Fall walks, Heidi talks

I wanted more to do and what I got was busy. But it's good! I love having many things to do. Then I really enjoy the time I spend in my apartment after a busy day.

My first recording session for the "walk and listen" tour of Berlin's famous square, "Gendarmenmarkt," was yesterday. I had been slaving over the texts, trying to repair the poor translation job done by a supposed native speaker and finally finished all the corrections after ca. 9 hours. Luckily my voice came back completely just in time for the recordings. When I got to the office, I saw the "studio" that I would spend the next several hours in.

It was a small little make-shift box with just enough room for a chair and microphone and lots of blankets taped to the walls. I read the papers taped to the wall in front of me. It was really strenuous trying to read slowly with lots of exciting-sounding voice influctions. But we got a lot done in the 4 hours and my boss was happy with how it went. We meet again on Tues. for part 2. It's a temp job, but maybe they'll have translation jobs for me in the future.

Speaking of jobs, my neither-here-nor-there crazy Russian English pupil or mine has decided to take a break from English tutoring till December. I take that as for forever, so I will be placing another ad for more tutoring. She hasn't, however, given up on trying to drag me along to the disco. She made very clear that I will be joining her this Friday must invite my friends from last time. I told her we would see.

I had some nice Starbuck's visits this week, 4 to be exact. There's a really nice Starbuck's I like to go to that has two levels full of comfy stuffed chairs. I went there on Mon. with my Turkish oboe player friend and Tues. with my friend from the church. On Thurs. my German friend and I checked out another Starbucks which is near the music school and I was so excited by their toffee nut coffee (the other Starbuck's only has a few coffee choices) that I went back Friday shortly by myself to finish the translation corrections before babysitting.

It's just too bad that coffee there is so expensive. I'm not really sure of the prices in America, but for a small toffee nut coffee it's about $3.80. I really can't make a habit of going there too often, especially since I can get a nice little cup of cappucino from the music school machine for 40 cents. But it's a nice atmosphere and a nice place to meet with friends or bring a book.

I've been SO thankful for the beautiful fall we've been having in Berlin. Although now it's pretty chilly out, we still have a very atypical blue sky almost everyday. This much sun is not even so normal for summer here. I've really enjoyed taking walks, in fact, today I went on 2 walks. The first one was with my bible study leader, her British husband, and their baby. Then later I met my German friend for a nice walk through the Tiergarten, a huge Central Park-type area with tons of age-old trees and mystical ponds with bridges.

But watch out in the summer; there's one section of the Tiergarten that draws the naked Berliners, primarily homosexual men, who lay out or play ball with their dogs. That's one way to get to know new people on a personal level right away. But then again, most Germans go naked in the sauna, which I experienced with my orchestra this summer. I had my suit on, fully accepting and not feeling ashamed of my role as the "prudish American." And I learned to really make sure you make eye contact while talking to people. Otherwise it could be more than you bargained for. My friend just told me he has even been naked in the sauna with his sister many times. Eww!!

I'm hosting my bible study this week at my apartment. I'm excited to have visitors. With Berlin being so large and everything so spread out, it's not that typical to have guests since you might as well just meet halfway in the city. So I am looking forward to that, as well as making my veggie lasagna which I haven't made for a very long time. I also luckily have time that day to tidy up the apartment.

I invited my German friend to come and she enthusiastically agreed. She just told me today that she finds it too bad she didn't have more to do with the church growing up. I hope she feels comfortable and welcome and even finds some answers to some of her questions. Our leader is really genuine and personable.

Oh, and I didn't end up getting the position in Mannheim. Apparently it was more for a "doctorate" study with the paid orchestra positions on the side. But the good news is that they gave me my point score. To be accepted for the degree program it was 22 points. I got 20, which was still rated in the top category, so that helped me to feel better about it.

So it is just another audition to add to the list.... Even if I had gotten it, I'm not so sure I'd have taken it. It's 5 hrs. there with the train and a very ugly city. I wouldn't have wanted to move there from Berlin and to commute is also a bit much. But I am glad that I had another chance to take an audition because all experience helps and I already played stronger than my last audition. Hopefully the next one is even better!