The Christmas atmosphere isn't hurting anything--all the lights and music are pretty great. A couple days ago was St. Nikolaus Tag, the day when German Santa Claus comes. Apparently Nick didn't know about my American passport, because I got a clementine and some chocolate out of his holiday. Today there was a Christmas concert at my school that featured the choir and several solo musicians. The choir was...not the best ever. But I liked it. For one, they sang "Maria durch ein Dornwald ging," which is definitely up there on my list of favorite German Christmas carols.* But mostly, I liked it because it was genuine. There's something nice about people singing who are really only mediocre at singing. This only applies in certain contexts, however. You are not allowed to sing loudly and badly while drunk and standing on a table at a party. You are also not allowed to sing badly if I paid money to hear you sing well. Since the only money I paid here was for my cup o' Glühwein, a few flat notes were no problem.
Speaking of which: the Glühwein I had was great! This is puzzling. I now have had two Glühwein experiences, one of which (in Heidelberg) was terrible, and the other of which was quite the opposite. Fortunately, I have a strong suspicion the next month will include several more opportunities for Glühwein experimentation and conclusion-forming.
Back to the concert (and another reason I'm happy): I guess I'm starting to feel more like I fit in here. I never exactly felt out-of-place, but now I feel comfortable with all the other English teachers (I was kinda unsure about a couple at first--they seemed a little moody) and enjoy talking to them during breaks. I love it when the students greet me in the hallway, or wave if they see me on the street. Today, after the concert, I congratulated one of my students on the piece he played, and he introduced me to his mom. What was extra nice--he introduced me as "Justine," not "our English teaching assistant," or "this girl who helps Frau Redlich teach us." Justine means she'd already heard of me. And Justine is personal. I'm super glad they don't call me Frau Greve. It's bad enough seeing that on letters from the bank.**
So, partially because of the students and the teachers, I'm really starting to love my job! Seriously, I can't imagine a better gig (that I could realistically get right now, at least). Some of my classes are really enjoyable to be in. It's great when the students get excited--when they ask questions and when they're proud to show me what they've written. Today, I even saw smiles from every memeber of the 11/1 class (normally one big blank stare). Not that I had anything to do with that. They were writing an additional cat-fight scene for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which anyone with a little creativity or interest in English insults could have a great time with. Another recent success was yesterday's 9th grade lesson on Irish Dancing. When I first announced the topic, I got several groans. The class seemed to enjoy the Lord of the Dance video clips, though, and were surprisingly cooperative when I took them to the lunchroom/small auditorium/hall to teach them some Irish dancing. My hopes for what they could learn in an hour were a little (or a lot) high, so they never actually did an entire real dance, but they got an idea of the basics. Even the boys participated--most of them willingly!--and seemed to have a good time! Watching them try it out absolutely made my day.
The other great thing about this job is all the possible travel time! When else in my life am I going to have these amazing long breaks and the expendable income to travel with? Probably never. Really makes me want to apply again for next year. The grad. school apps. are already in the cyber-mail, though, and I guess I AM excited about that, too.
It occurred to me today when I was filling out the Baker Alumni survey that my "yearly income" is 8000 Euros ($11,888). This is slightly below the single-person poverty line in Germany and slightly above it in America. I certainly don't feel impoverished, though. I pay for rent and food, but that's basically all. Don't need a car, my job includes insurance, and don't have to pay German taxes (though I guess I'll have to figure out how much I owe the IRS). How good can it get?!
Well, I guess you can add to that being part of a German orchestra. I played in the Christmas concert with the choir from Demmin yesterday. The concert was good and our piece went well. The conductor had to slow it down so the words would come across clearly in the huge stone church, which meant that I could actually kind of play the 16th-note-full last movement. So that was great! Downside: the church was freezing. I knew when I got there and was cold even while sitting within 5 feet of the heater (which they turned off during the actual concert) that my two pairs of socks and two sweaters would not prove sufficient.*** Oh well. I had tea when I got home, and my toes eventually thawed. Demmin's a good 45 minutes away from Greifswald, so I rode there with some of the other violinists. It was nice being with friendly people, speaking German, feeling like I was part of the conversation.
One part of the conversation I found pretty interesting relates back to the topic of money. They were discussing the proposal that members of the orchestra pay a small participation fee to finance the cost of music, soloists, etc. It seems that the general attitude is against this. One of the people I was with was very against it. She felt like we were doing the university a favor, and that if they wanted an orchestra, they should pay for it. I don't want to make too many broad America/Germany generalizations, but I think this kind of represents the different ways we have of looking at government responsibility. I've paid a fee for almost every orchestra I've played in, and I've never really heard people complain about that. Granted, I didn't have to pay (instead got paid) to play at Baker, so maybe she has a point about the university thing. But the other thing is: German universities are state-funded to an even greater extent than state universities in America are state-funded. The money is coming from taxes and I'm sure it's spread pretty thin. Also, a good half of the people in the Greifswald Uni orchestra aren't even university students. They play because they enjoy playing. Maybe it wouldn't be so terrible to make a small contribution to allow the university to spend its money on places where it would benefit more actual students.
Speaking of conversations auf Deutsch: I went to a German party on Saturday night with a girl from my Scottish Dance class. Actually, you could hardly call it a German party, as the vast majority of the people there were international students. The lingua franca, though, was German, so it was good for me. I talked to an accordion-playing Czech guy for a long time and met a (probably the only) German fan of John McCain.
With all the Christmas music I've heard lately, I've been thinking about (/missing) Baker Vespers. The Demmin concert included "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day," which I love. I was trying to find some of the best Vespers songs**** on YouTube today and was having terrible luck. The Baker choir should seriously post videos, because they're better than anything else on there. Wrong tempos and poor interpretations all over the place. But I guess I have the Baker versions in my ear, so I'm a little biased.
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*"Mary walked through a thorn forest" (If you can tell me where in the Bible it mentions this event, I'd be quite interested to know. Maybe it's metaphorical. Song's pretty, though.). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5T1BN3IQRg
**Because they got my name from my passport, everything I get is addressed to "Frau Justine Marie Greve." The formality is intense.
***Wanna switch climates, Blake?
****"Personet Hodie" and "O Magnum Mysterium" in particular
I always love reading these Justine. :) It's like having you here, even though you are very far away.
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