5-5-16

         Just wrapped up day 2 in Munich. So far, all expectations have been surpassed. Today’s activities included a trip to the Lenbachhaus art museum, an art workshop with Kristen, a ballet show called La Bayadere. The art museum was great. Our mission was to pick a favorite painting that we would then use as a model for artwork of our own. This was a problem for me, seeing that I had 100,001 favorites. The workshop was a really fun experience. We were given a lot of room to experiment with the colors and styles that we’re the most interested in. Since art has never been a strong suit of mine, ‘abstract’ art seemed to be the right path for me. I started by shading random colors and ended up making a weird and chaotic ghoul/snake composition. Let’s just say, I think there is room for growth.

                By far my favorite part of the day and my favorite part of the trip so far was the ballet show! I have never been to a ballet, so experiencing my first at the National Theater was truly a gift.  The theatre was so beautiful and decadent and the stage effects were amazing. The live orchestral music was perfect; it had an ethnic (middle eastern/Asian?) flair and was very powerful in carrying the storyline along and conveying emotion. The dancers did a fantastic job at telling a tragic story of star-crossed lovers through the motions of their bodies. I consistently felt myself in awe of the physical and emotive abilities (and I often found myself with damp eyes). Janet told us that the Germans applause longer than we do, and very quickly I discovered that she was right, but in this instance, I felt that the length of applause was completely warranted for the performance.

                Another really great part of this trip is interacting with Germans and working on improving my speaking. My first time ordering food at a restaurant was very intimidating but every time I do it, I get more comfortable. I really look forward to talking to more Germans and experiencing as much German culture as I can.  Bis Bald!

Ariana