Tübingen - Ann Arbor

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Freunde der Städtepartnerschaft Tübingen – Ann Arbor e.V. Letter from Tübingen Tübingen January 2010 Hello, Friends of the City Partnership Tübingen - Ann Arbor in Ann Arbor, All the best for your work for the coming year and let's keep the exchanges going! Our Freunde der Städtepartnerschaft Tübingen - Ann Arbor had its membership meeting December 2, 2009. Events of the past year 2009 were reviewed and events of the year to come, 2010, were written into our calendars. Our participation in the Stadtfest in July, with Carol Kappus' help and the wonderful book Ann Arbor, Visions of the Eagle II from Marianne Rauer, was, unfortunately, rained out! Not the book, of course! But the Jazz Workshop held by Mike Grace and Mike Lorenz in a Tübingen Gymnasium in February was a great success. We hope this can become a tradition. We enjoyed greeting in April the 13 U-M students who would be spending the spring/summer semester in Tübingen and we enjoyed arranging for the Saline Fiddlers to play on the Tübinger Marktplatz the end of June. They were a big hit! Another bit hit in Tübingen was the performance of pianist Kathryn Goodson in Tübingen in October. Check out our website for pictures of her concert, her visit to a Tübinger Gymnasium, as well as the Jazz Workshop in February, www.tuebingen-annarbor.de. After the Corwin-Renner family from Ann Arbor spent the summer with their daughters in Tübingen, their 17-year-old daughter Emily made the decision to stay and finish her schooling here. She has taken on the 11th grade at Wildermuth Gymnasium and is adapting to a full school load in German! This year, 2010, is looking forward to another group of U-M students attending the university in Tübingen the spring/summer semester,to a high school trip to Ann Arbor from two Tübinger Gymnasien, May 11 - June 1,and a return trip to Tübingen with high school students from Ann Arbor, June 21 - July 13. In addtion, an exhibition with the works of 4-5 artists from Ann Arbor will be on display in Tübingen from July 1 - July 24. As in Ann Arbor, we in Tübingen are working on an exchange trip between Ann Arbor and Tübingen in 2011. Main themes of the trip are city planning, architecture, and ecological initiatives. Gymnasium students would like to be included in the planning. In Ann Arbor, contact Carol Kappus HPFK [ a t ] aol [ d o t ] com or architect Celeste Allan Novak celeste [a t] rbnarchitects [ d o t ] com if you are interested in helping with the planning. Both Celeste Novak in Ann Arbor and Christoph Melchers in Tübingen have begun talks with local planners, architects and our association. We have lots to look forward to and we hope you will keep in touch with us so that we can coordinate our efforts. There is a very active quilting group at the German-American Institute Tübingen. Any Ann Arbor quilting groups that they could get in touch with? Please feel free to send us news and features which we can put on our website for all to enjoy. We'd be glad to hear from you! Carolyn Carolyn Melchers Freunde der Städtepartnerschaft Tübingen - Ann Arbor e.V. Friends of the City Partnership Tuebingen - Ann Arbor www.tuebingen-annarbor.de carolynmelchers [ a t ] gmx [ d o t ] de tel +49 (0)7071 610 221 fax +49 (0)7071 640 428
Kathryn Goodson besucht Wildermuth Gymnasium Am Dienstag, 20. September 2009 besuchte Kathryn Goodson das Wildermuth Gymnasium Tübingen und hielt vor einer 7. Klasse Musikstunde eine Stunde über ihre Arbeit und Liedgestaltung. Die Klasse hörte interessiert zu und sang dann mit. von Carolyn Melchers	Kathryn Goodson visits Wildermuth Gymnasium On Tuesday, September 20, 2009, Kathryn Goodson visited Wildermuth Gymnasium and spoke to a 7th grade music class about her work in music and with the art song. The class listened attentively and then joined her in song! by Carolyn Melchers
Kathryn Goodson aus Ann Arbor gibt Konzert in Tübingen Am Montag, 19. September 2009 gestaltet Pianistin Kathryn Goodson aus Ann Arbor mit Bariton Ulrich Wand aus Stuttgart im Rahmen der Jazz- und Klassiktage Tübingen einen Deutsch-Amerikanischen Liederabend: Still ist die Nacht. Lieder von Charles Ives und Franz Schuberts Schwanengesang. Veranstaltet vom Deutsch-Amerikanischen Institut Tübingen in Zusammenarbeit mit der Stadt Tübingen, dem Institut für Musikwissenschaft, Universität Tübingen und dem Verein "Freunde der Städtepartnerschaft Tübingen - Ann Arbor." von Carolyn Melchers	Kathryn Goodson from Ann Arbor gives Concert in Tübingen On Monday, September 19, 2009, pianist Kathryn Goodson from Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, and baritone Ulrich Wand from Stuttgart, Germany, presented a “German-American Evening of Song” within the Tübinger Jazz and Classic Days. The evening “Still is the Night” presented songs of Charles Ives and Franz Schubert’s Schwanengesang. The concert was sponsored by the German-American Institute Tübingen in cooperation with the City of Tübingen, the Institute for Musicology Tübingen University and the Association Friends of the City Partnership Tübingen – Ann Arbor. by Carolyn Melchers
Randa Jarrar liest "A Map of Home" in Tübingen Am Dienstag, den 15.9.2009 las Randa Jarrar aus ihrem Erstlingsroman "A Map of Home", der mit dem Hopwood Award ausgezeichnet wurde, im Deutsch-Amerikanischen Institut Tübingen. So frech, jung und charmant ist noch keine Emigrationsgeschichte erzählt worden. Witzig, selbstbewusst und neugierig ist die junge Nidali, die rebellische Tochter einer ägyptisch-griechischen Mutter und eines palästinensischen Vaters. Sie erzählt die Geschichte ihres Aufwachsens in Kuwait, in Ägypten und schließlich in den USA. Randa Jarrar, geboren 1978, wuchs in Kuwait auf, emigrierte mit ihrer Familie nach dem ersten Golfkrieg in die USA und lebt heute in Ann Arbor. von Carolyn Melchers	Randa Jarrar reads "A Map of Home" in Tübingen On Tuesday, September 15, 2009, Randa Jarrar read at the the German-American Institute Tübingen from her first novel "A Map of Home," awarded the Hopwood Award for literary achievement at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Randa Jarrar’s fresh, funny and fearless debut novel chronicles the coming-of-age of Nidali, one of the most unique and irrepressible narrators in contemporary fiction. Born in 1970s Boston to an Egyptian-Greek mother and a Palestinian father, the rebellious Nidali soon moves to a very different life in Kuwait. There the family leads a mildly eccentric middle-class existence—until the Iraqi invasion drives them first to Egypt and then to Texas. Randa Jarrar, born in 1978, grew up in Kuwait, immigrated with her family to the USA after the first Golf War and lives today in Ann Arbor. by Carolyn Melchers
Am 27. Juni 2009 ist die Jugend-Streichinstrumentengruppe ‚Saline Fiddlers’ aus Saline bei Ann Arbor während ihrer Deutschland Tour in Tübingen auf dem Marktplatz aufgetreten. Trotz strömenden Regens am Vormittag und technischer Probleme konnte die Gruppe viele Marktplatz Besucher mit ihrer schwungvollen und musikalisch perfektionierten Performance begeistern. Doug Rhine verfasste folgenden Bericht über den Tübinger Auftritt! The Saline Fiddlers in Tübingen, June 27, 2009 Saturday morning we woke up to heavy rain. We went to the bus with our luggage one-by-one so the driver could load our luggage without everyone waiting in the rain. We rode to Tübingen where we were met by two city guides. Our guides said the heavy rain was very untypical of the season, but we braved the weather to see the sites. The Neckar River we saw at Heidelberg also flows through Tübingen, but Tübingen is upstream from Heidelberg and the river is much smaller here. In Tübingen small boats like gondolas are poled up and down the river. They have an annual boat race among teams of university students that draws thousands of revelers to the city each year. Almost one third of the city’s population is college students. The old city it very hilly with narrow cobblestone streets meeting at many angles. The buildings are fit to the shape of the streets and have survived for hundreds of years. The old town is alive with restaurants and expensive shops. Tübingen’s city hall, or Rathaus, has an old clock tower that not only tells the time and phases of the moon, but also reveals when eclipses of the sun and moon will occur. After our tours we ate lunch in a student commons and, while we were eating, the rain changed to a slight drizzle. We began to hope that we would be able to perform an afternoon concert as planned. We had challenges to overcome. We were scheduled to play in an open area, the Holzmarkt, but there was still mist coming down. Our sound equipment was in a trailer pulled by our tour bus, and, as expected, the tour bus and trailer could not negotiate the narrow streets of the medieval part of the city. The hills and cobblestone streets would make transporting the sound equipment a Herculean challenge. Our Tübingen host, Carolyn Melchers, our director, Ben Culver, Robert, our bus driver and our German sound technician, Robert, all started looking for workable options. There was a covered stage with a sound system in the city’s largest square by the town hall, but it had been set up for a peace conference. When our problem solvers approached the peace conference organizers we discovered that clouds can have silver linings. Because of the heavy rains that morning some of the bands that were supposed to play at the conference had decided not to come. With a little persuasion the organizers decided to take a chance and let the Saline Fiddlers play. Oh, and the sun came out turning the afternoon beautiful. Well, our music drew so many people to the town square that the conference organizers did not want us to stop. After playing a set of tunes and taking a bow, the conference organizers asked the group to play more. The city has strict limitations about how many hours of music can be performed in the square. The sound official said if the conference had us continue playing that a later band would have to be cancelled. The conference organizer didn’t want to lose the crowd, so he promised the crowd we would be back again, had some conference participants speak to the crowd, then had the Fiddlers play a couple more songs. The unusual situation gave the Saline Fiddlers a place to perform bypassing the difficulties of moving our sound equipment, it allowed a large and enthusiastic crowd to gather and hear us play, and it made the peace conference organizers happy as well. We hiked back to our tour bus, changed out of our uniforms, spent some free time exploring more of Tübingen (some of us explored a second castle) then went to a restaurant behind the city hall, the Ratskeller. We were seated in a beautiful private room with a barrel vault ceiling and ate salad and spätzle and pork and vegetables. Finally we hiked back to our bus to begin our drive to Lindenberg im Allgäu, the sister-city of Saline. It was raining again a little when we arrived at Linderberg, so we unloaded quickly, met our host families, and jumped in their cars to begin a new adventure. ~Doug Rhine http://fiddlers.stringcommunity.com/2009/07/03/tubingen/
Hello Friends in Tübingen! Here in Ann Arbor we are still shivering in the intense cold . Our highest temperatures have been around -6 degrees Celsius and we’re all pretty tired of it! However the end must be in sight since we begin Daylight Savings Time this Saturday. And finally the snow cover, which we had for two months, is mostly gone. I’m sure we will have more snow but at this time of year, we hope it can’t last long! So, what do we do in Ann Arbor when it’s too cold to go out? Read more... by Carol Kappus, March 5, 2009
February 20, 2009 Tübingen, Germany Back from Ann Arbor – An Interview We would like to talk to a friend who recently moved back from Ann Arbor. Her name is Melanie and she lived in Ann Arbor from April 2002 to October 2008. Today, her home is in a small town, Tamm, close to Ludwigsburg, Germany. Q: Melanie, why did you move to Ann Arbor in 2002? A: My husband (then-boyfriend) decided to go to Ann Arbor for business. I had been working in the automotive industry in Germany and was able to find a job fairly near to Ann Arbor at the Chrysler headquarters in Auburn Hills, north of Detroit. It was very interesting to work there and I had a lot of nice co-workers. However, I have to admit that over time I became rather tired of the commute every day from Ann Arbor. In addition, I became pregnant! Q: What were your favorite spots in Ann Arbor? A: One of the places I always loved to go, whatever the weather, was the Arboretum. We used to take wonderful walks there. In downtown A2, I enjoyed going to the Café Espresso Royal, especially on Wednesdays when they had Latte Day. It had a very cozy environment with large sofas and chairs. Q: Melanie, you look like an outdoor person, so I assume you also had favorite places in the surrounding area? A: Absolutely! With every season, there was a great place to go. In the winter we would go for cross-country skiing and ice skating in the parks. In the summer, canoeing on the Huron River was perfect. There are beautiful lakes all around town, but our favorite lake was Silver Lake, with beach and boating in the summer and walking on the ice in the winter. But even in town I generally used my bike to get around. Q: It sounds like you had a great time in Michigan. What did you find upon returning to Germany that made you happy to be back home? A: The most important thing was being close to my family. As I said earlier, I became pregnant and our son was born in Ann Arbor. But life for a family with a small child is so much easier if you have grandparents and other family close by! And there are some specific things, such as the German “Strassenfeste” (parties on the streets) and the abundance of public transportation, that make living in Germany also enjoyable. All in all, I have to say that it is always good to be home, but there is a more negative general mood here in Germany. Americans are more polite and I miss their optimism. I send my best wishes to the people in Ann Arbor and all of South Eastern Michigan! At Michigan Sailing Club on Baseline Lake our son Max Melanie canoeing Alex on Baseline Lake by Sabine Brändlle
January in Ann Arbor Winter has definitely come to Ann Arbor. This is the time of year that always makes me think of the famous poem by Christina Rosseti: In the Bleak Mid Winter. The first stanza goes like this: In the bleak mid winter Frosty winds made moan. Earth stood cold as iron, Water like a stone. Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow. In the bleak mid winter Long ago. Not only do we have deep snow everywhere but we also have an enormous crop of icicles. They are enchantingly beautiful but dangerous, since big ones can be like a medieval sword when they fall and all of them can cause melting water to back up under house roofs, leaking down inside walls. This has happened to us many times, including last night! As the winter progresses the only people who continue to rejoice in the snow are the skiers and the school kids, who get a day off of school – a “snow day” – when ever the roads are too snow covered or icy for the school buses to travel safely. The rest of us are already yearning for Spring and looking longingly at ads for vacations on sunny beaches in Mexico or the Caribbean! This is the season of indoor fun. Read more... -- by Carol Kappus
Einwöchiger Jazz Workshop mit amerikanischen Jazz Pädagogen aus Partnerstadt Ann Arbor Der Verein Freunde der Städtepartnerschaft Tübingen - Ann Arbor organisierte einen einwöchigen Jazz Improvisation Workshop für Schüler und Schülerinnen Tübingens mit den amerikanischen Jazz Musikern und Pädagogen Mike Grace und Mike Lorenz aus Tübingens amerikanischer Partnerstadt Ann Arbor, Michigan. Der Workshop fand von Montag, 09.02.2009 bis Freitag, 13.02. 2009 täglich für Anfänger von 16:00 - 17:45 Uhr und für Fortgeschrittene von 18:15 - 20:00 Uhr im Uhlandgymnasium Tübingen statt. Jedes Instrument war willkommen! Durch die ausgezeichnete und Jahrzehnte lang geübte und zum Erfolg führende Methode der Jazzpädagogik von Mike Grace zusammen mit Mike Lorenz, Musikprofessor an der Siena Heights University und durch die konzentrierte Mitarbeit der Schüler und Schülerinnen war das Abschlusskonzert am Freitag, 13.02.2009 um 20:15 Uhr im Uhlandgymnasium Tübingen für alle Eltern, Freunde und Vereinsmitglieder ein großer Erfolg.	One-week Jazz Workshop with Ann Arbor Jazz Teachers and Musicians Mike Grace and Mike Lorenz The association Friends of the City Partnership Tübingen - Ann Arbor organized a one-week Jazz Improvisation Workshop for high school students of Tübingen with the jazz musicians and educators Mike Grace and Mike Lorenz from Tübingen's partner city Ann Arbor, Michigan. The workshop was from Monday, February 9, to Friday, February 13, daily, for beginners from 4:00 pm - 5:45 pm and for advanced students from 6:15 pm - 8:00 pm in Uhlandgymnasium Tübingen. All instruments were welcome! Through Mike Grace’s excelllent, long practiced and successfully applied method of jazz pedagogy, together with Mike Lorenz, Professor for Music at Siena Heights Unversity, and with the concentrated efforts of all student participants, the final concert on Friday, February 13, at 8:15 pm in Uhlandgymnasium for all parents, friends and association members was a great success.

Neuigkeiten

News

Freunde der Städtepartnerschaft Tübingen – Ann Arbor e.V.
Letter from Tübingen
Tübingen
January 2010

Hello, Friends of the City Partnership Tübingen - Ann Arbor in Ann Arbor,

All the best for your work for the coming year and let's keep the exchanges going!

Our Freunde der Städtepartnerschaft Tübingen - Ann Arbor had its membership meeting December 2, 2009.

Events of the past year 2009 were reviewed and events of the year to come, 2010, were written into our calendars.

Our participation in the Stadtfest in July, with Carol Kappus' help and the wonderful book Ann Arbor, Visions of the Eagle II from Marianne Rauer, was, unfortunately, rained out! Not the book, of course!

But the Jazz Workshop held by Mike Grace and Mike Lorenz in a Tübingen Gymnasium in February was a great success. We hope this can become a tradition.

We enjoyed greeting in April the 13 U-M students who would be spending the spring/summer semester in Tübingen and we enjoyed arranging for the Saline Fiddlers to play on the Tübinger Marktplatz the end of June. They were a big hit!

Another bit hit in Tübingen was the performance of pianist Kathryn Goodson in Tübingen in October.

Check out our website for pictures of her concert, her visit to a Tübinger Gymnasium, as well as the Jazz Workshop in February, www.tuebingen-annarbor.de.

After the Corwin-Renner family from Ann Arbor spent the summer with their daughters in Tübingen, their 17-year-old daughter Emily made the decision to stay and finish her schooling here.

She has taken on the 11th grade at Wildermuth Gymnasium and is adapting to a full school load in German!

This year, 2010, is looking forward to another group of U-M students attending the university in Tübingen the spring/summer semester,to a high school trip to Ann Arbor from two Tübinger Gymnasien, May 11 - June 1,and a return trip to Tübingen with high school students from Ann Arbor, June 21 - July 13.

In addtion, an exhibition with the works of 4-5 artists from Ann Arbor will be on display in Tübingen from July 1 - July 24.

As in Ann Arbor, we in Tübingen are working on an exchange trip between Ann Arbor and Tübingen in 2011. Main themes of the trip are city planning, architecture, and ecological initiatives. Gymnasium students would like to be included in the planning.
In Ann Arbor, contact Carol Kappus HPFK [ a t ] aol [ d o t ] com or architect Celeste Allan Novak celeste [a t] rbnarchitects [ d o t ] com if you are interested in helping with the planning. Both Celeste Novak in Ann Arbor and Christoph Melchers in Tübingen have begun talks with local planners, architects and our association.

We have lots to look forward to and we hope you will keep in touch with us so that we can coordinate our efforts. There is a very active quilting group at the German-American Institute Tübingen. Any Ann Arbor quilting groups that they could get in touch with?

Please feel free to send us news and features which we can put on our website for all to enjoy.

We'd be glad to hear from you!

Carolyn

Carolyn Melchers
Freunde der Städtepartnerschaft Tübingen - Ann Arbor e.V.
Friends of the City Partnership Tuebingen - Ann Arbor
www.tuebingen-annarbor.de
carolynmelchers [ a t ] gmx [ d o t ] de
tel +49 (0)7071 610 221
fax +49 (0)7071 640 428

Kathryn Goodson besucht Wildermuth Gymnasium

Am Dienstag, 20. September 2009 besuchte Kathryn Goodson das Wildermuth Gymnasium Tübingen und hielt vor einer 7. Klasse Musikstunde eine Stunde über ihre Arbeit und Liedgestaltung. Die Klasse hörte interessiert zu und sang dann mit.

Kathryn Goodson am Unterrichten

Bild der unterrichteten 7. Klasse des Wildermuthgymnasiums

von Carolyn Melchers

Kathryn Goodson visits Wildermuth Gymnasium

On Tuesday, September 20, 2009, Kathryn Goodson visited Wildermuth Gymnasium and spoke to a 7th grade music class about her work in music and with the art song. The class listened attentively and then joined her in song!

Kathryn Goodson teaching

the 7th class of the Wildermuth Gymnasium

by Carolyn Melchers

Kathryn Goodson aus Ann Arbor gibt Konzert in Tübingen

Am Montag, 19. September 2009 gestaltet Pianistin Kathryn Goodson aus Ann Arbor mit Bariton Ulrich Wand aus Stuttgart im Rahmen der Jazz- und Klassiktage Tübingen einen Deutsch-Amerikanischen Liederabend: Still ist die Nacht. Lieder von Charles Ives und Franz Schuberts Schwanengesang. Veranstaltet vom Deutsch-Amerikanischen Institut Tübingen in Zusammenarbeit mit der Stadt Tübingen, dem Institut für Musikwissenschaft, Universität Tübingen und dem Verein "Freunde der Städtepartnerschaft Tübingen - Ann Arbor."

Kathryn Goodson and Ulrich Wand

von Carolyn Melchers

Kathryn Goodson from Ann Arbor gives Concert in Tübingen

On Monday, September 19, 2009, pianist Kathryn Goodson from Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, and baritone Ulrich Wand from Stuttgart, Germany, presented a “German-American Evening of Song” within the Tübinger Jazz and Classic Days. The evening “Still is the Night” presented songs of Charles Ives and Franz Schubert’s Schwanengesang. The concert was sponsored by the German-American Institute Tübingen in cooperation with the City of Tübingen, the Institute for Musicology Tübingen University and the Association Friends of the City Partnership Tübingen – Ann Arbor.

Kathryn Goodson and Ulrich Wand

by Carolyn Melchers

Randa Jarrar liest "A Map of Home" in Tübingen

Am Dienstag, den 15.9.2009 las Randa Jarrar aus ihrem Erstlingsroman "A Map of Home", der mit dem Hopwood Award ausgezeichnet wurde, im Deutsch-Amerikanischen Institut Tübingen. So frech, jung und charmant ist noch keine Emigrationsgeschichte erzählt worden. Witzig, selbstbewusst und neugierig ist die junge Nidali, die rebellische Tochter einer ägyptisch-griechischen Mutter und eines palästinensischen Vaters. Sie erzählt die Geschichte ihres Aufwachsens in Kuwait, in Ägypten und schließlich in den USA. Randa Jarrar, geboren 1978, wuchs in Kuwait auf, emigrierte mit ihrer Familie nach dem ersten Golfkrieg in die USA und lebt heute in Ann Arbor.

von Carolyn Melchers

Randa Jarrar reads "A Map of Home" in Tübingen

On Tuesday, September 15, 2009, Randa Jarrar read at the the German-American Institute Tübingen from her first novel "A Map of Home," awarded the Hopwood Award for literary achievement at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Randa Jarrar’s fresh, funny and fearless debut novel chronicles the coming-of-age of Nidali, one of the most unique and irrepressible narrators in contemporary fiction. Born in 1970s Boston to an Egyptian-Greek mother and a Palestinian father, the rebellious Nidali soon moves to a very different life in Kuwait. There the family leads a mildly eccentric middle-class existence—until the Iraqi invasion drives them first to Egypt and then to Texas. Randa Jarrar, born in 1978, grew up in Kuwait, immigrated with her family to the USA after the first Golf War and lives today in Ann Arbor.

by Carolyn Melchers

Am 27. Juni 2009 ist die Jugend-Streichinstrumentengruppe ‚Saline Fiddlers’ aus Saline bei Ann Arbor während ihrer Deutschland Tour in Tübingen auf dem Marktplatz aufgetreten. Trotz strömenden Regens am Vormittag und technischer Probleme konnte die Gruppe viele Marktplatz Besucher mit ihrer schwungvollen und musikalisch perfektionierten Performance begeistern. Doug Rhine verfasste folgenden Bericht über den Tübinger Auftritt!

The Saline Fiddlers in Tübingen, June 27, 2009

Saturday morning we woke up to heavy rain. We went to the bus with our luggage one-by-one so the driver could load our luggage without everyone waiting in the rain. We rode to Tübingen where we were met by two city guides. Our guides said the heavy rain was very untypical of the season, but we braved the weather to see the sites.

The Neckar River we saw at Heidelberg also flows through Tübingen, but Tübingen is upstream from Heidelberg and the river is much smaller here. In Tübingen small boats like gondolas are poled up and down the river. They have an annual boat race among teams of university students that draws thousands of revelers to the city each year. Almost one third of the city’s population is college students.

The old city it very hilly with narrow cobblestone streets meeting at many angles. The buildings are fit to the shape of the streets and have survived for hundreds of years. The old town is alive with restaurants and expensive shops. Tübingen’s city hall, or Rathaus, has an old clock tower that not only tells the time and phases of the moon, but also reveals when eclipses of the sun and moon will occur.

After our tours we ate lunch in a student commons and, while we were eating, the rain changed to a slight drizzle. We began to hope that we would be able to perform an afternoon concert as planned.

We had challenges to overcome. We were scheduled to play in an open area, the Holzmarkt, but there was still mist coming down. Our sound equipment was in a trailer pulled by our tour bus, and, as expected, the tour bus and trailer could not negotiate the narrow streets of the medieval part of the city. The hills and cobblestone streets would make transporting the sound equipment a Herculean challenge.

Our Tübingen host, Carolyn Melchers, our director, Ben Culver, Robert, our bus driver and our German sound technician, Robert, all started looking for workable options. There was a covered stage with a sound system in the city’s largest square by the town hall, but it had been set up for a peace conference. When our problem solvers approached the peace conference organizers we discovered that clouds can have silver linings. Because of the heavy rains that morning some of the bands that were supposed to play at the conference had decided not to come. With a little persuasion the organizers decided to take a chance and let the Saline Fiddlers play. Oh, and the sun came out turning the afternoon beautiful.

Well, our music drew so many people to the town square that the conference organizers did not want us to stop. After playing a set of tunes and taking a bow, the conference organizers asked the group to play more. The city has strict limitations about how many hours of music can be performed in the square. The sound official said if the conference had us continue playing that a later band would have to be cancelled. The conference organizer didn’t want to lose the crowd, so he promised the crowd we would be back again, had some conference participants speak to the crowd, then had the Fiddlers play a couple more songs.

The unusual situation gave the Saline Fiddlers a place to perform bypassing the difficulties of moving our sound equipment, it allowed a large and enthusiastic crowd to gather and hear us play, and it made the peace conference organizers happy as well.

We hiked back to our tour bus, changed out of our uniforms, spent some free time exploring more of Tübingen (some of us explored a second castle) then went to a restaurant behind the city hall, the Ratskeller. We were seated in a beautiful private room with a barrel vault ceiling and ate salad and spätzle and pork and vegetables. Finally we hiked back to our bus to begin our drive to Lindenberg im Allgäu, the sister-city of Saline. It was raining again a little when we arrived at Linderberg, so we unloaded quickly, met our host families, and jumped in their cars to begin a new adventure.

~Doug Rhine

http://fiddlers.stringcommunity.com/2009/07/03/tubingen/

Hello Friends in Tübingen!

Here in Ann Arbor we are still shivering in the intense cold . Our highest temperatures have been around -6 degrees Celsius and we’re all pretty tired of it! However the end must be in sight since we begin Daylight Savings Time this Saturday. And finally the snow cover, which we had for two months, is mostly gone. I’m sure we will have more snow but at this time of year, we hope it can’t last long!
So, what do we do in Ann Arbor when it’s too cold to go out? Read more...

by Carol Kappus, March 5, 2009

February 20, 2009
Tübingen, Germany

Back from Ann Arbor – An Interview

We would like to talk to a friend who recently moved back from Ann Arbor. Her name is Melanie and she lived in Ann Arbor from April 2002 to October 2008. Today, her home is in a small town, Tamm, close to Ludwigsburg, Germany.

Q: Melanie, why did you move to Ann Arbor in 2002?
A: My husband (then-boyfriend) decided to go to Ann Arbor for business. I had been working in the automotive industry in Germany and was able to find a job fairly near to Ann Arbor at the Chrysler headquarters in Auburn Hills, north of Detroit. It was very interesting to work there and I had a lot of nice co-workers. However, I have to admit that over time I became rather tired of the commute every day from Ann Arbor. In addition, I became pregnant!

Q: What were your favorite spots in Ann Arbor?
A: One of the places I always loved to go, whatever the weather, was the Arboretum. We used to take wonderful walks there. In downtown A2, I enjoyed going to the Café Espresso Royal, especially on Wednesdays when they had Latte Day. It had a very cozy environment with large sofas and chairs.

Q: Melanie, you look like an outdoor person, so I assume you also had favorite places in the surrounding area?
A: Absolutely! With every season, there was a great place to go. In the winter we would go for cross-country skiing and ice skating in the parks. In the summer, canoeing on the Huron River was perfect. There are beautiful lakes all around town, but our favorite lake was Silver Lake, with beach and boating in the summer and walking on the ice in the winter. But even in town I generally used my bike to get around.

Q: It sounds like you had a great time in Michigan. What did you find upon returning to Germany that made you happy to be back home?
A: The most important thing was being close to my family. As I said earlier, I became pregnant and our son was born in Ann Arbor. But life for a family with a small child is so much easier if you have grandparents and other family close by! And there are some specific things, such as the German “Strassenfeste” (parties on the streets) and the abundance of public transportation, that make living in Germany also enjoyable. All in all, I have to say that it is always good to be home, but there is a more negative general mood here in Germany. Americans are more polite and I miss their optimism. I send my best wishes to the people in Ann Arbor and all of South Eastern Michigan!

At Michigan Sailing Club on Baseline Lake

our son Max

Melanie canoeing

Alex on Baseline Lake

by Sabine Brändlle

January in Ann Arbor

Winter has definitely come to Ann Arbor. This is the time of year that always makes me think of the famous poem by Christina Rosseti: In the Bleak Mid Winter. The first stanza goes like this:

Picture Sunrise from My Back Window

In the bleak mid winter
Frosty winds made moan.
Earth stood cold as iron,
Water like a stone.
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow.
In the bleak mid winter
Long ago.

par

Not only do we have deep snow everywhere but we also have an enormous crop of icicles. They are enchantingly beautiful but dangerous, since big ones can be like a medieval sword when they Image Champion Ice Icicle

fall and all of them can cause melting water to back up under house roofs, leaking down inside walls. This has happened to us many times, including last night! As the winter progresses the only people who continue to rejoice in the snow are the skiers and the school kids, who get a day off of school – a “snow day” – when ever the roads are too snow covered or icy for the school buses to travel safely. The rest of us are already yearning for Spring and looking longingly at ads for vacations on sunny beaches in Mexico or the Caribbean!

This is the season of indoor fun. Read more...

-- by Carol Kappus

Einwöchiger Jazz Workshop mit amerikanischen Jazz Pädagogen aus Partnerstadt Ann Arbor

Der Verein Freunde der Städtepartnerschaft Tübingen - Ann Arbor organisierte einen einwöchigen Jazz Improvisation Workshop für Schüler und Schülerinnen Tübingens mit den amerikanischen Jazz Musikern und Pädagogen Mike Grace und Mike Lorenz aus Tübingens amerikanischer Partnerstadt Ann Arbor, Michigan. Der Workshop fand von Montag, 09.02.2009 bis Freitag, 13.02. 2009 täglich für Anfänger von 16:00 - 17:45 Uhr und für Fortgeschrittene von 18:15 - 20:00 Uhr im Uhlandgymnasium Tübingen statt. Jedes Instrument war willkommen! Durch die ausgezeichnete und Jahrzehnte lang geübte und zum Erfolg führende Methode der Jazzpädagogik von Mike Grace zusammen mit Mike Lorenz, Musikprofessor an der Siena Heights University und durch die konzentrierte Mitarbeit der Schüler und Schülerinnen war das Abschlusskonzert am Freitag, 13.02.2009 um 20:15 Uhr im Uhlandgymnasium Tübingen für alle Eltern, Freunde und Vereinsmitglieder ein großer Erfolg.

Improvisation Workshop

One-week Jazz Workshop with Ann Arbor Jazz Teachers and Musicians Mike Grace and Mike Lorenz

The association Friends of the City Partnership Tübingen - Ann Arbor organized a one-week Jazz Improvisation Workshop for high school students of Tübingen with the jazz musicians and educators Mike Grace and Mike Lorenz from Tübingen's partner city Ann Arbor, Michigan. The workshop was from Monday, February 9, to Friday, February 13, daily, for beginners from 4:00 pm - 5:45 pm and for advanced students from 6:15 pm - 8:00 pm in Uhlandgymnasium Tübingen. All instruments were welcome! Through Mike Grace’s excelllent, long practiced and successfully applied method of jazz pedagogy, together with Mike Lorenz, Professor for Music at Siena Heights Unversity, and with the concentrated efforts of all student participants, the final concert on Friday, February 13, at 8:15 pm in Uhlandgymnasium for all parents, friends and association members was a great success.

Improvisation Workshop