This is a culmination of more than just today (as this list usually is...). Go to your local library and ask if they have any of this:
1. Stravinsky, Rite of Spring...yes. Still. It's that good.
2. Shostakovich Symphonies...start with number 9
3. Poulenc choral music...recently I have listened to several secular a capella works.
4. Jean Sibelius symphonies...I took a fancy to number 2.
5. Some of the Stefan Wolpe. Different stuff...not sure I like these compositions.
6. "Richte mich, Gott" Psalm 43 by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartoldy. Ridiculously beautiful.
7. Rossini: Petite Messe Solenelle, as performed by the Leipzig Gewandhaus musicians in 2008.
8. 8 Geistliche Gesänge, Op. 138 by Max Reger. If your local library doesn't have this...buy it from iTunes. You cannot go another day of your life without hearing these 8 pieces.
9. Beethoven's 2nd, 6th, and 7th Symphonies.
and
10. Schoenberg's Violin Concerto, Op. 36. Fantastic writing!
Obviously, a classical list for you. I haven't listened to much music you might regularly hear on the radio...maybe a little bit of Radiohead and Damien Rice but only a little bit. I'll go through another radio music phase sometime...
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
In retrospect...
I've had a few days to think about the experiences I've had the past few weeks, and all I keep thinking about is when I might be able to return. An overseas experience that lasts longer than a tourist's usual 4 or 5 days to go 30 different places to take 1500 photos is just beyond words, really. I was able to begin to get plugged into a culture in a different country and be able to experience it in it's fullness. Well, almost...the language barrier was a bit of a setback, but what I came to know and realize firsthand is that the normal Leipziger is a lot like me. The German works hard, earns money, pays rent and other bills, eats, sleeps, bathes, and has a good time with friends. If I spoke German fluently, I would look just like any other Leipziger.
My guess is that had I visited Hong Kong I would come to a similar conclusion about Hong Kong's culture. Granted these cultures have slightly different laws than to which I am accustomed, but it really is, from a broad perspective, the same: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The Germans don't walk around kicking people not expecting consequences. At one small time in their history that may have been the case, depending on which political party or political/ military power the German held. It's sad, I think, that the German culture is stereotyped as steeped in the color black surrounded by crossness and some sort of fury. As I left the states, at least two people I know mentioned something snide and sarcastic about Hitler. How sad. The only thing that some people know about Germany is Hitler's authority. 1933 - 1945. 12 years. That's all. And I dare say that most of that assumption and sarcasm is based on what they know about World War II. That brings the 12 years down to 6 years: 1939 - 1945. Don't get me wrong; I'm not excusing the Holocaust or the anti-semitism Hitler embraced. That's not the point. The point is that there is so much more to the German people than that sour time of their thousands-of-years history. The Germans, from what I can tell after three weeks, are moving on from that era. And I just think some people should follow them. They are even moving on from the age of the Berlin Wall. Free commerce appeals to the formerly-East Germans. I was able to go into any business in Leipzig and purchase what my little heart desired.
...blah, blah, blah... I could go on and on about how a formerly East German city is becoming more stable within the definition of Democracy (rather, "People's Republic"), but I will spare you my ramblings.
The bottom line is that I cannot wait to return to see again the friends that I made, taste the food, attend the St. Thomas Church Sunday Service, speak with the Germans (maybe next time I can better understand them and they me), ride the street trains, and feel it's sehr schönes Wetter. Come with me next time.
My guess is that had I visited Hong Kong I would come to a similar conclusion about Hong Kong's culture. Granted these cultures have slightly different laws than to which I am accustomed, but it really is, from a broad perspective, the same: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The Germans don't walk around kicking people not expecting consequences. At one small time in their history that may have been the case, depending on which political party or political/ military power the German held. It's sad, I think, that the German culture is stereotyped as steeped in the color black surrounded by crossness and some sort of fury. As I left the states, at least two people I know mentioned something snide and sarcastic about Hitler. How sad. The only thing that some people know about Germany is Hitler's authority. 1933 - 1945. 12 years. That's all. And I dare say that most of that assumption and sarcasm is based on what they know about World War II. That brings the 12 years down to 6 years: 1939 - 1945. Don't get me wrong; I'm not excusing the Holocaust or the anti-semitism Hitler embraced. That's not the point. The point is that there is so much more to the German people than that sour time of their thousands-of-years history. The Germans, from what I can tell after three weeks, are moving on from that era. And I just think some people should follow them. They are even moving on from the age of the Berlin Wall. Free commerce appeals to the formerly-East Germans. I was able to go into any business in Leipzig and purchase what my little heart desired.
...blah, blah, blah... I could go on and on about how a formerly East German city is becoming more stable within the definition of Democracy (rather, "People's Republic"), but I will spare you my ramblings.
The bottom line is that I cannot wait to return to see again the friends that I made, taste the food, attend the St. Thomas Church Sunday Service, speak with the Germans (maybe next time I can better understand them and they me), ride the street trains, and feel it's sehr schönes Wetter. Come with me next time.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Final Days and Travels Home
The final days of my Leipzig adventures were engulfed deeply in my German class. My apologies for not keeping up to date with the blog. Besides learning the grammatical ways of the German language in the morning classes, I was with a group in the afternoons to study some of Leipzig's specialties, namely Leipziger Lerche and Gose. In order to learn about these two things, we were out in the community a good bit asking Leipzigers about them. What we found was that Leipziger Lerche is a pastry that dates back to the 18th century. (I'll leave you to follow the link to read a little about it if you's like.) Gose is a beer that actualy began being brewed in Goslar in the 11th century. It is now brewed in only a few places in Germany, and Leipzig is one of those places, namely the old Bayrischer Bahnhof. On Friday afternoon, everyone had to present their projects to the entire summer course group, and my group reenacted our tours of the Gose brewery and the Bakery in the form of a small skit. I was volunteered to be the brew-master answering all the Gose questions in order to inform the audience. So...I stood on stage with my little apron (as well as the rest of my clothes) and small script-prompt and acted like a German "braumeister." That's what held my attention most of the week. I did get a chance to be with people outside of an academic setting. I can say that I have made some international friends: 2 from Sydney, Australia and 3 from Leipzig. I was able to have dinner with them a couple of times, and each time we had the best time laughing and being together.
The Thomanerchor went on their annual holidays on Saturday 27 June, so I was not privileged this final week of getting to listen to them. As a matter of fact, I wasn't able to go to any concerts this final week, sadly. Bachfest ended with the Thomanerchor's final concert Friday 26 June, and the Gewandhaus Chor's final public performance was Mendelssohn's Paulus. There was not much after that...only the Ballett of Stravinsky's music. No concert reports in this post.
Yesterday's travels home were quite glatt (smooth). It was early, but my alarm awakened me at 3:45am, I caught my tram at 4:30 to the Taxi hang-out in front of the Hauptbahnhof (main train station), got to the airport by 5:15 and caught my plane to Munich at 6:00. I didn't have much of any layovers; just enough time to get to all of my connecting flights. From Munich I went back to Heathrow, which was much more stressful this time through. I only had 2 hours to get through border control, find my luggage (as Lufthansa only checked it to London instead of USA), check my luggage/ get a boarding pass and find my gate. I did a lot of speed walking. 2 hours might sound like a nice amount of time, but it really is not. Heathrow is way too large of a place...I'm pretty sure it's as large as a small town. When I got to the Passport/ Border control line, there were about 100 Saudi Arabians waiting in front of me. I paniced a bit, as I was sure such a long line would put me too far behind schedule. I finally got to the front of the line, and the Immigration officer asked me for my "landing card." I wasn't told of any such card, nor were there any large signs saying, "Landing cards, folks. Get your landing cards! Step right up!" So...I stepped out of line to fill out my little card that added a few grey hairs to my head. When I finished, the English were nice enough to me to let me go to the front of the increased line of immigrants. Below you will find the dialogue between me and the Immigration officer at Heathrow:
"Hello, sir." (as spoken with a THICK English accent...think "My Fair Lady" Cockney-ish)
"Good day."
"You haven't told me how long you'll be staying here."
"Ah. Sorry. I only will be here as long as it takes me to get on my next flight...maybe another 45 minutes."
"Too bad. London's a great place. Terminal three, please."
"Terminal fee?"
"Yep. Terminal three."
"Can I pay that here?"
And with confused eyes accompanied by a deeply furrowed brow, he leaned his big belly back in his chair. By then I figured out what he said...
"OH! Terminal THREE! I thought you said 'Terminal FEE'."
As I laughed, "You've never been to Heathrow before, have you, sir."
As I continued to laugh, "Only once, but I was not pressed for time like I am right now. You could have told me that I in fact DID have a terminal fee and that I needed to pay you."
He nobly answered me, "Nope. Wouldn't do that, sir. Good day to you."
After thanking him for his kindness, I hurried off to pick up my bag and get a boarding pass in Terminal three. I found my gate as people were boarding the plane, so all turned out nicely. To make it even better, I ended up with a seat to myself the entire 8 hour and 45 minute flight across the Atlantic and down USA's eastern seaboard.
Here I am at home. It's good to be here, but I do miss Leipzig already. I'll take Rachel soon.
The Thomanerchor went on their annual holidays on Saturday 27 June, so I was not privileged this final week of getting to listen to them. As a matter of fact, I wasn't able to go to any concerts this final week, sadly. Bachfest ended with the Thomanerchor's final concert Friday 26 June, and the Gewandhaus Chor's final public performance was Mendelssohn's Paulus. There was not much after that...only the Ballett of Stravinsky's music. No concert reports in this post.
Yesterday's travels home were quite glatt (smooth). It was early, but my alarm awakened me at 3:45am, I caught my tram at 4:30 to the Taxi hang-out in front of the Hauptbahnhof (main train station), got to the airport by 5:15 and caught my plane to Munich at 6:00. I didn't have much of any layovers; just enough time to get to all of my connecting flights. From Munich I went back to Heathrow, which was much more stressful this time through. I only had 2 hours to get through border control, find my luggage (as Lufthansa only checked it to London instead of USA), check my luggage/ get a boarding pass and find my gate. I did a lot of speed walking. 2 hours might sound like a nice amount of time, but it really is not. Heathrow is way too large of a place...I'm pretty sure it's as large as a small town. When I got to the Passport/ Border control line, there were about 100 Saudi Arabians waiting in front of me. I paniced a bit, as I was sure such a long line would put me too far behind schedule. I finally got to the front of the line, and the Immigration officer asked me for my "landing card." I wasn't told of any such card, nor were there any large signs saying, "Landing cards, folks. Get your landing cards! Step right up!" So...I stepped out of line to fill out my little card that added a few grey hairs to my head. When I finished, the English were nice enough to me to let me go to the front of the increased line of immigrants. Below you will find the dialogue between me and the Immigration officer at Heathrow:
"Hello, sir." (as spoken with a THICK English accent...think "My Fair Lady" Cockney-ish)
"Good day."
"You haven't told me how long you'll be staying here."
"Ah. Sorry. I only will be here as long as it takes me to get on my next flight...maybe another 45 minutes."
"Too bad. London's a great place. Terminal three, please."
"Terminal fee?"
"Yep. Terminal three."
"Can I pay that here?"
And with confused eyes accompanied by a deeply furrowed brow, he leaned his big belly back in his chair. By then I figured out what he said...
"OH! Terminal THREE! I thought you said 'Terminal FEE'."
As I laughed, "You've never been to Heathrow before, have you, sir."
As I continued to laugh, "Only once, but I was not pressed for time like I am right now. You could have told me that I in fact DID have a terminal fee and that I needed to pay you."
He nobly answered me, "Nope. Wouldn't do that, sir. Good day to you."
After thanking him for his kindness, I hurried off to pick up my bag and get a boarding pass in Terminal three. I found my gate as people were boarding the plane, so all turned out nicely. To make it even better, I ended up with a seat to myself the entire 8 hour and 45 minute flight across the Atlantic and down USA's eastern seaboard.
Here I am at home. It's good to be here, but I do miss Leipzig already. I'll take Rachel soon.
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