A Blog a Day...

For those of you who long since went into withdrawal since life distracted us from keeping up with our blog, I vow to write a blog a day for the next three days. It may be short. It may be old news for some of you. It may be boring. But, I'm going to do it.

In honor of the FIFA World Championship game tonight, I just wanted to tell you about our football (soccer for Americans) fixation of the past month. Now, I have NEVER in my ENTIRE life watched a game from beginning to end. Erik enjoys it, but he certainly doesn't HAVE to watch it. Perhaps it has been a much needed way to ignore our complicated lives for a few hours at a time, but I would have to estimate that we have watched at least 40-50% of the 63 games played thus far. I must say, now that I understand it a bit better, I get more out of it.

Now, in the beginning we were popping back and forth between Vienna and Munich. Erik was getting treatment from his own well-trusted doctors for his knee problem and working off the part that the insurance doesn't cover by playing with MCO in Vienna. That was fine. In Vienna we could go to the cafe below our apartment hotel if we wanted to see a game on a big screen. Then there was the quieter option of the TV in our room. We saw Germany totally cream Australia in an enormous hall in Munich. We had to stand the whole time, but it was worth it. Otherwise we watched huddled up in Erik's aunt's guest room while it poured down rain outside. The last night in Munich happened to be the year-end party of the Munich Philharmonic. At the end of the dinner, we watched with a bunch of Erik's colleagues who are all thrilled that he is coming back (even at 50%) next season.

Then it was off to Doha. Now, annoyingly enough, in a ploy to get people to buy cable or satellite dishes, Qatar blocked one or two of the few TV stations worth watching that we actually get in Doha. Of course, they were the ones broadcasting the games. We had three methods of seeing games there. One was the expensive method - the Spanish restaurant at the Hilton Hotel - one of the few places in Doha where one can actually get a glass of wine to drink to go along with some tapas. The second was a little corner bar at the Sheraton hotel. Erik had to "join" up to see that one and I managed to talk my way in part-way through the game because I had just been playing a wedding there. That was pretty weird. It was full of single men, I assume mostly hotel guests, and what we finally figured out must have been prostitutes looking for work. Talk about double standards... ANYWAY, the free option was an enormous air-conditioned tent in the souk (the market center/"old town" of Doha). That was a very interesting experience. We went there to see Germany absolutely clobber England. We were with a German colleague. In the front of the hall were low beach chairs. That turned out to be the family area. Even without kids, we profit from the system. Just looking around for seats attracted the attention of the guys working there and they made a couple single men move for us. Our single friend (a.k.a. "brother") was able to sit with us, albeit on the astro-turf-covered floor. It was a bit embarrassing the trouble they went to, but we weren't the only ones treated that way. It was a very comfortable way to watch. The only people in front of us were single guys laying on gigantic pillows and a few Qatari kids on the floor. If you look carefully, you can see them in their white thawbs in this picture:

The place was packed and, for me, it was somehow the most exciting game of the whole tournament.

This past week, we have been together in Cologne. We attempted to watch a game down at the cafe on the corner, but they had organized it badly and only the people right in front could see. We were even there 45 minutes early, but those tables had been reserved, so being early didn't help. We got frustrated and left right at the beginning. The consequence? We missed the German goal that happened within the first three minutes. Bummer! Of course they played it back again and again, but that's still not the same thing as real time. The rest of the games we also watched at home.

Now Erik is back in Doha doing his last "youth orchestra" concerts and running around organizing paperwork for us to leave and let me tell you, it's VERY complicated to leave that country. Thankfully, I think it will all work out. It's just a matter of exactly which day they'll have it done. We hope to drive out of there at 4am on the 23rd of July. We shall see...

In the meantime, I'll be blogging for the next few days. I promise.

Empty Promises

Sorry about my empty promise way back in (ehem) April of imminently writing more installments. Life took over with full force and it just didn't happen (obviously). You're not going to get a lot out of me right now either except the very good news that we are moving to...

...(drum roll, please)...

the land of elk and reindeer, 

home to trolls and nisse, 

 

the country of Grieg, Munch and Ibsen,

the homeland of my father, 

the most gorgeous country in the world,

NORWAY!

Ta-da!

Visitors

Once again, my apologies. It's been a long time. Our lives are absolutely crazy right now. I can't even begin to explain everything. However, I have indeed been thinking about things I'd like to write about. Most likely I'll go backwards for the next few blogs which I promise to write this week.

Visitors...we just had visitors from Germany. For much of their visit I wasn't even here. I was off on a strenuous tour in Europe (next blog topic). Erik was here most of the time, but on the same day I arrived back in Doha last week, he had to go to London. By the last day of their visit, all five of us were finally in house.

The theme that kept going through our heads was, "Yeah, but we actually have to live here." Of course when one is on vacation, one wants to have a great time - a good memory. Totally understandable. On the surface it looks great. Big apartment with no expenses (don't forget, we still have the expense of renting an apartment in Cologne), nice car, good pay with no taxes (which is going straight to the bank to pay off debts), warm weather (but seldom blue sky because the air is so full of pollution) and low work hours (but no way of planning the future because the schedules aren't known more than a few weeks in advance). Six months of living here gives one a very different impression from that of ten days of visiting.

As Western Europeans, it's simply a fact that we can't live the way we are accustomed. We knew that going into it. However, we see plenty of Arabs in Europe who, for instance, cover themselves. I am not being racist here. Rather, I am simply pointing out a double standard. Either we all accept each other or we all don't. This is even affecting our love life. Although once in a while we just throw up our hands and do it anyway if we are pretty sure nobody is looking on, we technically aren't allowed to hold hands or kiss in public. We tend to take our chances in the arrivals and departure areas at the airport.

The lack of basic human rights here is a real struggle for us. One of the hardest things is the lack of mobility. For me (Karen), it is in some respects easier. Since I'm not formally employed, I can leave by plane anytime. However, should I wish to drive out, the only way is through Saudi Arabia. I would not only need a visa, but must also be in the company of my husband, father or brother. Plus, I must cover myself from head to toe and I can't be the one driving the car. Since Erik is employed here, anytime he wants to leave, even if it's just for the day, he must have an exit permit which takes four days to process. We often ask ourselves what would happen if there were to be sickness or a death in the family and we need to leave immediately. For the first two months, Erik was completely without a passport. Thankfully, mine was only gone a few weeks. In a place like this, that feels like being naked.

This is a country in which you are lucky to accomplish one important thing a day. That is due to any number of reasons from bureaucracy to traffic to general attitude. The stock phrase here is "insha'Allah" (literally, "if God wills it"). That basically means anything from "it will happen" to "forget it". When you have to live with that everyday, it's not so "geil" after all (our German guests' favorite expression literally meaning "cool").

Our guests were waxing poetically about how nice they found the Qataris they've met here. It seemed to be based on just two things. Once, while crazily trying to walk in the heat along a road with no pedestrian pathway (mostly the case here), a Qatari picked them up and drove them home. That's because locals can't imagine going anywhere by foot. The other event was a ride through the dunes in the desert. Well, the guy was getting paid to do one of the few things they actually seem to like to do here - drive like a crazy person at a 45-degree angle. Of course he was nice. They paid him. Wracking our brains, it seems we have only really met one nice Qatari, and still, he is actually half Indian.

Yes, they look exotic and very graceful in their abayas and thawbs, but we just don't have a chance to get to know them. I'm sure there are many nice people somewhere in there but we have very little contact. When we came here we had such high hopes of becoming a part of their community, but it has proven to be impossible.

Our guests seemed to be surprised that we don't listen to local music in the car. First of all, there pretty much isn't any. Secondly, do we listen to schlager music in Germany just because it's German? No. We don't like it, so we listen to what we do like. Aside from Al Jazeera (the local and very good, internationally known news station), we listen to Alison Krauss and Handel in our car - no matter where we are.

Right now, we are just at the end of probably the best time of year weather-wise and I'm certainly glad our guests chose this particular time to visit. There is some green left from the cooler winter days and flowers are still blooming. It's warm enough to go to the beach to swim, but not so warm that stepping on the sand and being under the sun's rays is intolerable. But, when Erik arrived back in September, it was 45 degrees at night and if there was any vegetation to be seen, it was dry as a bone. Very soon, it will be back to that kind of weather and everything will dry up. That is what it is like 8-9 months of the year.

I don't want to go into detail on this blog about the professional nightmare we are experiencing here, but we are suffering immensely. Even if one knows one is right and is far above the level of the people who are doing the judging, it is #$*^ hard to keep one's integrity intact. Nobody here is being helped by pity, but we had hoped that we would receive some empathy from our guests - Erik's friends for some three decades. That was hardly the case. How could we possibly be so unhappy when everything here is so geil?

Suffice it to say, that in any real orchestra what is taking place right now simply could not happen. The very small, insecure people who have taken upon themselves to hold our future in the palms of their hands would simply be fired. The rest of the orchestra would stand up and say that the whole thing is completely unethical and there would be a strike. The administration would actually do something about it. Instead they are sticking their heads in the sand (and there's certainly lots of sand here). I repeat here my status on Facebook from last week:

Ethics, people! Think about the impact of your actions or even inaction! Other peoples' lives are not toys for you to play with. 

I leave you with something fun - a few pics from my gig last week playing for the opening of a Lotus showroom:

Two Loti in the Intercontinental Hotel parking lot.

Awfully small to compete with the Land Cruisers...

  The make-up job they did on me

Here and there

My apologies to everyone. It's been ages since we've posted anything. We have a very good excuse. Lots of traveling.

My time in Salzburg ended with playing a fantastic Mozart mass in the Mozarteum. So far it's one of the musical highlights of the year, but the year is still young...

After Salzburg came concerts in Lyon and Grenoble and then Erik escaped the desert so we could both spend a few weeks in Norway. It was -10 degrees Celsius and there was lots of snow on the ground - sometimes even to blizzard proportions, but somehow that was a lot easier to take than +5 degrees Celsius and the rain that met us on our return to Cologne.

View of the bay

The frozen harbor

The view from my practice room

Bass buddies

Skiing with the maestro

We had a fantastic time with incredibly nice, welcoming and friendly people. The town is lovely.

But alas, Erik is back in Qatar now and I am on the road with Mahler Chamber Orchestra. It's been a bit stressful because I've had a few writing deadlines, but I've met them and from here on out it's smooth sailing. We're in Italy now, Ferrara to be precise. 

 The cathedral

 

Its tower

Small shops built against the cathedral wall

Tomorrow it's off to Sandland again, but not the Sandland you're thinnking of. This time I'm going to El Ain which is near Dubai and Abu Dhabi. That will put me near Doha and on Saturday I'll take off from Dubai at 9:10am and land in Doha at the same time. How's that for a quick flight?