Bridget Jones's Pi-ary
Treats for Schütz people: €7
More stuff for Pumpkin Pie: €3
Income from Library: €50
Playing the organ on a sprained ankle: Painful
Normal day.....we played a ridiculous board game in German class....it was to practice the subjunctive, but it was a bit strange...I won't get into it....sufficed to say the best answer I cam up with was to the question "Was würdest du machen, wenn du die Königin von deinem Land wärst?" (what would you do if you were the queen of your country?)...my answer was: "Das ist sehr leicht, weil ich bin schon die grosste Königin meines Landes" (That's very easy, because I'm already my country's biggest queen!) It's too bad Birgit wasn't there when I came up with THAT little gem.....(Mike wasn't there....he slept in! For the first time I was on time and he wasn't there! It was like the Twilight Zone or something.....)
I went to the Billa quickly and got goodies for the Schütz people...water, oranges, and Ritter Sport. It's funny how shopkeepers here warm up to you after seeing you a few times....maybe the first time they just think you're a stupid American, but when you come back (especially every week at a similar time, as is the case with this Billa in the 1st district) they figure you're staying here and probably are worth a smile or other small nicety. It's weird.
We talked about Beethoven's 5th in class....or actually really just the 1st movement, which is par for the course for Solvik so far.....but it was fun because I know so much about the 5th, so I really owned the discussion today!
A short while after class we had Schütz rehearsal (once again sans Dave...who told me yesterday that he couldn't make it because his plane to Amsterdam out of Bratislava leaves at 5:00 and not 7:45....) which went pretty well.....the piece is finally coming together, and now only the connections between movements and a few interpretation issues remain to be worked out. It's always fun to conduct, especially a small group of great musicians like them, but I'm always so gosh darn tired afterwards....Mike complemented me today about my rehearsal technique, which meant a lot coming from him.
After the rehearsal I headed down to see Dr. Schier, who was nice enough to belatedly refund me €100 of lesson expenses....(I lost my sheet somewhere, probably at Marianum, so I just had Michelle sign off for two lessons when I saw her yesterday) After that I headed to the goumet Spar to buy cinnamon: Zimt, auf Deutsch.....I was only able to figure it out by reading the history of the origin of cinnamon on the side of one of the bottles....having remembered that it came from China, I decided that this brown powder had to be cinnamon. Thank goodness I was right....there were certainly a lot of other brown powders with strange German names which I would not wanted to have accidentally purchased to put in pumpkin pie! I then ran back home to get my organ stuff and headed to Marianum.
I realized that today was going to be my last organ lesson because I have important things scheduled for almost every Monday and Thursday evening that remain me here in Vienna! It particularly irked me, therefore, that I was running a bit late. To top it all off, while I was on the U2 to Schottentor, I remembered that I had failed purchase whipped cream for the pumpkin pie, so I left the Schottentor terminal to try and find a grocery store in the vicinity. Spotting a[nother] Gourmet Spar down the block, I hastened my way towards it. It turned out to be tiny tiny tiny, so finding the whipped cream (Schlagobers) proved difficult. I finally did find it, bought it and started running back to Schottentor. And here's where the story gets interesting:
I'm running towards the Straßenbahn at a full clip, and to do so I was running in the bus lane of the side street I was on because the sidewalk was so crowded. Somehow my foot lands in a pothole, I fall flat in my face (actually, on my left hand and right knee) and twist my right ankle something fierce. Two people immediately stopped and helped me up, and after getting my bearings a bit I started walking towards the Straßenbahn again, albeit decidedly slower. Soon I realized that my ankle hurt like a bitch, but after ascertaining that it wasn't broken I continued. Sure enough I sort of "walked it off," but it still hurt and I couldn't bend it, so walking was a slow and painful process.
I finally got to Marianum 10 minutes late, but Gottfried was rather understanding when he saw me hobbling towards the chapel. He was a bit taken aback, I think, when I told him that today would have to be our last lesson, but I can't tell....he's sort of deadpan in a very Austrian way. The lesson was really good, and when he firmly shook my hand good-bye (as he always does, even to his young students) and expressed his gratitude at the opportunity to work with me, I was definitely getting a bit teary-eyed. I realized during the lesson that this was going to be the first thing that I would have to say good-bye to, and it was hard. Just as hard was 30 minutes later, when I had to say 'Leb Wohl!" to the organ itself. I took the time to make some decent tracks (which I uploaded), my favorite of which is definitely the last one, the "fond farewell," which actually was the last thing I played there.
I went home the conventional way, my foot in gradually increasing pain. I got home and prepared the apartment for the pumpkin pie and guests. Mike arrived first, then Gretchen came with the fix-in's and the guests: after David showed up it was me, Gretchen, Dave, Mike, Park, and Kate....it was a fantastic group. While Gretchen and I were in the kitchen making the pie they all sat in the living room listening to Margaret Cho....good times! The pie tins turned out to be really shallow, so we made two full pies with one can of pumpkin filling.....we put one in the oven, which baked during Bridget Jones, and was barely chilled enough to eat after the movie. Everyone left while the second pie was still baking, and somehow I managed to take it out at the right time. It was a fantastic evening, despite my ghastly swollen foot and the wet spot on the floor from all the ice I was putting on it.....oh well! It was still great, and the pie was AMAZING.....
More stuff for Pumpkin Pie: €3
Income from Library: €50
Playing the organ on a sprained ankle: Painful
Normal day.....we played a ridiculous board game in German class....it was to practice the subjunctive, but it was a bit strange...I won't get into it....sufficed to say the best answer I cam up with was to the question "Was würdest du machen, wenn du die Königin von deinem Land wärst?" (what would you do if you were the queen of your country?)...my answer was: "Das ist sehr leicht, weil ich bin schon die grosste Königin meines Landes" (That's very easy, because I'm already my country's biggest queen!) It's too bad Birgit wasn't there when I came up with THAT little gem.....(Mike wasn't there....he slept in! For the first time I was on time and he wasn't there! It was like the Twilight Zone or something.....)
I went to the Billa quickly and got goodies for the Schütz people...water, oranges, and Ritter Sport. It's funny how shopkeepers here warm up to you after seeing you a few times....maybe the first time they just think you're a stupid American, but when you come back (especially every week at a similar time, as is the case with this Billa in the 1st district) they figure you're staying here and probably are worth a smile or other small nicety. It's weird.
We talked about Beethoven's 5th in class....or actually really just the 1st movement, which is par for the course for Solvik so far.....but it was fun because I know so much about the 5th, so I really owned the discussion today!
A short while after class we had Schütz rehearsal (once again sans Dave...who told me yesterday that he couldn't make it because his plane to Amsterdam out of Bratislava leaves at 5:00 and not 7:45....) which went pretty well.....the piece is finally coming together, and now only the connections between movements and a few interpretation issues remain to be worked out. It's always fun to conduct, especially a small group of great musicians like them, but I'm always so gosh darn tired afterwards....Mike complemented me today about my rehearsal technique, which meant a lot coming from him.
After the rehearsal I headed down to see Dr. Schier, who was nice enough to belatedly refund me €100 of lesson expenses....(I lost my sheet somewhere, probably at Marianum, so I just had Michelle sign off for two lessons when I saw her yesterday) After that I headed to the goumet Spar to buy cinnamon: Zimt, auf Deutsch.....I was only able to figure it out by reading the history of the origin of cinnamon on the side of one of the bottles....having remembered that it came from China, I decided that this brown powder had to be cinnamon. Thank goodness I was right....there were certainly a lot of other brown powders with strange German names which I would not wanted to have accidentally purchased to put in pumpkin pie! I then ran back home to get my organ stuff and headed to Marianum.
I realized that today was going to be my last organ lesson because I have important things scheduled for almost every Monday and Thursday evening that remain me here in Vienna! It particularly irked me, therefore, that I was running a bit late. To top it all off, while I was on the U2 to Schottentor, I remembered that I had failed purchase whipped cream for the pumpkin pie, so I left the Schottentor terminal to try and find a grocery store in the vicinity. Spotting a[nother] Gourmet Spar down the block, I hastened my way towards it. It turned out to be tiny tiny tiny, so finding the whipped cream (Schlagobers) proved difficult. I finally did find it, bought it and started running back to Schottentor. And here's where the story gets interesting:
I'm running towards the Straßenbahn at a full clip, and to do so I was running in the bus lane of the side street I was on because the sidewalk was so crowded. Somehow my foot lands in a pothole, I fall flat in my face (actually, on my left hand and right knee) and twist my right ankle something fierce. Two people immediately stopped and helped me up, and after getting my bearings a bit I started walking towards the Straßenbahn again, albeit decidedly slower. Soon I realized that my ankle hurt like a bitch, but after ascertaining that it wasn't broken I continued. Sure enough I sort of "walked it off," but it still hurt and I couldn't bend it, so walking was a slow and painful process.
I finally got to Marianum 10 minutes late, but Gottfried was rather understanding when he saw me hobbling towards the chapel. He was a bit taken aback, I think, when I told him that today would have to be our last lesson, but I can't tell....he's sort of deadpan in a very Austrian way. The lesson was really good, and when he firmly shook my hand good-bye (as he always does, even to his young students) and expressed his gratitude at the opportunity to work with me, I was definitely getting a bit teary-eyed. I realized during the lesson that this was going to be the first thing that I would have to say good-bye to, and it was hard. Just as hard was 30 minutes later, when I had to say 'Leb Wohl!" to the organ itself. I took the time to make some decent tracks (which I uploaded), my favorite of which is definitely the last one, the "fond farewell," which actually was the last thing I played there.
I went home the conventional way, my foot in gradually increasing pain. I got home and prepared the apartment for the pumpkin pie and guests. Mike arrived first, then Gretchen came with the fix-in's and the guests: after David showed up it was me, Gretchen, Dave, Mike, Park, and Kate....it was a fantastic group. While Gretchen and I were in the kitchen making the pie they all sat in the living room listening to Margaret Cho....good times! The pie tins turned out to be really shallow, so we made two full pies with one can of pumpkin filling.....we put one in the oven, which baked during Bridget Jones, and was barely chilled enough to eat after the movie. Everyone left while the second pie was still baking, and somehow I managed to take it out at the right time. It was a fantastic evening, despite my ghastly swollen foot and the wet spot on the floor from all the ice I was putting on it.....oh well! It was still great, and the pie was AMAZING.....
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