the wait is over!

Hellooo! Sorry for the delayed blog entry! I wanted to make sure to give it the time it deserved, so I convinced Chad to let me write it today! Currently Chad is in class - wait, what? But I can see him over on the couch! Ahh, the wonders of technology. As he's mentioned before, he can watch all of his classes online. I really don't know why he can't do that 100% of the time! 

It's been a wonderfully whirlwind week! Last Wednesday was our final rehearsal for "Ariadne auf Naxos", and then I had all of Thursday and Friday off. Luckily, I was able to keep busy on Thursday, so I didn't drive myself crazy in anticipation of Chad's arrival on Friday! I had a delightful pizza and champagne lunch with our friends Barb and Michael, as well as Michael's parents, and then in the late afternoon I hopped on a train to go to Bad Nauheim where our friend Florian was singing a concert that evening. Florian is still singing full time in Copenhagen's opera house, and was only in the Frankfurt area for two nights, so I grabbed the opportunity to see him! It was a beautiful concert (Haydn's "The Creation") and afterwards I went to Florian's parents' home, where we all enjoyed a relaxed drink. 

A Plock sandwich -- happy to be reunited! 

Then the day I had been waiting for for six weeks finally arrived. Chad didn't want me to come pick him up at the airport because that meant I wouldn't get enough sleep, but I still woke up without an alarm and my first thought was whether Chad was in the country or not! So I called his German cell phone, and lo and behold, he answered! Oh happy day! Needless to say, it's been wonderful to have him back in Frankfurt.

Saturday was the premiere of "Ariadne auf Naxos", and I'm happy to say, it was a big success! The rehearsal process was especially wonderful, so we were all hoping the public would enjoy it too! After the show, we went to the after party/dinner and got to relax with my castmates and friends who had come to the show. Free food and wine! Woohoo! It may have been a late night...

My friend InSun and I at the party. (Note: the suspicious bump in my midsection is JUST the way the dress was laying in the picture! Ahem!)

We relaxed and stayed in on Sunday, but were more productive on Monday. We went for a jog on our favorite path through the city forest, did some work (me singing, Chad reading!) and then went out to dinner at a very nice Austrian restaurant with my former manager who was in town for the premiere. I always love having him at shows, because he yells "Bravo" for me really loudly!

That brings us to Tuesday! Obviously we were busy, as we did not have time to write the blog... Our friend Michael turned 40, so we had a celebratory lunch with him, and then went back to their place for some delicious cake (baked by Barb!) and of course a champagne toast. We were so glad Chad got to be included in the celebration, since he was originally supposed to leave on Monday! Hooray for skipping classes! 

Us and the McCowns!

After all that, we rushed to our friend InSun's new place in Sachsenhausen (love having more friends in the neighborhood!) and were treated to a delectable homemade Korean feast! Mmm, so good! I know my Mom would be jealous... Next time, InSun is going to teach me how to make some of the food! It was a fantastic night filled with lots of laughter! 

Delicious!!

And fun!!

So that's been our week! I'm incredibly grateful to have four more days with Chad before he returns to Iowa. Nine days is way better than 3 days. And this time we'll have just 3 weeks until we're reunited! So much more doable. Hope you're all enjoying the arrival of Fall! 

enjoying our time together

Hey All! I made it to Germany, and Brenda and I are having a wonderful time together. Brenda's first performance of Ariadne auf Naxos was fantastic, and I look forward to seeing her next performance on Thursday. I'm going to keep this short because Brenda wanted to write the blog this week but was unable to tonight because we were out late at a friend's house. Please check back soon for her post. Until then, here are a couple of photos I took yesterday near the opera house:

The poster for Aradne auf Naxos, which can be seen all over town.

The opera house from a distance.

I hope you're all having a great week, and we'll talk to you soon!

clowning around

When did it get to be this late? I usually write the blog entry earlier in the evening, but I've been busier than usual today. I'm trying to get everything checked off of my to-do list before I head to Germany on Thursday. Speaking of which, I decided that a weekend with Brenda after six weeks apart wasn't going to be enough, so I changed my return date to the following weekend. Consequently, Brenda and I will get to enjoy more than a week together. I will, of course, be missing some classes, but luckily for me the law school allows students to record classes when they are absent and watch them at their leisure. So next week I'll be sitting in on class from our apartment in Germany. Ain't technology grand?

Brenda has her final dress rehearsal tomorrow night for Ariadne auf Naxos. From what she tells me rehearsals have been going well, although there was one unusual occurrence earlier in the week. The orchestra went on strike for a couple of hours on Monday as a part of a country-wide orchestra strike in Germany. They got back to work later in the day, however, so it looks like the singers will have musical accompaniment on Saturday. Come to think of it, an unaccompanied performance could be interesting. It'd be pretty tough to know what your note was or when to come in, but on the plus side the audience could really focus on the singers' acting. 

Brenda in costume in her dressing room.

So next week a reunited Chenda will be writing to you from Germany. Until then, have a wonderful week!

thinking outside the box

Hey all! The countdown is finally in the single digits. In nine days I will be hopping on a plane to Germany to visit my wonderful wife! Unfortunately, the trip must be a short one (the law school hasn't fully embraced online education yet), but I am grateful for any amount of time I can spend with Brenda. By the way, her rehearsals are moving along nicely. The final piano rehearsal is tomorrow night. It is the performers' first opportunity to run the show in costumes and makeup. After tomorrow they will move on to orchestra rehearsals. The final dress rehearsal is next Wednesday.

Life in law school is going fine. I'm enjoying my classes this semester and am finding my Immigration Law course particularly interesting. Recently we've been talking about the different ways foreigners can apply to become lawful permanent residents of the US. The two biggest ways are through family members that are already in the US and through employment. Of course, some employment qualifications are more desirable in the eyes of the US government than others. For example, physical therapists and nurses are apparently in high demand in the US so foreigners with those skills will have a much easier time getting a visa than, say, an unskilled laborer or an out of work opera singer. To help us review the material, our professor did an exercise with the class today where she presented herself as an educated but unemployed journalist trying to get a visa to live in the US. As a class we had to try to figure out the best way to apply for a visa for this hypothetical person. Some people suggested she marry her fiancé, a US citizen, as quickly as possible. Others thought she should try to prove how outstanding of a journalist she was so she could qualify for a category reserved for people with "extraordinary" skills. Still others thought she should try to get in through her brother who already had a US visa. I raised my hand and asked if she had ever considered becoming a physical therapist or a nurse. Based on the professor's laughter I don't think that was the solution she had in mind.

Apparently our week amounted to an update on Brenda's rehearsals and an anecdote from law school. I'll see if I can't come up with something a little more interesting for next week. Until then, have a great week!

Got gas?

What a difference a week can make! Last week I cracked a joke about wearing a sweater in 90 degree weather and the past two days I've actually worn sweaters to class. That is definitely a change for the better if you ask me. Although, it seems I'm not entirely prepared for the cooler weather. A couple of days ago I decided I should probably stop wearing flip flops if it's cold enough that I'm actually bundling up. The problem is, the only other pair of shoes I have here are my bright blue jogging shoes. With all of the traveling we do it can be hard to keep track of where all of our clothes go. Brenda asked me the other day if I had one of her sweaters with me in Iowa City only to discover that it was with her in Frankfurt all along. I'm hoping I left a more stylish pair of shoes at my parents' house at some point over the past few years.

On Saturday, Brenda invited her good friend Elza over for dinner before they went to see an opera at Oper Frankfurt. Elza came over a few hours before the opera so they'd have plenty of time to get dinner ready and enjoy each other's company. Everything was moving along nicely until the gas stove top stopped working. The problem: it ran out of gas. Brenda and I love our apartment in Germany. It's not big, but it's got character and is really comfortable for two people. There is, however, something strange about our stove. In spite of the oven being electric, the stove top is gas and the building apparently isn't set up for gas stoves. Consequently, underneath our kitchen sink we have a gas tank that is the perfect size to run your outdoor gas grill. It's not an ideal set up because sometimes, like on Saturday, the gas runs out when you're in the middle of cooking dinner. We typically have a spare gas tank lying around but not this time. So Brenda and Elza unhooked our gas tank, hopped in a cab, and went to the hardware store to get a couple full tanks of gas. Unfortunately, they didn't get to eat dinner before the opera, but Elza had brought appetizers so they didn't have to go on empty stomachs.

 Once the stove was working again Brenda made this delicious looking beet soup.

Brenda's rehearsals for Ariadne auf Naxos moved to the main stage of the opera house today. New productions in Frankfurt typically start rehearsing in a separate rehearsal building (think warehouse) that is in a different part of town. Because of where we live it's a much longer commute for Brenda to get to those rehearsals so she's always happy when the production moves to the main stage. Her show opens two weeks from Saturday.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that construction was underway near where I live. Their focus had been on demolition (and still is for a couple of buildings), but they've also moved on to the building phase:

That wooden structure in the distance is the beginning of some new student housing.

Apparently brand new apartments will be available to rent next fall. The downside: the apartments are no longer owned by the university and will cost twice as much to rent.

I should get going. My Immigration Law class is tomorrow morning and I should be well rested just in case I ever renounce my citizenship and have to figure out how to become a citizen again. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

Frankfurt just got awesome

Greetings from a persistently warm Iowa! I keep compulsively checking the weather forecast, hoping that temperatures will drop so I can do my homework without sweating. It looks like it may finally happen tomorrow. Instead of being a high of 100 like it has been the past few days, it's supposed to be a high of 90. I'll probably wear a sweater.

Brenda has been enjoying much cooler weather in Frankfurt. Actually, "enjoying" probably isn't the right word. The highs have been in the 60s over there so it's a little chilly for Brenda's tastes, but it sounds good to me. It looks like they had nice weather on Saturday when Brenda went with several of her friends to an open house at a winery. The winery produces Riesling and, if the wine being sampled at the open house was any indication, that's it. They do produce several different varieties of Riesling, which Brenda and her friends enjoyed sampling.

 People trying the various Rieslings.

 Brenda and her buddies at the vineyard.

 After leaving the vineyard, the gang went to a nearby town for dinner. That river in the background is the Rhein.

 As they were walking through the town they came across some kids that were breaking plates on the street as a part of some kind of celebration. Hopefully those dishes were from Ikea.

Brenda sent me an overjoyed message yesterday letting me know that Frankfurt had recently become a much better place to live. Why, you ask? Because Frankfurt now has a Chipotle. You may recall from previous posts that Brenda and I really enjoy Mexican food and, for us, Germany's take on Mexican food leaves something to be desired. Now I realize that Chipotle is to Mexican food as chicken nuggets are to chicken (that is to say, only superficially related), but we love Chipotle all the same.

Brenda enjoying her first Chipotle burrito in Frankfurt.

I should get going. I've spent enough time sweating at my desk. It's time to sweat on the couch for a change. I hope you all have a wonderful week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

Is that political pandering?

Hello all and welcome to September! We are just a few weeks away from the official changing of the seasons and I couldn't be happier about it. My enthusiasm for fall this year is fueled by several factors, the biggest one being that I'll get to see a lot more of Brenda once the seasons change. I'm also getting tired of the law school thing. There is a phrase that you hear around law school that goes a little something like this: "The first year they scare you to death, the second year they work you to death, and the third year they bore you to death." Apparently the President agrees because he recently suggested reducing law school from three years to two.

Anyway, let's talk about more interesting topics like politics in Germany. That interests you, right? For Brenda it's unavoidable. It is election season in Germany and Brenda is seeing political posters everywhere. She thought that you all might enjoy the following political poster.

 The words at the bottom left hand corner of the poster translate as: "Opportunities. Education. Beer." To be honest, the last word doesn't actually translate as beer because the German word for beer is spelled Bier. Beer just happens to be this politician's last name. But being pro-beer would probably be a good political stance in Germany.

By the way, Brenda seems to be enjoying rehearsals. She has several friends in the cast which always makes the rehearsal process more fun. They finished staging the first part of the opera today and will move on to the second part tomorrow.

Last night I decided to walk to a grocery store that is about a 30 minute walk from our apartment. There is a really nice path near our dilapidated dwelling that is perfect for getting some activity. I took a couple of pictures along the way.

Most of the path is surrounded by trees.

On my way home I took a picture of the construction site where our old apartment used to be. The apartment we're living in now will probably look the same this time next year.

I should probably sign off. There is research to be done and homework to be read. I hope you all have a wonderful week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!