Goodbye, Meiningen, Hello, München - Day 5

The kids arrived bright and early, ready to load up the bus for our next destination, Munich! It was very touching saying goodbye to their host families, and most of them came back with very memorable stories of their last night with their host families. "We had a huge BBQ and played games with our families until late at night." Ryan and Tate's host family took them to the top of the bell tower and the grandfather played the organ in the church for them. He opened up the back of the organ, showing them how it worked, and it was a 350 year old organ. They were also told that one of the remaining bells in the bell tower was an original that they had hidden and hadn't been melted down for the war. There were a few girls that showed up with beautiful red, long stemmed roses and bags of candy from their home stays. Overall, it seemed like everyone was very happy with the memories they made, but sad, at the same time, to say goodbye. Once all our luggage was loaded, the kids circled their home stays and sang "Homeward Bound" and "Leise, Leise," once more with Matthias conducting.

We were off to München! Our bus ride took us through the beautiful countryside of Germany. A mandatory nap was had and before you knew it, we were there. What a difference from Meiningen. We were now in the big city! Lots to see and lots to do in just a few days. We arrived at St. Bonifaz, home to our host choir, where the kids met the Bichebi Boys Choir from Tbilisi, Georgia, as well as our host families, the members of the Junge Chöre München. Before we knew it, we were walking to the Marienplatz to visit the Town Hall The Lord Mayor of Munich is actually running for the Minister President of Bavaria in September this year, so was unfortunately not available. This would roughly be the equivalent of the Governor of California. We were fortunate enough to have Mrs. Christiane Hacker, his city council representative, give us a brief history and tour of the Town Hall, including the architectural specialties which show the close political, economic, and cultural ties between Munich and the US. All three choirs took turns singing in the hall and it was very successful - doors of the offices flew open and people poured out to listen.

All the kids enjoyed taking in the sights, and singing in two locations in the town hall, one song sung by each of the three choirs. After our last brief performance, we left town hall just in time to see the glockenspiel do its spiel! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marienplatz , and then we went back to the rehearsal area, taking the scenic route, of course, through the botanical garden as well as a beer garden! No beer was purchased, no need to worry! Once we arrived, the kids met their home stays for Munich, and were off! The chaperones headed back to the hotel and then enjoyed a nice traditional meal at a local beer garden. A huge pretzel, schnitzel, sauerkraut, ribs, a few sips of beer, and bratwurst were thoroughly enjoyed. The most impressive part of the evening was watching the waitresses carry up to 14 full steins to their tables. A few of us tried to see how long we could hold one stein with straight arms, and we didn't last more than a few minutes! Ouch!! Those waitresses had "huge guns!" Fun first night! More to come!!

Prost!!

Tate Bissinger