Essen to Berlin to Hamburg to Essen in a weekend!

Hiya folks! Thought I would give you a quick update on things here. I had my audition for Stage Entertainment on Tuesday, and it went well! It has been quite the interesting time trying to get my driving test taken care of, so I've not done that yet...hope to be allowed to within the next couple of weeks. Sidonie is doing well, and she's getting ready for her trip to Hamburg tomorrow. I've still been able to come home over the weekends which is very nice! I don't know how far I'll be away when we change accommodations on the 26th, but hope to be able to come home some then as well. OK, so that's the summary. Here are some details:

I was originally supposed to audition in Berlin on the 12th, but then realized that I had mixed up the days we had off, and we were working on the the 12th. I then looked online and found that we had the 16th free and there was an audition in HH on that day. I decided to still take the trip with my colleagues up to Berlin so as to see other colleagues, and our friends Janin and Sven there in Berlin. I got to spend Saturday and Sunday with Janin and Sven who showed me all over Berlin (we took a 7 hour walking tour which was only interrupted long enough to get something to eat!) We were exhausted by the end, but I had so much fun seeing everything! (I'll put some pictures of our tour on a bit later.) On Sunday we looked at a couple other things, none of which were open/had tickets available, but we had fun anyway. Then we relaxed at their apt and watched a couple movies! It was a fun couple of days!

On Monday I took the bus from Berlin to Hamburg, and stayed with our friends Bettina,Tim and Lili! I had my audition for Stage Entertainment on Tuesday morning. It started with a fun little dance combination and then we got slots for our singing call. I wanted to do this open call because the role I'm interested in for next year is a falsetto role, and I've never done any falsetto songs for them. It went very well! The casting director said after my song: "Well, THAT was falsetto!" He then asked me for a high belt song - which I didn't have with me. The music director said to just vocalize with the piano. He said to start with an F. I thought - an F? Well, I won't have too far to go (my comfortable top is a G/G#.) I determined to just sing and not try to count and see which note I was on as that would only make me nervous. After I'd finished, the casting director asked the pianist what note that was and he said Bb! WHAT THE HECK? Well, thank you Lord for that supernatural note! Because this audition was just an open call, it's not terribly likely that there will be any job offers or even call back offers from it (although the latter is possible,) but it was a great opportunity to show them an aspect of my skill set that they hadn't seen yet, and to remind them that I'm still interested in working for them. :)

As far as my license goes...Let's suffice it to say that German bureaucracy is well entrenched and the paperwork necessary for ANYTHING to happen here seems to have no end! I had to take a trip to Soest after one of our shows to go to an office there and submit an official request to be allowed to take the driving test ?!? That paperwork required me to be there so I could show my passport and US driver's license. The paperwork was sent to an office in Berlin and will take about 3 weeks to complete. Once it is sent to the driving school, I can call them to set up an appointment to take the driving test. Once I take the test, I have to bring that paperwork with me BACK to Soest where I receive a document which allows me to drive here. I will then receive my official German driver's license in the mail...!!!!!!!!! All that, AND I have to surrender my US license. After research, however, we found that we could still drive in the States (when we come to visit) with just our passport for a month at a time! Phew! What a long and arduous process! On the positive side, I should be WELL prepared to take the test when the time FINALLY comes to take it!

Sidonie and I have really enjoyed being so near one another and being able to see each other every weekend - it's been very nice! We're hoping that my new accommodation near Düsseldorf will also allow me to come home for the weekends. In other Sidonie news, she is heading up to Hamburg tomorrow for an audition. I won't be able to make this round of auditions for this company, but I'll be able to catch another one in Amsterdam in late March as we have two weeks off for Easter break! In other random exciting news, I was asked to give a testimony at church today and did so in German! That's a first! The pastor also had us pray over the Church saying that we've been such a blessing to them here and not knowing how long we'll be here with our next job coming up, that he'd like it if we would just pray over the church. It was such a special time. We've met some wonderful people here, and are going to be sad to leave them when the time comes, but that is the journey God has us on right now. Get to know people for a year or so, and then move on to another place! We're so blessed to have made so many wonderful friends all over the world. We love and miss all of you that we're not with at the moment!

OK, now for some pics...

Sven and me (yes, he is that tall) in front of the Richstag (Parliament.) We would have gone in, but the wait was HOURS long - um...no thanks! The Richstag was re-built after the war because when Hitler took power, he burnt it because it represented a democratic government, then during the war it was further destroyed by bombings. the exterior portions were able to be saved, and the re-build just built around the salvageable portions, so now the building is partially old and partially new!

This is the Rote Rathaus (Red City Hall.) It is so called because during the time of W and E Berlin, there were two city halls, and to distinguish between the two, this one was called the red one! It now serves as the city hall for all of Berlin and still goes by the name Rote Rathaus.

A bit of the river Spree with the Berliner Dom (cathedral) in the background.

Berliner Dom (with the famous TV tower in the background.) The Dom survived the war, so it's actually old, whereas many of the structures in Berlin have been re-built to resemble their older yet sadly destroyed predecessors! The ball of the TV tower turns a full 360 every hour, so those dining in the restaurant contained within the ball are given a full bird's eye view of Berlin every hour!

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SOME ADDITIONAL PICTURES HAVE JUST BEEN ADDED - FROM MY PENTAX WHICH WASN'T WITH ME WHEN I FIRST POSTED THIS! ;)
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A cool 3D painting in our flat here in Essen.


Monument in Berlin.


A very old map - you can still see the black line crossing the Spree which divided E from W Berlin!


The German version of the White House.


Janin and Sven (yes she is that much shorter than him!)


Brandenburger Tor: the oldest structure in Berlin! Notice how the center passage is a bit wider - it was for the king. The two passages to the left were exits and the two to the right were entrances (for non-royals, of course!)


Train station.


Holocaust memorial.


Every one of these pillars is a different height: representing the various people whose lives were taken senselessly in the Holocaust.


Here's a bit of home - the US Embassy!


Notice the different colored spots in the stone? These were little pock marks caused by explosions at the end of the war. Rather than re-build buildings with damage like this, they just filled the holes with cement and called it good. You can find them all over downtown.


This is one of the cars from E Berlin - they were the only cars available for purchase, and there was a waiting list of many years to purchase one!


Portions of the Berlin wall which used to divide E from W Berlin.


Me in front of a portion of the wall which is still standing as a memorial.

Checkpoint Charlie - where the US and Russian sectors met after the war.

I couldn't help myself! This is a more recent picture of my BEAUTIFUL niece, Harper! Don't I make pretty nieces? ;) I can't wait to meet her!

Love and Hugs!