Hallo! I’m on day drei
of my two-month German audition extravaganza.
I’ve never been to Germany before, and now I’m trying to live like an
authentic Berliner, a Berliner who travels all over Germany and neighboring
Germanic countries as well.
I decided I would try to write as much as possible during
this time because everything here feels new and different. First of all, I’m shrugging off the New York
Young Artist Program audition season for the first time in eight years. While this German audition season is not
going to be pressure-free, the moment I looked at yaptracker and started
clicking the “Not interested this year” option, I felt a tremendous weight lifted from my
shoulders. Suddenly, I stopped trying to
fit a mold and felt the freedom to explore the big questions, “What do I want
to sing?” and “Why do I enjoy singing this?”
After eight years of running into a wall, I finally took Milton Berle’s
treasured advice to build a door. I went
from people-pleaser to Parker-pleaser, and I hope this perspective lasts even
when the auditions get intense.
In some ways, the immersion has been easy. I live in what most would call a small
apartment, but compared to my New York studio, this place is quite
spacious. I miss having a microwave but
love having a washing machine. I miss my
bathtub, but love my balcony. The subway system is easy to navigate and so
refreshingly clean! The food has been a more difficult adjustment.
I can’t make a judgment on German food yet because the truth is, I haven’t
really experienced it. With my food allergies,
finding things I can eat has been difficult.
Add in my starving artist budget and I’ve been preparing most of my
meals at home. Even though I have
studied German, I find the ingredient lists and labels on grocery store items
very confusing, so I’ve been keeping things simple to avoid my two main
nemeses: dairy and tomatoes. They’re in everything! I’m not proud of it,
but I did opt for baby food at one point and it will probably happen again. I miss the abundance of produce options I had
in New York. It’s hard enough to find
spinach in some markets, let alone kale and jicama. Potatoes will get really old really quickly.
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| Ich bin. |
Despite my lack of culinary options, I still worry about my
weight while I’m here. There is a Weight
Watchers on my street that has meetings on Tuesday nights. I can’t wait to see how it differs from those
in America and seeing my weight will be a lot more pleasant with the metric
system on my side. I’ve been avoiding
the enticing pastries and chocolate so far, but once I found dairy-free
Nutella, I knew my willpower had an expiration date. Without my weight loss utility belt of
weighing and measuring tools and an encyclopedic knowledge of Weight Watchers
points, I worry I may lose my way and gain some weight. I want to nip it in the bud early and not after
I find myself in a sea of strudel and streusel. When in the land of the wurst,
prepare for the worst.
As far as the language is concerned, I expected everyone to
assume I wanted to speak English, but surprisingly, I haven’t used it since I
moved into my apartment. I love being
immersed in the language. One great tool
has been watching American sitcoms dubbed over in German. The worse the show, the easier it is for me
to translate the obvious punchlines. Zweieinhalb Männer
may not be funny, but at least Charlie Sheen is finally serving a purpose.
I miss my close friends back in New York and I miss the way
they make me laugh. I have seen many
charming and lovely things over the past few days, but I don’t think I’ve found
anything terribly funny since my arrival.
Again, this is one of the unfortunate consequences of watching Two and a Half Men. I miss laughing so much I considered it my
cardio, but this makes me that much more excited about visiting Boom Chicago in
Amsterdam. Or maybe the taste for
Schadenfreude will come with the taste for sausages.
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