We know how to do it

The Neuer Kammerchor of Schiller-Gymnasium, directed by Rotarian Thomas Kammel, has been one of the great joys of my exchange. The niveau of singing is very high and the dedication of the 60+ singers admirable. I feel so privileged to be able to sing in the group. 
Since my arrival in Germany, the choir has attended an international competition in Krakau (winning several second-place awards), sung the European premiere of Martin Palmeri's Oratorio de Navidad, given multiple concerts, filmed a television segement, and, of course, practiced every Saturday morning for three hours or more. 
Perhaps the greatest undertaking of the choir this year occurred two weekends ago, when the Neuer Kammerchor performed a benefit concert--titled 'Night Fever'--for German Rotary Volunteer Doctors, a national organization which raises money for various projects around the world. GRVD has set up and improved hospitals in Ghana and Nepal, among other places, and sent Rotarians with medical degrees to treat and train people in these countries. Our choir sang with a jazz accompaniment group and as backup for several soloists, as well as performing many pieces from our own repertoire. The preparation naturally required many hours of practice time, as well as setup, The songs ranged from Adele’s ‘Rolling in the Deep’ to Michael Jackson’s ‘The Way You Make Me Feel;’ from ‘Dry Your Tears, Africa’ from the film Amistad, to Eternal’s ‘I Wanna Be The Only One.’ We performed in four different costumes (including the blue evening gowns acquired for all the females this year) and also incorporated choreography. Professional lighting from a company that had toured internationally with well-known German band Silbermond made us look like rockstars, as did the smoke machine and the applauding audience of over 1100 people.

  

It was an experience I’ll never forget; singing, dancing and performing are some of my greatest joys. What made the evening even more special was the fact that we raised more than 28,000 euros for GRVD, which is 15% of the organization's annual goal. Singing with the third best youth choir in Germany which included many of my friends and my host sister, and raising money for Rotary at the same time, felt like a culmination of my exchange. It was truly a marvelous night.  
To read more about German Rotary Volunteer Doctors, click here.
To see lots more photos from the evening, click here, to hear us sing click here, or to read more about the choir visit the website. 

Marching on

On the first day of March I put on a heavy jacket and headed to the train station. I took the train to the bus station, where I then took a bus to the house of a Rotarian, and was then picked up in a BMW to head into the mountains.
This web of transportation was my way to our Rotary ski weekend, which took place in Oberstdorf, a village in the German Allgäu mountains. This ski area, where Lindsey Vonn began her training, is about five kilometers from Austria and was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The crisp blue skies, 7°C air, soft snow and brilliant sun promised an unforgettable ski vacation, and as the gondola rose higher our excitement went with it.

We were not disappointed. For my friends from Australia, Colombia and Argentina, snow and skiing were a completely new experience; for me, skiing in these mountains was a dream come true. 

The weather was warm and pleasant, the snow like divine ice-cream under our skis. 

We kept up our strength with hot chocolate...

...German käsespätzle...  

and Austrian Kaiserschmarren.  

The sunset on Saturday night was a stunning whirl of golds and greys and whites, reflecting off the pristine snow.

But what I liked even better was Sunday morning; a wall of mist below us, the sun rising above, and the sky a perfect shade of blue. 

Standing at the head of a ski trail with the sun shining on my face and my country spread out below me, I felt like I was on top of the world. 

Current Event März

It seems crazy to think that one year ago, I was sitting in my house in the US, looking forward to going to Germany and scouring the Internet to find an event worth writing about in my 'blog' which was basically a series of news articles.
A year has not only gone by for me, but for Joachim Gauck, Germany's president who took office last March. Examining Gauck's progress so far, he seems to be using his limited power as president to its full advantage. In a recent speech Gauck discussed frankly his views on the eurozone debt crisis, globalization and its consequences, and the European identity. While acknowledging the issues and doubts brought on by the crisis, Gauck called for European unity and a 'renaissance of European values.' Gauck's past as a pastor has also instilled in him a respect for the people; he frequently interacts with them both in speeches and in other functions, inviting many citizens to events such as the reception in Bellevue Palace.
Gauck is savvy with the press, shying away from blanket statements on controversial issues, but nonetheless unafraid to demand better explanations or more work in a particular problem.
According to recent surveys, three out of four people are currently satisfied with Gauck's work, with only 10 percent being specifically critical of Germany's president. Gauck's efforts have been solid and consistent, a sturdy, if not entirely extraordinary, rock in Germany's government and policies.
 http://www.dw.de/how-has-germanys-president-fared-one-year-in/a-16678907

Current Event Februar

Food scandals in Europe have been plentiful this past month, with the latest receiving a lot of press and involving horse meat that has made its way into German kitchens, not to mention the food court at IKEA. At the moment, the EU is not aware of the perpetrators of the scandal, but is leading an investigation and in discussions regarding the regulations of mass meat production.
Some experts have remarked on the discrepancies and un-clearness of food labelling in Germany, while others are more interested in the motivation behind the mixing or substituting of meat. The addition or mixing of horse meat to beef cuts costs perceptibly. Another issue surrounding the scandal is the fact that the meat has not been traced to a region of Europe. Some are hoping the meat is from the East because horses there are possibly being raised for meat, whereas in Western Europe the probability of meat coming from domestic riding horses means an increase in the probability that the horses have been treated with drugs not intended to be present in meat for human consumption.
The disgust and outrage at the horse meat scandal stems not only from the fraud and potential health concerns, but also from the simple truth that most Europeans do not view horse meat as fit for human consumption, as horses are primarily kept as domestic pleasure or work creatures in Europe.
Luckily for small and medium sized butchers, the scandal has generally caused fury at larger meat supply companies, and in some cases means that neighborhood butchers are actually seeing an increase in business.

http://www.dw.de/european-horse-meat-scandal-gallops-on/a-16595118

Swiss Miss

I've mentioned before the delightful German tradition of having a school vacation every six weeks. Fasching, the German carnival celebration in February, is a perfect excuse to have this vacation. The long celebrations require a refueling week simply to rest. I was lucky to spend an evening at a Fasching party with my fellow exchange students from Colombia, Argentina, and Australia.

(dressing up is a requirement for Fasching, hence the floor-length velvet gown I am wearing in this photo)

However, my host family had other plans for the Fasching vacation. Bright and early Saturday morning, we loaded up the Volvo with backpacks of warm clothes, baskets of equipment to make Swiss raclette, and lots of good books; we were headed to Switzerland for a week of skiing. 

I've skied on the East coast of the US, and Maine winters are famed for being icy, snowy and sometimes even beautiful, but I was in no way prepared for the majesty and sheer size of the gorgeous Swiss Alps. After three hours in the car (which included vacation traffic and a brief detour through Austria), we were suddenly surrounded by mountains whose snowy tips seemed to scrape the pristine sky. 

I took the above photos from the car. The car.

The village/ski area we were headed to, Braunwald, was not immediately apparent as we pulled into the parking lot. In fact, until I was told to put on hiking boots, surrender my luggage to a helpful Swiss person, and given a ticket, I was not aware that the last leg of our journey would be via mountain train. 

We crawled up the mountain at a very steep degree, at one point traveling through a section of rock. When we emerged, we were halfway up a mountain, in the charming, car-free village of Braunwald. Since I had taken pictures from the car, a fog had descended, wrapping us in a cocoon of fog like frozen cream. Everything was white, and I had to put on sunglasses despite the lack of sun as we walked with backpacks up to our home-away-from-home, the Chalet Bätschli. 

The chilly house had not been opened in a while, so after walking, unpacking and a bit of exploring on my part, we sat down to a hearty meal of raclette. This Swiss staple is well-known in the country, but I had never tried it before. Each person is given boiled potatoes, and then the communal skillet in the middle of the table is used to melt cheese, which is then combined with the potatoes and eaten with relish (by which I mean happiness, not chopped pickles). This food really sticks to your ribs; delicious and heavy, it fills you up and, admittedly, weighs you down a little. The odor of melting raclette cheese and the heat from the raclette pan seeped into the house, making it feel really Swiss, and much, much warmer. 

 

After such an excellent meal, we fell into our beds accompanied by hot water bottles. However, when I woke the next morning and drew back the curtains, it was like a different world. 

This breathtaking view, combined with a breakfast of fresh bread, green tea and Nutella, assured me that our vacation was off to a great start. And truly, it only got better from there. Days blurred into each other, as we read books on the foggy days, skied on the sunny days, admired the views, cooked, slept and relaxed. 

We were able to ride the gondola up to the ski area, which, in typical European fashion, was home to at least 5 cafes. 

Sledding was also a highlight of the week; as the village is car-free most people carry sleds with them, riding the gondola up the mountain until they can sled home again. 

We skied, of course, above and below the treeline. I'm always thrilled with the speed and grace of skiing, but it feels even more like flying when one looks down into the valleys below, around at the mountains that seem very close, and up at the very, very blue sky. 

The exhilaration of skiing and sledding in this stunning environment (which with wooden sleds is quite different from your average after-school sledding) was only perhaps matched by the luxury of sleeping in, being greeted in the mornings by birds at the birdhouse, stunning views, cups of tea, postcards, and reading a book in German and understanding it, too! 

One snowy afternoon, we made a trek among the chalets, discovering a cafe with serious claims to fame: a home to Bela Bartók for a summer, and a fresh-made apple strudel. Add some snow, cheery little Swiss horses, and of course the adorable village, and my vacation was complete. 

There was, of course, much more to this vacation than these snapshots you see, but one can only see so many Swiss vistas (Swisstas?) before you'll all be getting on a plane and heading there yourself. It was marvelous to spend this week with my host family among the snowy mountains. 

Very fast cars

On the 26. January, Rotex once again invited the district exchange students on an outing to experience some more German culture and history. This time, our destination was the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart.
From the time I learned I was going to Germany, many people automatically associated the country with cars; cars that were fast, innovative, and (for lack of a better word) cool. It seemed fitting that on this bitter January day, we head into an immaculate German museum to see some really fast cars.

Unleashing exchange students, all armed with cameras, onto a museum full of cars obviously meant that we spent most of our time taking photos of every single car, and photos of ourselves with every single car. 

Not only does Porsche make cars, they also design other items, such as vases...

..BlackBerrys...

...and airplane waiting seats.

We were allowed to sit in a Porsche (but not drive it, don't worry!) 

My buddy California and I were enchanted by the America Roadster. 

And I also liked the firetruck.