Remodeling in my mind...

I love my shower here in Leipzig. (If you'd like to read about my hotel, click here.) It's one of those big round ones that hangs directly above my head and gently rains the warm water down on me in a luxurious deluge. It's heaven, and I can't help but emit sighs of pleasure every time I get in there and re-experince the glory of that showerhead. I'm serious, I actually sigh. Why do I not have one of those in my bathroom in Philadelphia?? How expensive can they be? It's a plastic disc with holes punched in it!

It's much better than the shower I dealt with earlier this week in Berlin; that was a more typical European construction, with the vertically adjustable shower bar towards one end of the long wall of the tub. There was no shower curtain; just a fixed plexiglass shield that closed off about one third of the tub at the same end as the shower head. I've dealt with this kind of shower before, but I was out of practice. During my first shower, I got water ALL OVER the bathroom. I managed to douse the towels that were hanging on a rack on the other side of the bathroom, and also somehow knock over the fake plants that perched on the shelf above the sink. The tub mat was soaked to such a degree that I had to wring it out. I blame my clumsy showering technique on my jet-lag. I did much better on day two.

Still, I shouldn't complain. At least I had a tub in Berlin. When I was living in Paris, my little studio apartment on rue de la Roquette was charming, except that there was just a corner shower, with a floor that was about as big as the platter my mother serves the Thanksgiving turkey on. When I'd lift my arms to wash my hair, I'd often bang my elbows against the plastic doors. Good times.

Tubs are important, I find. I'm not a big bather, but it's nice to have the option; otherwise, I feel a little cheated. When I was asked to sing for a benefit concert in the English countryside, I was lodged at a beautiful manse owned by the the family who makes Dyson vacuum cleaners. I will never forget that tub. Hammered copper, HUGE, and so deep that the water came up to my chin as I was sitting normally. Bliss! There was no shower, though, so I'm sure I would have gotten sick of that, eventually.

OOOH! Maybe I could get a copper bathtub with a rain dome showerhead when I do my remodel! That might be damaging to my career, because I'd never want to leave my house...

Maybe it's best to keep it simple at home.

On a separate note:



I'm still trying to figure out why these strange cat-like scupltures are scattered all over Leipzig. I'll do some research and get back to you on it.

Ich liebe dich, Deutschland!

I have to admit--I haven't had the best attitude about this trip.

I am typically a very positive person, but the idea of spending my entire summer wandering around Germany on a tour of Porgy and Bess instead of lolling comfortably at home in Philadelphia made me a little sour. I kept saying to anyone who would listen, "Why won't they pay me to stay home??" Ha. Fat chance.

Maybe it's because Germany and I have had a rocky relationship in the past. I've visited many times--and I would say that I even have had fun. But, it was always a qualified fun; "This was a great time, considering." I've had my share of bad memories in this country:

In Dresden, I remember that people openly stared at me like I belonged in a zoo, and when I would smile at them, just to break the tension a little, they would just continue staring. To this day, I don't know if they were staring because of my height or my color. Maybe both! Frankfurt was weird, too. I once got off the train there alone, and an oily man followed me from the station for about 10 blocks, hanging back two steps behind me and occasionally trying to take my suitcase from me. What?

I should add also that for some reason, I have a strange mental block for the language. When I see words like "Bewerbungsunterlagen" or "Einzelzimmerzuschlag", it honestly makes me just want to run for the border. I don't have the attention span for 7-syllable words.

Despite all of my negative impressions and irrational fear of the language, I signed the contract anyway, and, it was time to shut up and go! One, because I am not in a position to turn down solid singing work, and two, because a part of me recognized that being in Germany for 6 weeks might actually (gasp!) help my German language skills.

I still managed to spend most of May and June pouting about missing going to the Jersey shore (I think last year I made it down once), and my weekly (or bi-weekly) visits to Capogiro. I whined about missing all the cookouts and general laziness by Mom's pool; I worried about having trouble finding places in Germany to get my cinema fix in the original language.

I feel a little foolish admitting it now, but I've been here 3 days and so far I'm having a blast. I arrived in Berlin on Tuesday and fell in love! I will post pictures as soon as I figure out how. What a cool city! I spent most of Wednesday walking around, soaking up the energy. (I also had a date, but we will save that bit for another post...) Berlin has a very cosmopolitan, open feeling. My date told me that of all the cities in the world, Berlin has the most nationalities represented in its residents--even more than NYC. Anyway, I felt good there. I went to the Alexanderplatz and saw a public exposition on the history of Berlin. I ate bratwust und brotchen. I drank weissweinschorle (white wine spritzer). I smiled at people and they smiled back. In general, the people in Berlin were very nice; a very sweet hooker on Orienburgerstrasse even tried to chat me up last night! I didn't know whether to be flattered or insulted; either way, though, it was nice to be noticed. :) I'm glad that the tour is going back there in a few weeks, because I definitely haven't gotten my fill of Berlin yet...

So, I'm writing to report that I officially have a new attitude. I am ready to enjoy Germany. Today, as a symbol of my commitment, I bought a pocket-sized German-English dictionary, and I started two conversations with strangers. In German. Yes, really! I'm proud.

I arrived in Leipzig today. We begin rehearsals tomorrow. I can't say that I've seen much yet here, but I have more than a week here to discover the city, so I'm sure to have something interesting to say about Leipzig soon. Stay tuned!