Meat Spread

“Food is our common ground, a universal experience.” --James Beard 

I would consider myself a very picky eater.  I don't like tomatoes (unless they are mashed up into a sauce), onions, peppers, cucumbers, and the list can go on.  However, I am finding myself to be more adventurous when it comes to food and tasting new foods, which I credit to my addiction of watching Food Network.  After all, food is a HUGE part of a culture--as mentioned in the quote above, it's common ground.  Everyone has to eat.  Now, whether or not you like that cuisine is a different story.  For instance, at breakfast we are given a somewhat traditional European breakfast with bread, cheese, coffee, fruit, and of course something that I like to call "meat spread."  Now, my friend Colby is German and grew up eating this stuff.  To me, any meat that comes pre-packaged in a vacuum-sealed spread is suspicious.  The ONLY canned meat I have ever eaten is when my mom used to make corned beef and potatoes when I was little.  So Colby told me to try some at breakfast one morning, and to let her know what I thought.  Okay, challenge accepted.  Try something new.  So Saturday morning I put some on a corner of my bread slice, took a bite and... 

barely swallowed it.  It was nasty, I can't even describe it. It left an awful aftertaste that not even strong coffee could wash away.  In reporting back to my friend, she admitted that it wasn't the best meat spread she's ever had, but she didn't mind it and still liked it.  She said I probably just couldn't get over it, and she's pretty much right.  Like I said, something about vacuum sealed meats in a gelatinous form...I can't do it.  Well, my dinner that night more than made up for it.  I have posted to the left, a picture of the delicious Goulash I had at a restaurant called the Gösser Bräu, which serves traditional Austrian food. It's a concoction of meat and potatoes, almost like a stew.  And then for good measure, a frankfurter, fried egg, and pickles were thrown in too.  Deliciousness!  And beer-- I don't drink beer at all, but I had to try it, and it's not bad...as seen by my face in the above picture.

Okay, enough food talk!  I'm here for music, not food!  In regards to the music side, all of the singers in the program have received our schedules, voice teacher, and vocal coach assignments.  From here we hit the ground running.  I have 2 voice lessons, 2 vocal coachings, at least 1 diction session, Stage Artistry, and Audition Training Seminar classes each week, and we are welcome to do some Operetta sessions if we wish.  Um...yes!  Operetta got it's start in this country, so why not indulge?  I just hope I'm prepared enough for this--it's going to be a lot packed into 5 weeks!  Let the marathon begin! 
One more thing to mention (I promise it's relative, but it's a music nerd thing, so skip this if you wish) So when we travel on the city buses, right before we get to each stop, there's a little melody that plays over the loud speaker before it announces each stop.  The melody sounds exactly like the first 5 notes of the piece "Mein Herr Marquis" from Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss.  So now that melody is forever engrained in our brains.  While at chorus rehearsal today, we learned 2 songs for an upcoming event: "America the Beautiful" (which we all know) and an Austrian song "Dachstein Lied" which I think is their anthem.  While singing, I recognize part of this song, and I realize the opening to the song is the melody we've been hearing on the bus!!   Then it made me wonder if Johann Strauss was inspired by this melody when he wrote "Mein Herr Marquis"...hm....maybe when I'm not so tired I'll do some more research on that.  I love music nerd moments like that!


Well, classes begin in the morning, so I'd better get some sleep!  Gute Nacht!