My talk with the head of EG-5 with the other Praktikanten.
Abend auf Gunters Terasse mit seine freunde. Canasta.
My week of reading Frau Garth's book on Kunststoff.
Praktikante Veranstaltungen - Wasserstoff treibstoffzellen
Betriebssammlung
Besuch von Peggy
Sommernachtstraum
Brotzeit
Hair cut
Tour of the plant testing facility
Samstag, 12. Dezember 2009
Montag, 30. November 2009
Letzte Woche bei BMW
So, my last week at BMW...
On Monday, I spent a fair amount of time explaining why I was gone the week before and why I was running in a graveyard. At this point, I started preparing my presentation for Frau Garth at the Department meeting. Also on Monday, I visited the ID office to get a new ID having lost the one that I had originallyDue to a bit of mis-communication, I was supposed to present on Wednesday, but wound up presenting on Thursday because I was not quite prepared yet. On Wednesday, Ramsey presented his material for the second time because there were some people who wanted to see it but didn't get the chance to the first time. Cassidy delivered her presentation on Wednesday as well. Thursday I left work after my presentation so as to be able to meet up with my Dad at the Ambassador Park Hotel and wander around a bit. Friday I left BMW about an hour earlier than usual because it was my last day. Ramsey, Cassidy and I sat and talked together for about an hour before we all had to leave. Before leaving, I gave my ID to the security counter in FIZ.
On Monday, I spent a fair amount of time explaining why I was gone the week before and why I was running in a graveyard. At this point, I started preparing my presentation for Frau Garth at the Department meeting. Also on Monday, I visited the ID office to get a new ID having lost the one that I had originallyDue to a bit of mis-communication, I was supposed to present on Wednesday, but wound up presenting on Thursday because I was not quite prepared yet. On Wednesday, Ramsey presented his material for the second time because there were some people who wanted to see it but didn't get the chance to the first time. Cassidy delivered her presentation on Wednesday as well. Thursday I left work after my presentation so as to be able to meet up with my Dad at the Ambassador Park Hotel and wander around a bit. Friday I left BMW about an hour earlier than usual because it was my last day. Ramsey, Cassidy and I sat and talked together for about an hour before we all had to leave. Before leaving, I gave my ID to the security counter in FIZ.
Samstag, 8. August 2009
Post ?? Second to last week at BMW
Monday started at BMW. I got to talk with Luis about music some more because of Bayreuth. It was nice. Otherwise, it was a fairly uneventful day at BMW.
Then the fun stuff begins.
Monday night I plotted a 3 mile running route using GoogleMaps Distance Calculator (very useful tool) through the Waldfriedhof at the end of Heiglhofstraße. It was a nice run, but then I came across the locked gates. They had locked the friedhof for the night. Me, in my.....wisdom, decided it would be feasible to jump over the gate. (The entire set up consisted of (from left to right) fence with barbed wire, a stone column with a flat top, the metal gates with the cemetary-spiky things on top, then another column with a flat top, and more fence.) There was a metal bar that connected the second column with the middle of the gates to keep them from being forced open from the outside. This provided an easy way to get up on top of the column from whence, it would be a matter of a jump down on the other side no problem. The plan worked great until it came to the jumping down on the other side bit. For some unknown reason, I decided to steady myself on the metal gate with my hands between the metal things. At the point that I jumped, I think my right hand slipped a bit and as result, I sliced my right index finger pretty badly on the gate. After realizing what happened, I quickly applied pressure with my other hand and refused to move my hands until I had help nearby.
Luckily, it was about a 7-8 minute walk from there to my apartment door, and as I arrived Ramsey was coming down the sidewalk from the other direction. After soliciting his help, we went in and rinsed the blood off from my hands, then released the pressure from the wound. Fortunately, it wasn't actually bleeding all that much, but enough that I think it fairly well washed itself out. At this point, I took some toilet paper, wrapped the wound and laid down on the floor with my hand proped up above my head to get the wound to stop bleeding enough to move safely. The entire time, Ramsey was there talking with me to make sure that I stayed conscious. On my descriptions, he'd already pulled my cell phone, keys, and wallet with insureance information out of my room.
After putting a second (wet) wrap on the cut we decided it would be best to head off to the Klinikum, only about 10 minutes away. Yay Klinikum Großhadern. We arrived, and walked into the Nothilfe part of the hospital where we sat for 15 minutes while the guy behind the desk filled out paperwork based on insureance info etc. Here, I was told that since I wasn't insured in
Germany, I'd need to pay 200€ in cash. Not having the cash on me, he said I could pay it later, then he asked me to sign something, which I also couldn't do with my writing hand all wrapped up in toilet paper. After this, I was taken back to their Operating Area where two nurses (student and teacher) assessed the wound, cleaned it a little, and re-wrapped it for me, then told me that the doctor would be available in about 25 minutes.
So, I went and waited outside for the doctor. At this point, I told Ramsey that if he needed to, he should go back home. The doctor took me back to the same room and had me lay down on the table with an extension for my arm. After asking me if I could feel this and that and if I could bend my finger this way and that, they preped for "surgery" and gave me anesthetic, which, me and anesthetic don't go well together. It was a local anesthetic just for the finger, but I started shivering quite a lot, such that there were a few moments where my right hand started shivering and the doctor had to stop prep for a second. Then after a few moments of nausea, the nurse put a stool on the end of the table for my feet. After a minute or so with my feet in the air, everything went much better.
The doctor proceeded to fully clean the wound and pinched my nerve with his tweezers for some unknown reason. Then he proceeded to put in the stitches. I could still kinda feel it, but it wasn't all that bad. He wound up putting 9 stitches in my finger. Throughout the whole thing the nurse was looking over me and making sure that I didn't close my eyes for too long.
After the doctor was finished with the 9 stitches he wrapped it up again. After that, they rolled me in a wheelchair to another part of the office where they made a brace for me. After the brace, they sent me to the X-ray rooms for 2 X-ray pictures. All travel via wheelchair. Once done there, around 1:30, they sent me home.
Upon arriving home, I sent an e-mail to Frau Garth, Herr Leistner, and Herr Schröter explaining that I would be arrivng later than expected and have an appointment at 12. I went to BMW to see if I could find them in person, but none of them were there, so I talked with Herr Glas and Severin Mayer. I gave them the Arbeitsunfähigkeitbescheinigung that explained that I can't work until after the 7th of August. They explained that because of the bescheinigung, I was not insured and therefore not allowed to go into work. At the appointment, they removed the bandages, at which point, I almost became unmächtig. So once there was a new bandage on the wound, the nurse had me lay down with my feet up for a while. At which point, he asked when the last time was that I'd eaten something (about 24 hours before). So he walked me to the hospital cafeteria, where I had a pretty good lunch and the cashier behind the counter saw my hand and had another employee carry my tray to the table for me because she didn't think I could with only one hand. From here, I went home and slept for a while.
On Wednesday, I got up late, and took the U-bahn to Marienplatz. From there I walked North for about an hour and a half, then realized that I should try to fix the issue with the StudentenWerk. I rushed back as quick as I could, but arrived about 10 minutes too late. Once I got home, I tried practicing trombone a little, but it didn't work out all that well because the quick change in directions kept hurting my finger.
On Thursday, I had another appointment at 10 where they took off my brace and gave me a sock type thing that is tied to my wrist. They also gave me the x-ray pictures and told me that if I wanted, I could go into work. After calling work, they said that I would still be uninsured, so it wouldn't work. So, I went to the Studentenwerk to fix the issue. What happened was, they wound up not taking my rent for July, so I tried to figure out why. They didn't know why it didn't work, so they told me to go to my bank and transfer the money that way.
On Friday, I went to the music part of the Staatsbibliothek and since they weren't too nice, I didn't stay. So I took the U6 to Frötmanning and to my suprise, the train went above ground. So, I saw the Allianz Arena, and the StadtWerk München Technische Basis. On the route back, I stopped at the Nordfriedhof to walk around a bit. It was a nice friedhof. From here, I went back to the apartment.
All in all, an interesting time.
Then the fun stuff begins.
Monday night I plotted a 3 mile running route using GoogleMaps Distance Calculator (very useful tool) through the Waldfriedhof at the end of Heiglhofstraße. It was a nice run, but then I came across the locked gates. They had locked the friedhof for the night. Me, in my.....wisdom, decided it would be feasible to jump over the gate. (The entire set up consisted of (from left to right) fence with barbed wire, a stone column with a flat top, the metal gates with the cemetary-spiky things on top, then another column with a flat top, and more fence.) There was a metal bar that connected the second column with the middle of the gates to keep them from being forced open from the outside. This provided an easy way to get up on top of the column from whence, it would be a matter of a jump down on the other side no problem. The plan worked great until it came to the jumping down on the other side bit. For some unknown reason, I decided to steady myself on the metal gate with my hands between the metal things. At the point that I jumped, I think my right hand slipped a bit and as result, I sliced my right index finger pretty badly on the gate. After realizing what happened, I quickly applied pressure with my other hand and refused to move my hands until I had help nearby.
Luckily, it was about a 7-8 minute walk from there to my apartment door, and as I arrived Ramsey was coming down the sidewalk from the other direction. After soliciting his help, we went in and rinsed the blood off from my hands, then released the pressure from the wound. Fortunately, it wasn't actually bleeding all that much, but enough that I think it fairly well washed itself out. At this point, I took some toilet paper, wrapped the wound and laid down on the floor with my hand proped up above my head to get the wound to stop bleeding enough to move safely. The entire time, Ramsey was there talking with me to make sure that I stayed conscious. On my descriptions, he'd already pulled my cell phone, keys, and wallet with insureance information out of my room.
After putting a second (wet) wrap on the cut we decided it would be best to head off to the Klinikum, only about 10 minutes away. Yay Klinikum Großhadern. We arrived, and walked into the Nothilfe part of the hospital where we sat for 15 minutes while the guy behind the desk filled out paperwork based on insureance info etc. Here, I was told that since I wasn't insured in
Germany, I'd need to pay 200€ in cash. Not having the cash on me, he said I could pay it later, then he asked me to sign something, which I also couldn't do with my writing hand all wrapped up in toilet paper. After this, I was taken back to their Operating Area where two nurses (student and teacher) assessed the wound, cleaned it a little, and re-wrapped it for me, then told me that the doctor would be available in about 25 minutes.
So, I went and waited outside for the doctor. At this point, I told Ramsey that if he needed to, he should go back home. The doctor took me back to the same room and had me lay down on the table with an extension for my arm. After asking me if I could feel this and that and if I could bend my finger this way and that, they preped for "surgery" and gave me anesthetic, which, me and anesthetic don't go well together. It was a local anesthetic just for the finger, but I started shivering quite a lot, such that there were a few moments where my right hand started shivering and the doctor had to stop prep for a second. Then after a few moments of nausea, the nurse put a stool on the end of the table for my feet. After a minute or so with my feet in the air, everything went much better.
The doctor proceeded to fully clean the wound and pinched my nerve with his tweezers for some unknown reason. Then he proceeded to put in the stitches. I could still kinda feel it, but it wasn't all that bad. He wound up putting 9 stitches in my finger. Throughout the whole thing the nurse was looking over me and making sure that I didn't close my eyes for too long.
After the doctor was finished with the 9 stitches he wrapped it up again. After that, they rolled me in a wheelchair to another part of the office where they made a brace for me. After the brace, they sent me to the X-ray rooms for 2 X-ray pictures. All travel via wheelchair. Once done there, around 1:30, they sent me home.
Upon arriving home, I sent an e-mail to Frau Garth, Herr Leistner, and Herr Schröter explaining that I would be arrivng later than expected and have an appointment at 12. I went to BMW to see if I could find them in person, but none of them were there, so I talked with Herr Glas and Severin Mayer. I gave them the Arbeitsunfähigkeitbescheinigung that explained that I can't work until after the 7th of August. They explained that because of the bescheinigung, I was not insured and therefore not allowed to go into work. At the appointment, they removed the bandages, at which point, I almost became unmächtig. So once there was a new bandage on the wound, the nurse had me lay down with my feet up for a while. At which point, he asked when the last time was that I'd eaten something (about 24 hours before). So he walked me to the hospital cafeteria, where I had a pretty good lunch and the cashier behind the counter saw my hand and had another employee carry my tray to the table for me because she didn't think I could with only one hand. From here, I went home and slept for a while.
On Wednesday, I got up late, and took the U-bahn to Marienplatz. From there I walked North for about an hour and a half, then realized that I should try to fix the issue with the StudentenWerk. I rushed back as quick as I could, but arrived about 10 minutes too late. Once I got home, I tried practicing trombone a little, but it didn't work out all that well because the quick change in directions kept hurting my finger.
On Thursday, I had another appointment at 10 where they took off my brace and gave me a sock type thing that is tied to my wrist. They also gave me the x-ray pictures and told me that if I wanted, I could go into work. After calling work, they said that I would still be uninsured, so it wouldn't work. So, I went to the Studentenwerk to fix the issue. What happened was, they wound up not taking my rent for July, so I tried to figure out why. They didn't know why it didn't work, so they told me to go to my bank and transfer the money that way.
On Friday, I went to the music part of the Staatsbibliothek and since they weren't too nice, I didn't stay. So I took the U6 to Frötmanning and to my suprise, the train went above ground. So, I saw the Allianz Arena, and the StadtWerk München Technische Basis. On the route back, I stopped at the Nordfriedhof to walk around a bit. It was a nice friedhof. From here, I went back to the apartment.
All in all, an interesting time.
Montag, 3. August 2009
Post ?? Woche Nr. 10 bei BMW
Monday
Proben ausgeschickt
"Urlaub Gunter Schröter"
Klebstoffrunde fällt aus
Tuesday
Anruf von Anton Paar und proRheo
Wednesday
Lukawitz, Bukovina mit Herr Djuga
Besondere Aufgabe von Herr Djuga
Thursday
Klebstoff Versuchen
Friday
Übersetzung
Lebewohl Herr Djuga
Gruppenrunde
FIZ
Busfährt
Hochhaus
Sonntag, 2. August 2009
Post #?? Wochenende in Bayreuth
Well, woke up at 11:30pm on Friday, to catch the 2am train from the Hauptbahnhof to Augsburg. From Augsburg to Nürnberg to Bayreuth, arriving at 7am. Immediately after getting off the train, looking North, I saw, for the first time, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus about a mile entfernt. It was half concealed behind the trees, but the over-stage equipment house, was clearly visible. I walked to the Festspielhaus, and found the Ticket office so I knew where I needed to go to try to get a ticket. I was the only person there. The crew had not even yet arrived to clear the stage from Siegfried, and prepare for Götterdämmerung. That all started around 8am. At the back of the building is a giant door that opens out to the street. Across the street is an equally large door opening to one of the rehearsal stages (the space between covered by an extension of the rooves) Around 8:30, they opened the doors and started moving scenery around. It was quite a production. (The sets are HUGE!) After wandering around for a bit, I sat down at the ticket office about 9am. The second person in line arrived at 10:00. If only it had been a different person. (as I found out later, this person was the most annoying person imaginable to sit next to during an opera.) Shortly thereafter, an elderly man arrived. He noticed my MMB t-shirt and asked about it. I told him that I was here for an internship for BMW from the University of Michigan. He asked if that was my first time in Bayreuth. (yes) He then wished me the best of luck in getting a ticket as a student on my first day in Bayreuth. After that, he asked where I had learned to speak German so well. I found that to be quite a compliment. At this point, person-in-line #2 returned, and proceeded to monopolize the conversation btween myself and this elderly man. (gr)
Anyway, about 11:00, a couple came by and told us that they couldn't make it to the performance tonight, so the first two people in line could have their tickets. After handing over more € than I care to admit and having the name on the ticket switched from their name to mine, I had my ticket to see the first performance of the season of Götterdämmerung at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.
After finding out that the opera will go until about 22:35, I realized that I needed to look at the train schedule for that evening, so I knew how I was getting home. (there was a train that was leaving at 21:16, then the next that connected to München was leaving at 5:03am).
After finding that out, I went back to the festspielhaus in the hopes of possibly exchanging my ticket for a cheaper one (didn't work), so after talking with the folks at the counter, I wound up laying down on a bench across the street behind a row of hedges, and (inadvertently) fell asleep a few times over the course of the next 2 hours. After that, I went back over to the line. About at same time, the 2nd Norn came rushing up asking if somebody needed a ticket, I said that I already had one and was looking for a cheaper one (mistake). Another woman was standing there, and said that she needed a ticket. So she got it from the Norn. Completely free. If only I'd thought better on my feet!!!!!!
In any case, I then wandered around the Richard Wagner Park until 3:30 when the doors opened. At 3:45 the inner doors opened and I was allowed to find my seat. Also at 3:45, the brass section steped out onto the balcony of the Königsbau (the front part of the theater) and played the Curse theme to announce that it was almost time. I found my seat and we all sat down. I felt horribly underdressed. Most everybody there was either in a suit, tuxedo, or a fancy dress. I was the only person there in cargo pants, and a t-shirt. But I think I was much more comfortable than everybody else (there is no air conditioning of any sort inside the Haus, so the air moved only slightly and gradually got warmer over the course of the next 6 hours). The person on my left (person #2 in line) was the most annoying person to sit next to during an opera. Every minute or so, he would clear his throat. Every two minutes, cough. Every three minutes, he would click his teeth together by twitching his head to one side forcefully. About every 2 minutes he would say "Hmm" really short and at the absolute most inoppurtune moments. It was unbelievably annoying. I felt like turning and smacking him or something.
At the end of the first act, the person one row behind us and behind this other person, looked at me, met my glance, and gestured to the other person and rolled his eyes. So I wasn't the only person annoyed at him. After the internmission, the person behind me saw my t-shirt and asked if I was in a Jugendorchester (youth orchestra) which led to an explanation of why I was there. He said that the person sitting next to me should have brought Bon-Bons to that he didn't have to keep clearing his throat. He also said that, for that being my first day in Bayreuth, I was extremely lucky to get a ticket. (most people wait 7-10 years). Course, as the person sitting next to me pointed out (as he walked in on our conversation), he managed to secure 6 tickets for himself that morning from the ticket counter (for the 4th or 5th time that day, that I heard). The guy behind me asked how I was liking the opera thus far. I said it was amazing. The performers were amazing, the orchestra was amazing, the accoustics were amazing, the set design was extremely well done (not extremely modern/crazy, but actually fit with the opera), the atmosphere was truly the only one like it in the world. At the second intermission (yes, two intermissions, each lasting 1 hour) I got to talking with the person on my other side, a nice middle aged Frau who was there with her husband. She mentioned that she had the chance to see Götterdämmerung at the previous Inszenierung (I know what it means, but not sure of a proper translation) and was much more impressed with this one. (Every 7 years or so, they change cast/scenery/costumes etc. and apparently, the last one wasn't all that great).
The Festspielhaus Zuschauerraum (auditorium) is completely built from wood. The floor underneath the seats is wood, the walls, the columns, the roof, everything. There is very minimal fabric. I believe that the only fabric in the room was the small amount on the seat part of the seats, and the curtain. Nowhere else could fabric be found: not the backs of the seats, not even the painted-on fabric that "draped" over the edge of the boxes in the back. The orchestra pit cover seemed to be made out of one large piece of Kunststoff. The columns and architecture of the building, drew your eyes to the stage and was simple enough that you couldn't get distracted from the action on stage. When the orchestra played, you could hear it really well; every single instrument not matter how loud they played. I think that the Orchestra pit cover was connected very well to the floor under the seats, because when the orchestra played (basses, brass, strings, percussion, everybody) you could feel it through your feet in the floorboard. Even from the 26th row (almost in the back). The performers did very, very well. The balance between the orchestra at full power and the Bass that played Hagen was amazing. Even with full power orchestra, you could still hear him over the orchestra. The only person that seemed to have issues with the singer/orchestra balance was, unfortunately,......Brünhilde. Yes, Brünhilde, the person that two operas ago had the Hajatoho's of the Ride of the Valkyries against the orchestra. She did an amazing job, but there were two points in the opera, where she was singing, but you couldn't hear her. Multiple times that all you could here were the notes (not really the vowels and no consonants whatsoever). But when the orchestra was a bit more subdued, you could hear her very well.
After the Opera was over I was suprised at how short the applause was at the end. They only made 4 curtain calls. For Die Piraten von Penzance, they made 7 or 8. Granted by this time it was 10:45 and the opera had started at 4:00. From there, I was suprised to see how quickly the place cleared out. After stopping for a night time picture of the Festspielhaus before I left, I went directly to the Hauptbahnhof (from which in the morning, I had a very clear view of the festspielhaus) and when I got there, I looked back, but all the lights around the Haus had been turned off already. Meaning that in that 10-15 minutes, all 1974 people in the Zuschauerraum had cleared off of the premises. Quite impressive. Also impressive was the line of taxis that had lined up outside the Haus (using their own specially made drive that during the rest of the day had been blocked off).
So, now I was at the Hauptbahnhof and it was just after 11:00. The next train that I needed wasn't going to be leaving until 5:03. So, given that I hadn't eaten anything that entire day except for a ham and cheese pretzle at 7am, I had a small meal at McDonald's. (the only place that was still open and didn't cost an arm and a leg). The food at the Festspielhaus was unbelievably expensive (2 € for one scoop of ice cream, 2 € for a breze, 3,50€ for 0,3L of bier as opposed to elsewhere: 1€ for scoop, 0,59 for Bretze, 3,50 for 0,5L bier). By this point, I was quite hungry. I'd walked between the festspielhaus and the Hauptbahnhof a grand total of 6 times. I managed to stay in the lounge at a hotel in the area of the Hauptbahnhof for a few hours. At that point, I started listening to the Harry Potter German audiobook for the next hour and a half until the train was there and ready for people to get on. I listened through 3 chapters, I think.
Anyway, I wound up sleeping quite a bit on the train to Nürnberg, and again to München.
All in all, depite the fact that it was a very expensive day, I am glad that I did it. Now I have experienced a little bit of Wagner as Wagner intended it. (except for the annoying person next to me....that was not all that great).
Today (Sunday) I took a 4,5 hour nap and otherwise haven't done a whole lot (arrived back at the apartment around 10:00, checked e-mail, then went to sleep until 3. I'd been up the majority of two nights in a row, as well as siting through a 6 hour opera.
Like I said though. It was an amazing experience.
Oh, I just remembered one of the conversation topics that I had with the elderly man in line. He asked how it was that a student like me from the United States was interested in Wagner enough to make the trek to Bayreuth, sit in line for 5 hours (until the office opened. this was before I had gotten the ticket, so I was expecting to still be waiting until the office opened to get one.) and the sit through Wagner's second longest Opera. I answered that I had always loved Wagner's music, being introduced to it through waking up to Ride of the Valkyries on many a Saturday morning. From there, once I got to University, I had the opportunity to go through the entire Ring Cycle thanks to the Music Library. So Dad, if you are reading this, even though at the time I wasn't too pleased about it, thank you so very much for those Saturday morning wake-up songs.
Anyway, about 11:00, a couple came by and told us that they couldn't make it to the performance tonight, so the first two people in line could have their tickets. After handing over more € than I care to admit and having the name on the ticket switched from their name to mine, I had my ticket to see the first performance of the season of Götterdämmerung at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.
After finding out that the opera will go until about 22:35, I realized that I needed to look at the train schedule for that evening, so I knew how I was getting home. (there was a train that was leaving at 21:16, then the next that connected to München was leaving at 5:03am).
After finding that out, I went back to the festspielhaus in the hopes of possibly exchanging my ticket for a cheaper one (didn't work), so after talking with the folks at the counter, I wound up laying down on a bench across the street behind a row of hedges, and (inadvertently) fell asleep a few times over the course of the next 2 hours. After that, I went back over to the line. About at same time, the 2nd Norn came rushing up asking if somebody needed a ticket, I said that I already had one and was looking for a cheaper one (mistake). Another woman was standing there, and said that she needed a ticket. So she got it from the Norn. Completely free. If only I'd thought better on my feet!!!!!!
In any case, I then wandered around the Richard Wagner Park until 3:30 when the doors opened. At 3:45 the inner doors opened and I was allowed to find my seat. Also at 3:45, the brass section steped out onto the balcony of the Königsbau (the front part of the theater) and played the Curse theme to announce that it was almost time. I found my seat and we all sat down. I felt horribly underdressed. Most everybody there was either in a suit, tuxedo, or a fancy dress. I was the only person there in cargo pants, and a t-shirt. But I think I was much more comfortable than everybody else (there is no air conditioning of any sort inside the Haus, so the air moved only slightly and gradually got warmer over the course of the next 6 hours). The person on my left (person #2 in line) was the most annoying person to sit next to during an opera. Every minute or so, he would clear his throat. Every two minutes, cough. Every three minutes, he would click his teeth together by twitching his head to one side forcefully. About every 2 minutes he would say "Hmm" really short and at the absolute most inoppurtune moments. It was unbelievably annoying. I felt like turning and smacking him or something.
At the end of the first act, the person one row behind us and behind this other person, looked at me, met my glance, and gestured to the other person and rolled his eyes. So I wasn't the only person annoyed at him. After the internmission, the person behind me saw my t-shirt and asked if I was in a Jugendorchester (youth orchestra) which led to an explanation of why I was there. He said that the person sitting next to me should have brought Bon-Bons to that he didn't have to keep clearing his throat. He also said that, for that being my first day in Bayreuth, I was extremely lucky to get a ticket. (most people wait 7-10 years). Course, as the person sitting next to me pointed out (as he walked in on our conversation), he managed to secure 6 tickets for himself that morning from the ticket counter (for the 4th or 5th time that day, that I heard). The guy behind me asked how I was liking the opera thus far. I said it was amazing. The performers were amazing, the orchestra was amazing, the accoustics were amazing, the set design was extremely well done (not extremely modern/crazy, but actually fit with the opera), the atmosphere was truly the only one like it in the world. At the second intermission (yes, two intermissions, each lasting 1 hour) I got to talking with the person on my other side, a nice middle aged Frau who was there with her husband. She mentioned that she had the chance to see Götterdämmerung at the previous Inszenierung (I know what it means, but not sure of a proper translation) and was much more impressed with this one. (Every 7 years or so, they change cast/scenery/costumes etc. and apparently, the last one wasn't all that great).
The Festspielhaus Zuschauerraum (auditorium) is completely built from wood. The floor underneath the seats is wood, the walls, the columns, the roof, everything. There is very minimal fabric. I believe that the only fabric in the room was the small amount on the seat part of the seats, and the curtain. Nowhere else could fabric be found: not the backs of the seats, not even the painted-on fabric that "draped" over the edge of the boxes in the back. The orchestra pit cover seemed to be made out of one large piece of Kunststoff. The columns and architecture of the building, drew your eyes to the stage and was simple enough that you couldn't get distracted from the action on stage. When the orchestra played, you could hear it really well; every single instrument not matter how loud they played. I think that the Orchestra pit cover was connected very well to the floor under the seats, because when the orchestra played (basses, brass, strings, percussion, everybody) you could feel it through your feet in the floorboard. Even from the 26th row (almost in the back). The performers did very, very well. The balance between the orchestra at full power and the Bass that played Hagen was amazing. Even with full power orchestra, you could still hear him over the orchestra. The only person that seemed to have issues with the singer/orchestra balance was, unfortunately,......Brünhilde. Yes, Brünhilde, the person that two operas ago had the Hajatoho's of the Ride of the Valkyries against the orchestra. She did an amazing job, but there were two points in the opera, where she was singing, but you couldn't hear her. Multiple times that all you could here were the notes (not really the vowels and no consonants whatsoever). But when the orchestra was a bit more subdued, you could hear her very well.
After the Opera was over I was suprised at how short the applause was at the end. They only made 4 curtain calls. For Die Piraten von Penzance, they made 7 or 8. Granted by this time it was 10:45 and the opera had started at 4:00. From there, I was suprised to see how quickly the place cleared out. After stopping for a night time picture of the Festspielhaus before I left, I went directly to the Hauptbahnhof (from which in the morning, I had a very clear view of the festspielhaus) and when I got there, I looked back, but all the lights around the Haus had been turned off already. Meaning that in that 10-15 minutes, all 1974 people in the Zuschauerraum had cleared off of the premises. Quite impressive. Also impressive was the line of taxis that had lined up outside the Haus (using their own specially made drive that during the rest of the day had been blocked off).
So, now I was at the Hauptbahnhof and it was just after 11:00. The next train that I needed wasn't going to be leaving until 5:03. So, given that I hadn't eaten anything that entire day except for a ham and cheese pretzle at 7am, I had a small meal at McDonald's. (the only place that was still open and didn't cost an arm and a leg). The food at the Festspielhaus was unbelievably expensive (2 € for one scoop of ice cream, 2 € for a breze, 3,50€ for 0,3L of bier as opposed to elsewhere: 1€ for scoop, 0,59 for Bretze, 3,50 for 0,5L bier). By this point, I was quite hungry. I'd walked between the festspielhaus and the Hauptbahnhof a grand total of 6 times. I managed to stay in the lounge at a hotel in the area of the Hauptbahnhof for a few hours. At that point, I started listening to the Harry Potter German audiobook for the next hour and a half until the train was there and ready for people to get on. I listened through 3 chapters, I think.
Anyway, I wound up sleeping quite a bit on the train to Nürnberg, and again to München.
All in all, depite the fact that it was a very expensive day, I am glad that I did it. Now I have experienced a little bit of Wagner as Wagner intended it. (except for the annoying person next to me....that was not all that great).
Today (Sunday) I took a 4,5 hour nap and otherwise haven't done a whole lot (arrived back at the apartment around 10:00, checked e-mail, then went to sleep until 3. I'd been up the majority of two nights in a row, as well as siting through a 6 hour opera.
Like I said though. It was an amazing experience.
Oh, I just remembered one of the conversation topics that I had with the elderly man in line. He asked how it was that a student like me from the United States was interested in Wagner enough to make the trek to Bayreuth, sit in line for 5 hours (until the office opened. this was before I had gotten the ticket, so I was expecting to still be waiting until the office opened to get one.) and the sit through Wagner's second longest Opera. I answered that I had always loved Wagner's music, being introduced to it through waking up to Ride of the Valkyries on many a Saturday morning. From there, once I got to University, I had the opportunity to go through the entire Ring Cycle thanks to the Music Library. So Dad, if you are reading this, even though at the time I wasn't too pleased about it, thank you so very much for those Saturday morning wake-up songs.
Freitag, 17. Juli 2009
Post# ?? Wochenende Nr. 8
This was a somewhat relaxing weekend.
At first, I had plans to visit Dorian Hall in Berlin, but in the end the ticket would have been 220€, so I decided against it. But in order to find that out, I was up at 3 in the morning, ready to catch the train from Klinikum Großhadern at 4:13, but at 4:12 I couldn't exactly remember if I'd locked my door, so I had to run back, and wound up needing to catch the train at 5:03. I wound up wandering the Hauptbahnhof until 6:30 gathering information about train schedules and possible other destinations that Dorian and I could meet up at. So, hopefully, we can meet up in Bayreuth on the weekend of August 1.
After I got back from this excursion, I slept for a few hours, and got up in time to be on Marienplatz at 12 Mittag. I didn't realize it until then, but at 12 that day was the official start of the Christopher Street Day Parade from Marienplatz to Müllerstraße. After watching this for a while, I went to the Westfriedhof and switched my iPod to Mahler's 2nd Symphony. It was a nice almost 2 hours. The Westfriedhof is very big, but not as old as the Alte Südfriedhof. (By the way, a Friedhof is a graveyard). But despite the depressing sounding nature of an excursion of this type, it actually isn't. The Friedhöfe here are very well kept, and with the amount of flowers that are placed around on the graves, it would be hard to feel depressed while there.
At first, I had plans to visit Dorian Hall in Berlin, but in the end the ticket would have been 220€, so I decided against it. But in order to find that out, I was up at 3 in the morning, ready to catch the train from Klinikum Großhadern at 4:13, but at 4:12 I couldn't exactly remember if I'd locked my door, so I had to run back, and wound up needing to catch the train at 5:03. I wound up wandering the Hauptbahnhof until 6:30 gathering information about train schedules and possible other destinations that Dorian and I could meet up at. So, hopefully, we can meet up in Bayreuth on the weekend of August 1.
After I got back from this excursion, I slept for a few hours, and got up in time to be on Marienplatz at 12 Mittag. I didn't realize it until then, but at 12 that day was the official start of the Christopher Street Day Parade from Marienplatz to Müllerstraße. After watching this for a while, I went to the Westfriedhof and switched my iPod to Mahler's 2nd Symphony. It was a nice almost 2 hours. The Westfriedhof is very big, but not as old as the Alte Südfriedhof. (By the way, a Friedhof is a graveyard). But despite the depressing sounding nature of an excursion of this type, it actually isn't. The Friedhöfe here are very well kept, and with the amount of flowers that are placed around on the graves, it would be hard to feel depressed while there.
Post#?? BMW Woche Nr. 8
Montag
Dienstag
Mittwoch
Donnerstag
Mittagessen: Wurstlasagna mit Mozzarrella und Gemüse. Es schmeckt sehr gut.
Ich habe mit einen total Fremde Person über einen Handy gesprochen. Es ist ziemlich gut gegangen.
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