So far this trip has been truly incredible. The theater has been amazing and so unique. I cannot stop thinking about Alice in Wunderland and La Sonnambula . Alice in Wunderland the ballet brought me to another world. I could get lost in the music alone as it perfectly captured the mood of each scene and character. There was unbelievable costumes and sets to match the amazing music. A plastic queen of hearts container, gorgeous card outfits (hearts, clubs, spades, and diamonds), and unbelievably adorable little hedge hog costumes. I would need at least 7 more pages to adddress every costume but nevertheless the designer was very clever. And of course the dancing was executed  perfectly with synchronization and challenging moves. What I found to be the most fascinating is the characterization of the figures. I could feel the queen of hearts anger through her dancing and Alice's curiosity.
La Sonnambula was completely different but equally amazing. A show that hat it all: a love story, opera, heartbreak, amazing music, a funky set, and a group of 6 AMAZING and talented actors. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. Whether it was because of Paul's trumpet

I arrived yesterday and I'm not feeling too jetlagged, perhaps because I followed Janet's advice by taking just a short afternoon nap and then staying up until it was late to sleep again. 9 hours of sleep and I feel pretty good!

We visited two art museums together, then after my nap I found a Doner Kebab restaurant and had a delicious falafel with a Radler (beer with Sprite, basically). We ventured out again for a subway ride to Marienplatz where we saw some beautiful architecture and had a classic regional meal of meat and potatoes. It was delicious. My German may be pretty rusty but I spoke about 20% German throughout the day. I hope to double that percentage today. It's been only about 20 years since I was here last! I can still get it back, right? Haha! I downloaded a free app called duolingo, which is helping me remember the basics.

Welcome! And thank you RC!

Welcome to our new blog! This year, we will be a small group (4 current students of mine and an RC Alumna, who studied in Freiburg a while back). We will be primarily in Munich and Berlin to see theater and go to art museums and we'll do some nice excursions, too. Luckily, other students of mine are going to be studying at the Goethe Institut in Munich or Berlin, so they will be able to join us on occasion. Our goal will be to post pictures from the trip and reflections on our travels so that parents and friends can follow us. That said, sometimes we will be too remote (in the Alps) to have good access to wifi.

We want to thank the University of Michigan Residential College for providing each of the students with some scholarship money, thanks to the Brown Fund. And special thanks to RC Alumni, Friends, and Donors for helping make our study trip possible. I'm able to cover our theater and museum tickets through fundraising via calendar sales of Asgard Press' Vintage calendars, so special thanks to everyone at Asgard, especially Peter Shin, another former student of mine who studied in Germany. And thanks to UM CGIS for funding past trips and being supportive of this one, as well.

I need to finish grading before I get on that plane, so. . . back to work!