Auslander Party Time!

My German class is over! We had a little party on the last day with food from everyone's country (I made Guacamole-- close enough, right?). My teacher (she's in the middle, next to me) asked me to show a dance, and because I am a masochist, I decided to try to teach an 18th c. contredanse. I though it would be good practice for me because I have to teach some German schoolchildren when I go up to Göttingen for the opera in April, but adults are SO MUCH HARDER to teach than children. The actual teaching in German was not quite as flustering as I thought, but, to be safe, for the schoolchildren I am going to write the whole thing out and memorize it like a play. I want to be über-prepared. I also want to try to fit the prefix "über" into as many blog entries as possible.

In case you were wondering what the scary no-doors elevator looked like, here it is! I admit that I did ride it 3 times when I was feeling lazy. Fun Fact: It takes exactly the same amount of time to ride up two floors in the crazy elevator as it takes to climb the stairs.




I am in the middle of writing applications for choreography residences and group shows right now. It is kind of a mind-numbing process to try to convince people that what you do is important and exciting. Sample imaginary one-sided conversation with a dance presenting organization: "What do you mean you've never heard of baroque dance?" "All the cool kids are doing it." "Of course it is still relevant today!" "It's very sexy, ok?" "And also exciting." "Terribly exciting, if I show you one of my dances you just may faint." "Look, you might like it if you try it!" "Just try it!" "Please?"

More Hymenopteran Lovin'

So, on Saturday morning after I put up the Nasonia movie, I went out to water our plants, and walked on on these guys frolicking among the marjoram. It seemed like a big enough coincidence to warrant making a video and posting it here. Don't worry, I am not trying to turn this into an insect mating blog.

Loud Americans

I have been harboring the suspicion for some time that Jeremy and I are the loudest people in the building. Whenever the Germans we know start complaining about people not respecting the Sunday Quiet Rules or etc, I mentally shrug my shoulders and think, "I never hear anyone."

I met my downstairs neighbor this afternoon on the stairs-- she's a really nice woman who is German, but grew up in Argentina. We exchanged pleasantries about how it's weird we don't see each other for months even though we live in the same building, etc. etc. Then she said, "I hear you all the time, though." I made a slightly embarrassed face. "Oh, it doesn't bother me. I always hear you laughing. It's so nice."

Are you kidding me?? I hardly ever hear a peep out of anyone in this crazy building, and the woman directly below me can hear me laughing?? So it is confirmed. We are the loudest people in the building, if not the whole block. It kinda makes me feel like a silly stereotype of an Italian couple, always screaming and singing and, of course, laughing.

But then, it might not be a German/American thing. It might just be because Jeremy is so awfully funny.

Ahhh, youtube. What would we do without you

Ok, there are a lot of things to hate about youtube. For example, the comment sections on certain types of videos, which can empty one's soul and leave one with no hope for the future of mankind, or the way it forces one to spend hour upon hour searching for music videos and TV clips from the 90's in a futile attempt to regain one's faded youth and idealism.

On the other hand, there are some things that can brighten a dreary day, like the above. The animal in this video is my beloved Nasonia, making sweet love. Now, I basically see this every day so you might think I would be a bit jaded. I guess what makes this video for me is the cheesy music, and the drama at the end (don't worry guy, you made all the right moves, she just wasn't into you. You'll have your chance). And the Dutch! I defy anyone to listen to spoken Dutch for more than 30 seconds without at least cracking a smile.

Dance Update

Warning! This entry is about dancing and dance-related issues, and some people may find that incredibly boring.

I leave in a few hours to go down to Triesdorf (huh? where?) again for the exciting conclusion of the turban/sword/farm girl/set moving extravaganza. I hope we have an audience!! It's hard for me to believe that people will come to a baroque pantomime in a theater in a tiny village whose main claim to fame is the agricultural college, but the show is part of the International Gluck Festival of Nuremburg, and the promoters are offering a shuttle bus from the big, important theater in Nuremburg to our more rustic digs. At any rate, I am thrilled beyond belief to be participating in this show because I think the work is good, AND it means maybe I can work more with the Euro-baroque crowd.

In other dance news, I have been invited to take company class at the city-funded dance company here, Pretty Ugly Tanz Köln! The company does modern dance, but the class is strictly ballet. The people in the company are pretty friendly (at least the girls are-- oddly enough, the guys are more aloof. Yay Girl Power! Even in the dance world where there are 50 women to one man!), and the classes are challenging. The class meets every day in the morning, but I have still been taking my crazy Cecchetti class some evenings. This means that on Monday and Thursday I take two ballet classes in one day. It also means that if I go to every class, I would be taking 8 classes a week. Big deal, you may be saying. Well, I haven't really danced this much since college, and, ummm, I am a bit older. I've been taking lots of baths and magnesium vitamins, etc. The really incredibly fabulous thing is that I can feel my technique improving, and my body is quicker to do what I want it to do. It is an exhilarating feeling, probably caused by endorphin release into the nervous system, which means I am like a drug addict. More, more!

Domestic Biss

That isn't a typo-- Biss means bite! Chomp Chomp. Puns that I make are not really funny. Sorry.

Jeremy and I spent the weekend gardening and cooking-- Germany is indeed the place for non-stop excitement. We are waiting for Spring when we can sit out on our balcony or have picnics or go on a bike ride to Bonn... But at least we didn't have 20 inches of snow like in Columbus!!

Our garden is looking pretty super, now!
Here you can see my attempt to train the ivy to grow up the wall and hide its infernal ugliness. Scotch tape is the preferred method, right? Up above you can see our hanging basket of strawberry goodness. The tomato and zucchini plants are still inside so that they can grow big and strong.





If anyone is interested in German cookery, I could translate the recipe for "Königsberger Klopse" (i.e. meatballs) for you. The sauce was yummy...
Take a look and let me know.

Meathands!

















I have been struggling to read Orlando Furioso-- you, know the Italian 16th century fave about the time of Charlemagne. When the pagans and Christians are not hacking each other to death-- some one is always splitting someone else down to the belly, slashing through the armour like butter and such, making the Seine red with blood-- some poor virgin's clothes have come off because of a sea monster or a magician. All this might sound fab, but there are about 10 different threads to the story and 570 pages of Teeny Tiny Type. My all time favorite bit so far is about some Amazon Island that our gallant knights were shipwrecked upon-- in order to not be killed or enslaved, one knight would have to best 10 men and then please 10 women in bed. In the same day. Of course, among the shipwrecked knights, the one woman (she is ferocious with the lance) drew the straw to fight for her comrades' freedom. About 18 different double entendres followed about being 'unable to perform in the second joust'. She triumphed, but not in that way...

somehow getting the news

It is impossible to overstate the wonderfulness of my German class. Yesterday I bought a newspaper! And read some of it! Here is yesterday's leading headline for the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger:

"Clinton: Obama kann Vize sein: US-Politikerin siegt in Vorwahlen von Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island"

That says: Obama can be the Vice-President-- US-Woman Politician triumphs in Primaries in....

Whoa. So I learned very surreally what had happened in that last primary. They even mentioned how many delegates each candidate has now! And that Mike Huckabee has stepped down (Rückzug).


I have also been listening to the radio a lot. Today I heard about whether German women normally shave their armpits (Achselhaare-- I had to look that crazy word up) among other fascinating topics. (And I know what all you Americans are thinking-- especially my parents) My favorite radio program is, naturally, the one for children where one can hear hilarious things like a song in English detailing the biography of James Brown.

Spring is Slowly Sprung

Hi folks!

Jeremy is out working in our mini balcony garden this very second. He faithfully read the 'Container Gardening for Dummies' that Kathy sent us, and hurtled himself into horticulture armed with his new knowledge. This year we are growing blueberries!! The book says that they adapt well to containers, and we even have the right kind of soil and everything. We're going to try to make the ivy grow up our ugly wall, and to grow zucchini (try, try again) that look like 8-balls.

The work in progress (blueberry view):




Here, as promised, are pictures of my newest and most fabulous knitting creation:

Oooh, raglan sleeves!

I have just realized that everything that I have made/bought in the last six months has been some combination of blue and green, and unfortunately none of these items can be worn together because the colors are so close that they clash. Duh.





The rehearsals in Triesdorf (the tiny village, "Dorf", near Nuremburg) went exceedingly well. I was able to communicate pretty well in German, and I understood probably 80% of what the choreographer said to me! Super progress. It was quite fun to be "forced" to speak German-- it really helps! As for the dancing itself, I had a blast. I just adore dancing in ballet-panomimes-- we are doing "Don Juan" and "Semiramis", both with music by Gluck. In "Don Juan" I play an innocent farm girl that Don Juan promises to marry (lots of google eyes are involved). The plot of "Semiramis" is some unholy baroque combination of Hamlet and Oedipus-- the queen (maybe) has killed her husband and then unknowingly falls in love with her son, he then kills her (also unknowingly) while he was trying to slay the ghost of the king. All in 20 minutes. I play an vaguely oriental (ie, I wear a turban!) suitor who tries to win the queen's affections with dancing (men come from far-flung lands to become the new king-- this is where she falls in love with her son). But the important thing here is I get to do manly baroque steps and brandish a sword!

Whew. That was hard to explain.