Hello all! We recently passed the 10 year mark since moving to Germany (and since starting this blog), and it seems fitting to commemorate the occasion with (what else?) another blog entry. So let's get to it.
We flew to Germany in August 2008 with one-way tickets. Brenda’s contract, her first major professional engagement, was for two years. She got the offer the previous year (2007) and asked me if I'd consider making the move. Since it was a great professional opportunity for her, and because we both wanted to experience living in Europe, it was an easy decision.
Our first two years in Germany had their ups and downs. On the up side Brenda loved her job and was actually making a living singing. Not many people get to do that. Another great thing was that we learned so much living in this new and different place. Our German got a lot better (it couldn't really have gotten worse), and we discovered, in our own way, what it means to be immersed in a culture that isn't the one you grew up with. We also got to travel some and explore a little bit of Europe. On the down side, Frankfurt was cloudy all the time. Literally. (Okay, not literally, but it sure seemed like it.) We also had to go a long time without seeing family and friends, which at times made it feel like we were living on another planet.
Professionally, the first two years (as with all the following years) were great for Brenda. She made a big impression with both the opera house and the public. Her first
Lucia di Lammermoor, which she performed at the end of her second season, was particularly outstanding. I recall one of the administrators at the company commenting that Brenda was the best Lucia (out of 4) they’d had in that production, and the rest were hired guests as opposed to members of the ensemble like Brenda. Unsurprisingly, her contract was extended for another three years.
My performing career, in contrast, both peaked and ended in Frankfurt. I sang six small roles at Oper Frankfurt, two of which are available on CD, but I was not at a level to be performing big roles professionally. Making a living as a singer seemed impossible to me, and since continuing to try was making me miserable, I decided to go to law school. (If you're going to be miserable anyway, you might as well make a lot of money, right?) I didn't go to law school until after our third year in Germany, and by that point we had settled in to a new apartment and had made some really good friends. Brenda was also starting to do guest engagements outside of Frankfurt, which had many perks including growing her career, allowing us to see more of Europe, and increasing our income.
The time I spent in law school (years 4 -6) was a good period for both of us, in spite of being apart so much. Brenda's career continued to flourish both in and out of Frankfurt, and she had a large community of friends and coworkers at the opera house. Law school gave me a real sense of direction and an opportunity to learn about some topics I found really interesting. I spent two semesters abroad in wonderful cities (Hamburg and London), and Brenda and I got to see each other regularly during those times. Brenda was even hired on short notice to sing three performances in Hamburg while I was studying there.
After law school I decided to put off getting a job so Brenda and I could be together again for a while. Her career was still very much in Europe, and since we wanted to have a child sooner or later, it seemed to make sense that I should be with her in Frankfurt full time again. At that point, however, we weren't in Frankfurt full time; we were wherever Brenda's gig happened to be at the moment, much as we are now. The years since I graduated have been good. Brenda's career continues to go well, and we now have this unbelievably sweet toddler in our lives who is a constant source of joy and who we love beyond measure.
So what's next, you ask? (Or maybe you're asking, when is this blog entry going to end? Soon!) Well, as you probably know, we bought a house in Minneapolis almost a year ago, but what you might not know is that we'll be giving up our apartment in Frankfurt at the end of December. Brenda was hired as a guest for an opera (
I Puritani) at Oper Frankfurt that ends December 28th, and after that she has no upcoming engagements in Frankfurt. There's no reason to keep paying for an apartment in a city we have no reason to go to (other than to visit friends), so we'll be giving up our permanent residence permits in Germany and making our home in Minneapolis our sole residence. Brenda will continue to travel for work, which is why we bought a house in a city with a major airport, but we will no longer be Chenda in Germany.
Talk about starting a new chapter! A house in America, a (wonderful) kid, and I'm going to try to get a job suing people (or is it spelled sewing? I should figure that out.). It's a big change, and we couldn't be more excited. That said, we'll miss Germany. We've made a lot of wonderful friends there, and we've come to really enjoy the German way of life. Here's hoping Brenda keeps getting hired in Germany so we can go visit a lot.
You did it! You made it to the end of this extra long blog entry. Thanks for hanging in there, and until next time, have a great week!
