Miscellaneous

Gasteig

Gasteig where Cecilia performed, has to be the most poorly designed performance space I've ever seen. The garterobe where everyone checks their coats and the ONLY BATHROOMS are right next to each other on the ground floor. There's a bathroom up the stairs but the door to it is locked. The check numbers are sort of random so the attendants search for hours for each coat. It's a nightmare, a nightmare that they charge you for.

In contrast the opera house has ample bathrooms and checkrooms on every floor. The bathrooms have discreet "D" and "H" letters on the doors, which works fine as long as you know what that means. The check numbers are fixed to the hooks, and everything goes quickly and smoothly. And it's free.

Whoever designed Gasteig didn't try to find out what works. Inside the space looks sort of like the Barbican.

German

After a week and after visiting with friends who only speak German, I apparently awakened the part of my brain where German lives and started thinking in German. This was surprising and very strange. Working sudoku I would say the German numbers in my head. My accent (but not my Grammar) is very impressive. I don't sound exactly German, but no one knows where I come from. One woman said, "And you have no trace of German accent when you speak English?" "Nein. Ich klinge wie eine echte Oklahomarin."

Food

When I lived there, the food was very limited. There was German, Italian and Turkish food, and that was it. I think this must have been because most of the guest workers came from Italy and Turkey. The McDonalds that's opposite the train station in Ulm moved in during my second year there, and we felt saved.

Now there is a lot of panini and pizza everywhere you look. There is Chinese and Thai food. There are Burger King and McDonalds. There is lamb on a stick. The hardest thing to find is German food. I saw no goulash and only one Kurriwurst. The traditional beer parlors in Munich serve German food.

Modern life changes everyone.