As Time Goes On..

The Thanksgiving report comes a bit late, but it was a great meal and really nice company. I met a couple of American missionary families in Berlin. They were nice, and boy could they cook. I, being the student of the group, was only asked to bring bread, apple juice, and wine. They didn't expect me to cook anything, which was nice since I didn't have any freetime to do anything fancy anyway. But the rest of them had really worked hard scrounging Berlin, as well as bringing special things from America that couldn't be found here, in order to get all the ingredients necessary for all the dishes: sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, etc. I was the lucky one who got to benefit from all of it!

Okay, I realize now how that just seemed like really old news.

I've been keeping busy as usual. I was in Dortmund this past weekend, which is ca. 3 1/2 hrs. with the ICE (the express) train. I have a train card which, after its purchase, grants 50% off all train rides. With me traveling back in forth between Dortmund and Berlin a lot in the past year, the card paid itself off long ago.

In addition to visiting Matthias, I got to surprise my German friend Sandra at her birthday party. She had sent out the e-mail invitation a couple weeks ago, but I wrote her back telling her I wouldn't be able to make it since at that time I was planning a trip to Hamburg to visit my American friend Bethany.

As it turned out, Bethany got busy with gigs and I was able to make it to Dortmund for the birthday bash. I called my other friend Steffi, Sandra's best friend, to tell her I'd be able to make the party, but didn't tell Sandra. So it was fun to surprise her later at her door and make her birthday party the smashing hit that it was...eh hem...did I just write that?

Our oboe studio has a concert coming up next week. Instead of solo recitals typical at American music institutions, German conservatories generally have 2-3 studio recitals a semester. Everyone plays one piece generally. The last studio concert I played a very modern piece...so modern, in fact, that it was impossible to sight read. It was made up of lots of squiggly lines and dots. However, with a bit of creativity and absolutely no shame, it can be played. It ended up even being kind of fun to play, though hard on the ears because of it's atonality and lots of squealy high notes. But despite its unconventional style, I managed to receive a comment from a lady in the audience who loved it. I found that hard to imagine, but hey...I'll take it!

In next week's concert, however, I'll be playing a fun little piece no one has ever heard of by the French composer Challan. It has taken a lot of time and patience to practice because of it's technical strangeness, but is a lot of fun to play. And I am excited to be playing something I chose, as opposed to my professor choosing for me, which has been the case the past 1 1/2 yr.!

And I just got my first paying Christmas church gig here in Berlin. I had asked my prof. to keep me in mind if he got any calls for xmas gigs. True to his word (which, believe me, isn't a given), he gave out my name for a gig this coming weekend. I'm playing Vivaldi's Gloria with a choir, containing a big oboe solo/accompaniment in one of the movements. It should be fun, and I'm really glad to be playing in a church around Christmastime. There's just something special about it.