While we were there Brenda got to meet our beautiful 7-month-old niece, Beatrice. Brenda also spent a good part of the weekend working on the songs she's going to record next week in New York. Brenda will be working on La Traviata while she's in New York, too. It should be a whirlwind trip.

Once Brenda gets back from New York we'll have almost a week together before she flies to Frankfurt. We spent last week (when I wasn't in class or studying) trying out different restaurants in Iowa City, going to movies, and getting settled in our apartment. We still need to hang up photos and put away a few pots and pans, but the apartment is starting to shape up. Brenda is going to look for some furniture at Ikea while she's in Minnesota so hopefully a couch is in our future. As it stands, one of us can sit in the recliner in the living room while the other sits in the bean bag chair. It makes cuddling up to watch a movie challenging.

Well, it has been Wednesday for almost 30 minutes now so I had better wrap this up. I need a decent amount of sleep if I want to stand a chance of understanding what is going on in class. I hope you're all having a great week!