Oktoberfest

We stopped into a department store to look for a saucepan and get a lid for our frying pan, and spotted this:

Oktoberfest for the whole family?

At the Koncerthaus

As part of the Berlin Diplomatic Choir, I sang in the Young Euro Classic with the Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra tonight! It was a little bit like a step into another world - the chorus was a mix of pro and amateur, and it like I was a real musician! Arriving at the Koncerthaus, though, I had no idea where to go...

I had a feeling that I was supposed to enter elsewhere, and indeed, I was told to go to the stage door around back. After dumping my stuff in the dressing room, I made my way to the choir balcony:

Where we ended up first watching the rehearsal for another number with the orchestra:

Before we fine-tuned a few things on the pieces with the chorus. We got a break after a little bit, which I used to take an empty house selfie: 

And a few other photos:

My last picture of the night is on the way to the stage - with the "silence please" light illuminated. 

David also took a few pictures when he came to watch (also our friend Trey came to keep him company, hooray!), starting with a really nice one of the Koncerthaus:

An intermission photo:

And one during the concert:

It was a lot of work, but I was so glad to have an opportunity to sing with some high caliber musicians in such a great venue! The concert was also to honor the birthdays of two composers, and one of them (Giya Kanchelli) was really appreciative of our work (he kept on making a "bravo" gesture to us when he was ushered on stage to bow). Perhaps this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, but I do hope I can do plenty of singing in Berlin! 

The tourist bus

I joined the Diplomatic Chorus here in berlin, and we are rehearsing as part of a group for a big concert this Saturday (details here). The rehearsals are mostly at the Georgian Embassy, and from our place in Freidrichshain, the transit involves taking the bus from Alxanderplatz. One of the two busses I can catch is the 100, which is literally the tourist bus.

On the downside, it is mobbed by tourists who inevitably don't really understand how the busses work (get on the bus in front, show your ticket to the driver, get off the bus in back). On the upside, I get a quick tour of some of Berlin's sights. From my seat on the bus (I pick one of the worst views so I don't fight with sightseers):

Above, the Berlin Cathedral (another picture in this post). Below, the Altes Museum.

We also went by the Reichstag, shown below...

And this is the new age building that apparently hosts the Swedish and Finnish embassies:

We also passed the more notable landmarks of the Brandenburg Gate and the Victory Column, but my seat on the bus was terrible for them today - maybe by the end of the week I'll get a chance. 

Meanwhile, in assembling a kitchen:

Practicalities and some blurry scenery

I thought all my photos today were kind of meh, so you get three:

Practicality #1: Last night when we were finishing up the couch, I nearly stripped a few screws from the IKEA assembly kit. Naturally, I googled the problem today and encountered this blog post which explained that IKEA screws all require a pozidriv screwdriver. I rode the tram over to the hardware store, where I got these bits for my drill (2 flat, 2 phillips, 2 pozidriv) in addition to a pozidriv screwdriver.

Practicality #2: The best machines for buying transit tickets are in the U-bahn and S-bahn stations, but busses and trams all have this handy little machine where you can buy tickets as you get on board. The machine on the left is a ticket validator (it stamps a pre-bought ticket with your ride). I actually don't need the machines now since I have my monthly pass.

Blurry scenery: I could have gotten a better picture, but it was from the middle of the street so I snapped and kept walking. Essentially, I ended up in a new neighborhood due to changing destinations mid-route and liked the contrast of the fancy dome on the left with the TV tower in the background.

An Introduction of Sorts

The impetus for starting this blog is our upcoming move to Berlin - both my husband and I have jobs in the area that start within months. As soon as we move, I plan to start one of those 365 photo projects documenting all of the adventures we'll have. I'm not at all a photographer, but really want to be able to share my this super exciting time in our lives with my family and friends (and the internet in general, I suppose).

As I picked a blog title, however, I realized that I don't want to restrict myself to a travel or moving blog. At various times in the past, I've had half-formed notions of starting a blog about so many different things: reviewing books, movies, or video games, talking about astronomy, discussing feminism in science+tech, complaining about the car-centric-ness of Columbus, OH, learning about racism, sharing recipes, photos of daily outfits... yes, pretty much everything.

So except posts about life, adventures, and the stars.