David Kellam

Amidst much tension, we weaved through the streets of Berlin to the Epiphanienkirche near the Kaiserdamm U-bahn station. Awaiting us was a hearty soup (although unlike the cadet equivalent, it contained real beef rather than actual hearts), much to Zoe’s chagrin. After some tangoified ‘I want Jesus to walk with me’, we sent our bags off to our nighttime destination and prepared for our concert.

The breathing exercises worked. I found I had much greater lung capacity. Note to self: do these next time. The concert went. That is all that can really be said. I think we were all just pleased to get it over with. The ‘travel all day and give a concert at the end’ model has many flaws. We shall see those exposed today as we travel 11 hours into Poland on festy 2nd world trains. Of course, a concert at the end awaits, just because they’re too cheap to actually pay for accommodation one night (i.e. We get accomodation if we sing). I am too used to it to care though.

The most disappointing aspect of tour was when we realised we would be unable to stay with our traditional Berlin billets - Ulrike und Julia. Julia came to our concert and was expecting to drive us home, but in a flurry of disorganisation, our bags had already been transported to the suburbs where 16 choir members were to be billeted. So we had to swap billets for the night. Thankfully, it was only for one night and it was already 1030 by the time we got back, with a 748am train to catch. So there was not that much time for socialising anyway. Although the annoyance increased as we found out Ulrike had again held her birthday party during the time in which we were to stay. So Zoe and Kass got introduced to the best billets ever!

Nevertheless, we return to Berlin next Thursday, and regardless of other billet arrangements, we have organised to stay with them then. We will have 3 days then, which represents our only real chance to relax during the trip. Still, with so much to see and do in Berlin, we may emerge even more tired than after the travel:concert modus operandi.

This trip has a strange deathy overtone. Its finality stems not from my decision to leave the choir, but that the choir itself will cease to exist in anything approximating its current form. The choir as it stands is just going through the motions. Douglas is drained by the politics; the longer-serving members aware of its decline. Such things lie beyond our power and hence our responsibility (stealing Frank’s FLITE signature :p), so I guess we shall have to wait and see what happens. In any case, I’m not bothering with my resignation from the choir just yet. It will become redundant before too long.

Anyway, the comedy sketch quoting session begins. So I shall leave this post here. Further posts may be limited until Thursday, as we enter the backwater regions of Poland.

Music: ‘Come Mr Taliban’
Mood: Polish trains? Not. Happy. Jan.
Food: about to starve…

DRK

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 3rd, 2005 at 2:01 am and is filed under Europe 2005. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.