Back from a much-needed trip

After a trip that took me through my old college town en route to Chicago and back through my college town, I feel the kind of regeneration that comes from leaving a small town to eating in posh sushi restaurants and pushing one's way through crowds of highly-stressed businesspeople. While I loved the energy of Berlin, I used to long to escape the busy people and bad subway air by retreating to nature; the "Tiergarten" was a favorite of mine within the city. But inasmuch as the slower lifestyle and clean air of a small town is often better for the blood pressure level, the peppy, upbeat lifestyle of a city is also appealing, and just what I needed. I guess I just like a little of both!

Although I am not sure about the results of my audition yet, I do not feel hopeful. There were probably at least 60 people, if not more, auditioning for the positions. My audition had some rough spots, despite a rather deceiving, great warm-up. But I am at peace with the fact I might be staying here at home longer than planned and have notified the job placement agency to find something long-term for me.

But, back to the trip. In Chicago I was lucky enough to stay with my old friend Ewa from my college exchange year to Freiburg, Germany, a Polish-American from my program. She warmly hosted me for 3 nights and we had a great time catching up over Turkish food, coffee, and breakfast. Though she had to work each day, I was well taken care of. My good friend from college, Ali, and I got back in touch because of this good old blog, after losing contact for the past 3 years. I had a fun with her, her husband, and their adorable 2 1/2 year-old little girl, whom I met for the first time. They showed me around Chicago's Mexican neighborhood and the Mexican history/art museum and around Chinatown, where I found out I am "the year of the rooster".

Ali, Ewa, and I also met up and went to a fancy place called "The Walnut Room," an affordable but gorgeous restaurant in Macy's Department Store, where Ali said people stand in hour-long lines at Christmastime because of the huge Christmas tree they have every year. After that meal we headed over to the Symphony Center and enjoyed the Chicago Symphony Orchestra playing "Alpine Symphony".

Though initially not sure what to do with my car while in Chicago, I decided parking in a ramp in the city was the safest option. And although I came during rush-hour traffic and left during morning traffic, I found Chicago to be kind of fun to drive in. The streets are fairly easy to navigate with a map and the rush of trying not to get honked at was also kind of fun!

The trip to Chicago is over 10 hours from my hometown, so I stopped in my old college town for the bookends of the trip which I also had been looking forward to doing since moving back to the States. It was an equally fun time. While there, I stayed with my sister and spent quality time with her and my brother who both go to school there. I also met up with my good friend Sam. He had stayed with me for a week in Berlin this past summer during the World Cup after he'd lived and taken a cooking class in Italy for a month. We had such a nice time in Berlin and it was good to see him back home. I also met up with my oboe professor and it's always fun to visit him and catch up. I missed seeing some other people who had moved away but it's also nice to know people who live in various parts of the country.

Of course, with every trip there is a catch and this time it was the weather. So, in the midst of one of the Midwest's worst winter storms, I got to spend a cold, wet half hour chipping and scraping an ice-encasement covering my car while standing in 2 inches of water and slush before meeting up with my professor. I spend the remainder of Sat. afternoon and evening in soaked-through shoes/socks and jeans. A lot of the city had lost power for several hours because of the amount of ice on the power lines, including my sister's apartment.

Because of the ice, slush, and snow conditions, resulting in many accidents and even the temporary closing of the interstate, I decided to wait until the coast was clear and make the 5 1/2 hour drive back home on Monday, instead of Sunday. It turned out for the best as I was able to spend a relaxing Sunday night with my sister, her boyfriend, and my brother and enjoy normal driving conditions on Monday.

All-in-all it was a very enjoyable trip and a great chance to see some old friends. So, with that trip behind me, and a pending loan payment due, let the intense job search begin!

The Perfect Home

HGTV's "House Hunters" is a show that follows a family looking to purchase a new house, and a real estate agent who shows them 3 houses to choose from. Last night's "House Hunters" was a family of six, anxious to leave their mansion for an even bigger mansion.

"House Hunters" is usually a show that I enjoy watching. It reminds me of "Our First Apartment Together," one of my favorite German T.V. shows where a young couples find and decorate their first place together. But there aren't any apartments on "House Hunters". In fact, when my mom and I watch it together, we often gag over oft-used phrase, "We just NEED something bigger!". "Need" is a roof over one's head. Let's all be honest: It's a definite "want"!

Not that there's anything wrong with a "want". And I'm certainly not suggesting that everyone should live in a little shack and give the rest of their salary to charity out of guilt! It's just the word "need" is relative. We just shouldn't be afraid to say it for what it is: "I want" or "I'd love to have.."!

The most obvious factor when debating whether to upgrade is the individual's or family's budget, of course, but when considering the real estate price differences around the country, prices can be worlds apart, not to mention price per square foot in cities vs. suburbs or rural areas.

While I'm in no way arguing that the following luxuries aren't all nice, when families talk about how they "need" separate bedrooms for each of their 3 children, or who "need" a huge master suite with a walk-in closet and jacuzzi tub in the master bath, or a 3-door garage, basement, and workspace for the dad's shop, or a huge yard for the kids and dog to run around in with a fence so the baby doesn't escape, I remember the English hornist of the Berlin Philharmonic and his family's relatively humble apartment....

Set on a beautiful street lined by gorgeous pre-war architecture apartments on one side, and trees and a peaceful gurgling river on the other, I walked down the sidewalk, the large trees shielding me from the hot late-summer sun this past September. I was on my way to Prof. Wollenweber's apartment where I had an appointment to try out his wife's oboe he was selling, which I later bought. Both he and his wife are prominent Berlin musicians; he, as I mentioned, is English hornist of the Berlin Philharmonic and visiting oboe professor at my music conservatory, and his wife, principal oboist of another top Berlin Symphony Orchestra.

I found the right number and walked through the rod-iron gate and up to the building where I rang the buzzer. I then walked through an arch-way entrance and climbed the stairs to the 4th (American 5th) floor. The friendly, but shy, professor opened the door, with his youngest of three children, a toddler, on his other arm. We walked down the long hallway, passing a door to the living room on the left, and on the right, a door to the kitchen, and a couple of bedrooms. At the end of the hallway was the master bedroom/music room. A set of double doors on the adjacent wall opened up to the living room, making the bedroom feel larger. By the bed was a table used for making reeds, and a large window overlooking the river. A music stand stood by the foot of the bed where he had just been practicing.

So this is where some of Berlin's top musicians live. It was a beautiful location, picture perfect and quiet outside. And the apartment was relatively big by Berlin standards - must have been 3 bedrooms and a large living room. It could not have been cheap, but it was decorated modestly, with artistically mis-matched furniture. Still, there was no master suite, no fenced-in yard with a pool, not even an elevator. Such is the real estate in a large city.

I also had the opportunity to have a lesson with my oboe trio once at the apartment of the 2nd oboist of the Berlin Philharmonic. He, his wife, and their baby son also lived in another nice neighborhood. In addition to their own apartment, which I didn't see, they had also purchased the apartment below their own as a studio for him to teach, practice and make reeds, and even relax in their luxurious new home-sauna.

"House Hunters" seems to focus on families who live in suburbs, or quieter locations, who generally are looking for even more space than they already have. Indeed, big-city dwellers often ask themselves if apartment life in the city is more important than a larger abode somewhere more rural for the same price. But the priorities are different with each choice. Though they don't necessarily have their own back yard, city-dwellers often leave their apartments, taking walks, going to parks, and taking vacations to quiet, relaxing places.

My post-war, 1960s built-, but newly renovated apartment in Berlin was all I could've asked for to get out of the dorms. It was affordable and had a kitchen, which doesn't come standard in most apartments in Germany. And despite my loud, psycho neighbor, and some annoying problems with ants as well as pigeon poop on the balcony, it was a cozy, modern place to live. If I had more money, of course I would've preferred a more expensive pre-war building with its tall ceilings, long windows, and hardwood floors in a nicer neighborhood, but in the end, it's all just a "want", isn't it? :)

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In in update:

Our school concerts finished well on Wednesday, with the kids and teachers at our very last school the most energetic and excited to have us there. Though I am still battling this annoying cold, luckily the dizzy, feverish side has gone away. However, the dreaded annual cough has begun! I can play a little, but am being careful. The clarinetist of our quartet confirmed the dangers of playing oboe with a head cold when she told me about her oboe player friend who had to quit playing oboe permanently after her ear drum exploded and she lost a lot of her hearing. Scary!

This weekend the we're rehearsing and performing our Feb. family symphony concert. And, no, I didn't have an interview for that receptionist job. It was, in the end, what I thought - they wanted someone who could start immediately. Oh well!

Under the Weather

I knew it was too good to be true, avoiding sickness thus far during the course of winter. But, it caught up to me and here I sit, stuffed up and sniffly, achy, dizzy..and as of tonight, with a fever. I came down with this cold of sorts over the weekend. On Monday, luckily we only had 2 school concerts, both of which in the morning which meant I could drive home right afterwards and rest. Today we didn't have any concerts so I spent the day resting on the couch. But tomorrow we have 3 school concerts and I have a possible job interview after that. I just hope I can get through it all - not to mention play decently!

Actually, playing oboe with a head cold can sometimes be dangerous. Because the double reed we use is so small, the amount of air needed to play is limited. By the time we need to take a new breath, there is still air in our lungs, which makes it necessary to exhale the "old air" before taking in "new air". There is also an enormous amount of pressure and resistance in the head from the reed, especially when the reed is too hard (i.e. not enough cane scraped off it). Congestion that comes with a head cold puts added pressure on the ears which can lead to the ear drums bursting from the pressure and resistance of playing.

A risky matter, for sure, especially when one considers how unimportant playing for a couple days seems when considering the possibility of losing one's hearing forever! (Might be an exaggeration, but I don't want to find out personally!) Luckily on Monday I had a very light reed (not an optimal sound, but fine for a kid's concert), making for less resistance and therefore less pressure on my swollen ear drums. Besides a few playing examples to demonstrate our instruments and the characters for "Peter and the Wolf", we aren't doing all that much playing anyway. I can't call in sick now for the concerts tomorrow because there would be no time to replace me, so I am going to just hope for the best.

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The job placement agency has finally gotten back to me about the receptionist job from the last post. Apparently my representative at the agency has been unable to schedule an interview with that company for me thus far, but today she mentioned a different, this time full-time, receptionist job in a similar company. So as I mentioned, I may have that interview tomorrow, but I'm not counting on it. Chances are they are looking for someone who can start immediately and I won't be able to start regular hours until Feb. 26th, after I go to Chicago for the audition. But it seems like jobs open up regularly enough that I should be able to find something when I get back.
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Now I am going to gather my up my blanket and Kleenexes and take my throbbing head back to the couch to drink a tea before going to bed. I haven't bought any "sick teas" yet in America, though I always drank "bronchial-" or "cold tea" in Germany. Even if those specialty sick teas don't really work, they makes you feel like they do!

I can handle this...

The school concerts are going well. Since starting last Friday, we've had 3 concerts, i.e. 3 elementary schools, a day. We are hitting all the elementary schools in this city which equals about 22 schools. The concerts last about 45 minutes, but since they are spread out in the mornings and afternoons, there leaves much free time. And since all of us drive in from out of town (the 4 musicians and the personnel manager who introduces us and gives the kids free tickets for the up-coming children's concert with the symphony), we have been taking long, relaxing lunches followed by a long, relaxing coffee. We've all gotten to know each other better through lunching experiences at some of the slightly finer restaurants in the area, though I always try to choose the cheapest item which always ends up being soup. (I would like to have a little left over from the paycheck.)

It truly is a dream job, however short lived. Our last 3 concerts are next Wednesday. But today I had a couple of interesting leads for some potential regular work after this. At one of the schools today, the band director got my phone number so that his little beginner oboist could call me for lessons. I'd love to teach again; I taught around 8 students in my undergrad, but in this small community it takes a little longer to get your name out as opposed to a college professor re-directing young players to you. And when I got home this afternoon, there was a message from the job placement agency with news about a possible job for me as a receptionist in an insurance company, part-time. The agency is going to let me know if this job will be flexible with my coming Chicago trip and then I'd have to have an interview, so we'll see.

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This week during the bible study I attend semi-regularly, we talked about "expectations from life". The context was a successful college president who chose to resign in order to care for his wife, sick with alzheimer's disease. Instead of resenting the fact he was giving up his desires for a person who couldn't even fully appreciate his efforts, he felt joy in caring for someone he loved. We discussed how the expectations we have set for our lives can make us bitter when things don't go according to our plan.

I've been feeling a lot more content lately, as I briefly mentioned in my last post. When I first moved home, I was reluctant to commit myself to staying for any amount of time. I didn't want to get in too deeply, thus making it easier to settle and harder to ever leave again. But lately I've been less concerned about leaving and more relaxed about taking advantage of opportunities while I'm here. Maybe I'm just finally content to see the practicality of the situation and am finally okay with it. Or maybe it's just the wintery weather calming me into submission, because I know as soon as spring comes I'll feel antsy again to get back to the vibrancy of city life and to a variety of nature!