Post 60: A member of the family

Today was a rather long day at work.  Total of 10 hours.  In those 10 hours, I ran another 9 tests out of the 28 that I have to do, so hopefully, I'll be able to get the next 10 done on Monday.  Should be doable.  They finally had the AC working in the T&I building (where I have my desk) but it was warm as ever in the building where my Rheometer is.  (not to mention the 5 or 6 ovens that they have there).  This evening we had our Halbjahres Abschlussfeier (celebrating the first half of the year).  It was a lot of fun.  The person who owns the gasthof where we rehearse brought food and drink for us to the Sängerheim.  It is a small plot of land just north of Meitingen where 20 years ago, the choir built a pavillion over the cement circle that covered the old waste water treatment plant.  This pavillion then has benches, tables and a walkway into the house that is there left over from the treatment plant.  It is owned by the männerchor, but they rent it out to people for their own festivities, such as weddings, and what not.  It is a really nice location.  At one point during the evening we congratulated Heiner and Helga on their 44th wedding anniversary.  They also had a music director made out of a birch tree with a wooden music stand (made by Helmut Ortner.  Very nice person, had me over for dinner on Jun 26  (updated blog entry for 26. Jun  I thought I'd written about it, but apparently not.)  We then got up to sing the song about the watchful rooster again.  So I got to demonstrate an American Rooster again.  Heiner started to ask about what name we should give the new wooden director.  The choices were Joachim, Franz, or Clemens.  Joachim and Clemens had very similar votes, so we decided to name him Joachle.  They took the hat off his head and poured a quarter liter Bier over his head to chrisen him "Joachle".  After this, Theo started to speak and menetioned that "We have a guest singing with us today, the third, american, Rooster in this song as demonstrated by our guest.  Ryan, who is a work-student at SGL this summer and stumbled upon the Männerchor and has sung with us for the last 8 weeks.  A very friendly open person, and a great singer, we will be sorry to see him go in a short while.  So we want to give him our honorary membership pin on behalf of all of us."  So I now have the honorary membership pin of the Liederkranz Meitingen.  After thanking a few other people (the people who catered for us, the person who made the wooden director), Theo ended.  Afterward, I had a lot of people shaking my hand.  Eduard (who at one point was the fußball trainer for our director Josef) told me that "Nie zuvor hat jemand so schnell unsre Herzen erobert.  Du bist so offen und freundlich.  Es ist schön Dich in unsre familie zu haben."  "Never before has somebody won our hearts so quickly.  You are so open and friendlich.  It is great to have you in our family."  In talking with other people he recalled the first time we met.  He had leaned over to me, asked me if I knew this piece of music.  I said no, but I will in a minute or so.  He was quite impressed that I can "vom Blatt singen" (sight-sing).  Since that time, he enjoyed sitting next to me at rehearsals (such as when we were singing through the bavarian mass and trying to decifer how to pronounce the various words that were there).  In talking then with more people, they told me that whenever I am around in the area, I should look them up and come back whenever I can.  "Bring your family over when you have one.  When you visit the area, remember us."  They also said that when I am back in February, if I need lodging for the night, that can be easily arranged.  In talking with Theo's wife, she asked if I was already 22, or if my birthday was yet to come.  I said that it was yet to come, on the 21st.  She said that she would then have to see if she could get something arranged with some people for a little celebration for me.  Now I just have to find a good way to thank them.