I am in America, waiting to eat a slice of my dad's deeelicious blueberry pie!
I came back to Ohio for a week to visit my family in Mecca and Stephanie and Karen in Columbus, and I've been having a good time in this strange culture (I know I make that joke every time I come back to America, but it is just So Funny. AND I really don't know where else you could catch a ballroom dance competition on TV where the couple is dressed and dance like robots!! Salsa dancing robots!). Steph and I spent a whole day bumming around town, seeing how much the Short North is somehow becoming crazy expensive and less gay. (sigh) Then, I went out for sushi with my brother, Elaina, and the aforementioned friends, and it was absolutely fantastic to joke around in English for an evening with a whole table of people that I love and haven't seen in a long time.
Life at my parents' has been über-relaxing. We're all watching Stargate right now. Other than that, my mom and I have been plying our needles! She made the cutest Pooh Bear pillow for my cousin Shan's new daughter, and I have started knee socks (with the yarn you gave me, Karen!).
Pictures of the knitting projects coming soon...
Kudos to Stephanie Lynch's blog. Oy, so witty.
Next time, I will tell the tale of the Nürnberg dance rehearsals... I think I will only be speaking German with the choreographer. Will that cause any funny situations, I wonder?
Friday, February 22, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Pittsburgh in Cologne
Check out this cute explanation of Cologne carnival from the point of view of the Pittsburgh Symphony!
Sun! Gorgeous Sun!
The last few days in Koeln have been fabulously sunny and even a little warm. It is amazing that you can feel the happiness in the air. People smile at each other (or I imagine them smiling-- I have an active imagination). It has been simply delightful to ride my bike around town.
To catch you up on the end of the Krazy Karneval, we went to the "Umzug" (Parade) last Monday, but the weather was AWFUL! It rained almost the whole time, so Jeremy and I kept ducking into the cafe nearby to warm up and stay out of the blasted rain. The floats are all pretty similar (and the whole thing lasted 5 HOURS)-- lots of giant paper-mache (too lazy to look up the proper spelling) giant people doing German things, marching bands, and some people riding horses. On most of the floats, they throw candy, and one is supposed to yell "Karmelle!!!" to get them to throw candy to you. Some enterprising people hang out of their windows with upside-down umbrellas on strings to catch the candy. They also throw flowers, but if you get one, you should give or blow the person a kiss. We actually didn't go to the burning of the scarecrows because it was at 11pm (I had German class the next day-- NERD!), and we were kind of over the whole Karneval thing by then.
I just found out that I will be dancing in a baroque ballet pantomime in Nürnberg next month! Yipee for work! It's with a choreographer I have never met, but I was recommended for the gig by the choreographer I worked with in Italy last year. Thank heavens the baroque world is so small.
To catch you up on the end of the Krazy Karneval, we went to the "Umzug" (Parade) last Monday, but the weather was AWFUL! It rained almost the whole time, so Jeremy and I kept ducking into the cafe nearby to warm up and stay out of the blasted rain. The floats are all pretty similar (and the whole thing lasted 5 HOURS)-- lots of giant paper-mache (too lazy to look up the proper spelling) giant people doing German things, marching bands, and some people riding horses. On most of the floats, they throw candy, and one is supposed to yell "Karmelle!!!" to get them to throw candy to you. Some enterprising people hang out of their windows with upside-down umbrellas on strings to catch the candy. They also throw flowers, but if you get one, you should give or blow the person a kiss. We actually didn't go to the burning of the scarecrows because it was at 11pm (I had German class the next day-- NERD!), and we were kind of over the whole Karneval thing by then.
I just found out that I will be dancing in a baroque ballet pantomime in Nürnberg next month! Yipee for work! It's with a choreographer I have never met, but I was recommended for the gig by the choreographer I worked with in Italy last year. Thank heavens the baroque world is so small.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Alaaf Riot
Happy Karneval everybody! Swig those koelsches and burn those scarecrows!
But first, a pic from the Robert Burns night. This was a slightly more refined get-together (what with the poetry and all), even if it was rather soaked in scotch.
Alistair addressing the haggis
Now Karneval!
On the first day, Wieberfastnacht (something about girls' night-- I'm serious), we went out in the afternoon suitably attired and walked around our neighborhood to see everyone's costumes. My favorite was a girl dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood (Rotkaeppchen). There were tons of sailors and pirates, Native Americans, 70s guys by way of Wes Anderson, and a surprisingly large amount of people dressed like plants. Then, we met up with Jer's friend Axel from the lab at a local watering-hole-turned-disco. When I say "met up" I mean "waited outside for an hour to get into the place in the cold because it was completely packed". While we waited, we were entertained by a Baroque Buffoon Band.
Inside the disco, it was 500 degrees (Celsius), but we had lots of fun dancing around and pretending to sing the Koelsch songs.
The next day, a joke presented itself:
So, a Caveman, a Mexican, a Geisha, and a Cowgirl walk into bar...
A Sushi bar!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
On Saturday and Sunday we decided to lay low.
Tomorrow we are going to the big parade, and on Tuesday they burn the scarecrows. You know, the kind of scarecrows that collect all the bad things you did on Karneval. When you burn them, your soul is fresh and clean for Lent.
But first, a pic from the Robert Burns night. This was a slightly more refined get-together (what with the poetry and all), even if it was rather soaked in scotch.
Alistair addressing the haggis
Now Karneval!
On the first day, Wieberfastnacht (something about girls' night-- I'm serious), we went out in the afternoon suitably attired and walked around our neighborhood to see everyone's costumes. My favorite was a girl dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood (Rotkaeppchen). There were tons of sailors and pirates, Native Americans, 70s guys by way of Wes Anderson, and a surprisingly large amount of people dressed like plants. Then, we met up with Jer's friend Axel from the lab at a local watering-hole-turned-disco. When I say "met up" I mean "waited outside for an hour to get into the place in the cold because it was completely packed". While we waited, we were entertained by a Baroque Buffoon Band.
Inside the disco, it was 500 degrees (Celsius), but we had lots of fun dancing around and pretending to sing the Koelsch songs.
The next day, a joke presented itself:
So, a Caveman, a Mexican, a Geisha, and a Cowgirl walk into bar...
A Sushi bar!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
On Saturday and Sunday we decided to lay low.
Tomorrow we are going to the big parade, and on Tuesday they burn the scarecrows. You know, the kind of scarecrows that collect all the bad things you did on Karneval. When you burn them, your soul is fresh and clean for Lent.
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