Wishing All Of You a Very Merry Christmas with happy hours of being together with your loved ones!
Frohe Weihnachten! Frohes Fest!
Image: Pixabay byJo-Band aga2rk
Christmas Carols Services and Christmas Eve Services in German
If you are looking for some German Christmas service this holiday season, here are some suggestions for you:
St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in La Mesa offers two festive events:
Sunday, 15. December 2019 – 3:00 pm
Albert Einstein School Kinderchor (Children’s choir)
Weihnachtsprogramm mit Krippenspiel (The Albert Einstein School’s Christmas Programme with Nativity Play)
Sunday, 22. December 2019 – 7.00 pm
Deutschsprachiger Weihnachtsgottesdienst
Lesungen und Lieder (German Christmas Carol Service)
Please bring your families and friends to these festive events.
Please find driving directions to the church at this link:
http://www.st-lukes-la-mesa.org/maps.php
Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Santa Monica has its
Christmas Eve 2019 service at 3:00 pm.
Family German Christmas Service – a service of readings, carols, organ music, a children’s message and a Kinderkrippenspiel (Children’s Nativity play) entirely in German.
ADDRESS: 1343 Ocean Park Blvd on the corner of 14th street. Santa Monica, CA 90405
“The Medea Insurrection: Radical Women Artists Behind the Iron Curtain” at the Wende Museum
To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, The Wende Museum in Los Angeles has put on a special exhibition in collaboration with the Goethe Institut. “The Medea Insurrection: Radical Women Artists Behind the Iron Curtain“ is also part of Wunderbar Together and is on view until April 5th, 2020.
Medea: the controversial archetype of female strength and passion from the East. In the years before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, East European writers and painters often turned to ancient mythology to express their discontent with authoritarian rule. Their interpretations of mythological figures like Medea, Cassandra, and Penthesilea were crucial in shaping contemporary images for women, and sometimes they were straight-up punk. Working under the radar of the accepted art establishment, the artists in this exhibition provoked, protested, played with fire, and experimented while refusing socialist and bourgeois stereotypes.
The Medea Insurrection was conceptualized and curated by Susanne Altmann for the Albertinum (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden). It has been adapted by the Wende Museum for its Culver City appearance.
The Medea Insurrection: Radical Women Artists Behind the Iron Curtain is part of Wunderbar Together: The Year of German-American Friendship 2018/19, an initiative funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, implemented by the Goethe-Institut, and supported by the Federation of German Industries (BDI).
The Medea Insurrection: Radical Women Artists Behind the Iron Curtain.
WHERE & WHEN:
The Wende Museum
The Armory, Culver City, California
November 10, 2019 – April 5, 2020
Image: ©The Wende Museum
“Liberty Train – Next Stop Freedom” DocuDrama at Alpine Village
Commemorating the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall the Consulate General of Germany and the German American School Association invite to a special film screening of “Liberty Train – Next Stop Freedom” at the Alpine Village, Sunday, November 17th, 2019.
The documentary reconstructs historical events that started with Hans Dietrich Genscher’s announcement on September 30, 1989, that the East German refugees occupying the West German embassy in Prague were allowed to leave for West Germany. Special trains should bring the refugees from Prague to West Germany but via the GDR. Dramatic events happen when the trains travel through East Germany, with people trying to jump onto the ‘Train to Freedom’ to the passengers inside fearing they would be taken off the train when Stasi members are getting on the train and start collecting passports.
[Read more…] about “Liberty Train – Next Stop Freedom” DocuDrama at Alpine Village
FEUER (Ein Gedicht von Claudia Tichy)
Feuer
Es graut, es riecht – streng – Feuer?
Die Tiere, seltsam, anders
Der Sturm stört, weshalb diesmal? Sonst doch nicht?
Es graut, es riecht – Feuer?
Vorne und hinten, es fühlt sich gefährlich…
Bestätigung ja, zwei, gefährlich?
Nein, wir doch nicht, doch nicht wir!
Doch! Gemeinsames Essen, was tun? Jetzt?
Sortieren, was ist Dir, was ist Mir – WERT?
Gefühl oder Verstand?
Ersetzbar oder Nicht?
Wann gehen? Sorge – die Tiere!
Wohin – check – klar!
Packen – loslassen – verabschieden
LIEBE ja LIEBE
Ankommen, sicher? Gedanken, nein!
Folgen im Jetzt…die Tiere?!
Alles gut! Alles gut?
Nein! Es kommt wieder, es kommt!
Weiter, die Tiere, weiter
Die Nacht, dunkel und gefährlich
Der ständige Rauch in den Lungen
Unwichtig, wohin, die Tiere?!
Wieder ankommen, morgens, alles vorbei?
Jetzt sicher? Die Tiere geschützt?
Ausatmen, kurz endlich schlafen…
ALARM!! Wieder Gefahr…
Weiter, packen, wohin? Check!
Verkehr dicht! Panik und Flucht spürbar…
Unsicherheit – alles verloren – egal!
Egal? JA – wir sind! WIR leben!
Ankommen – aller guter Dinge sind drei?
Bleiben und langsam erholen…
Ungewiss, was kommt danach?
Danach wohin?Wie?
Hilfsangebote überall – überwältigt!
Oberfläche – keine Spur!
Ernsthafte mitfühlenden Kraft und Unterstützung…
Das andere Kalifornien?
Auf diese Art näher gebracht?
Plötzlich verbindend und gefühlt?
Zusammen gehörend?
Miteinander fühlend, trauernd sich freuend
Diesmal tief und ehrlich…
Dankbarkeit und Verbundenheit
Aus diesem gemeinsamen Schicksal
FEUER
.
©Claudia Tichy
Image: Pixabay.com
——————————————————————————————————————–
Claudia Tichy, originally from Steyr, Austria, lived in Southern California until March 2019. She experienced California’s wildfires in the fall of 2018 first hand, which inspired her to write this poem. In spring of 2019 she moved back to Austria. Read more about Claudia in our XPAT Spotlight Interview with her husband. she now lives in California. Her stories are inspired by her experiences as an educator, a mother of four children and her therapeutical work. Children and families have always been the most important component of her work. Her innermost desire is to share all her experiences with happiness and love. That’s also how her first book Tesha Discovers The World came about, a book that takes into consideration the sensibility but also the simplicity of the soul. The book reflects Claudia’s intention: not to seduce the mind but rather touch the soul… and with it start a healing motion in the reader’s life. Connect with Claudia Tichy and HealingSystems here.
Summer Adventures Revisited
Two days ago was the official start of FALL! Yes, can you believe it? Summer is over at least according to the calendar. But don’t we all love to take a look back to these blissful days of summer, recalling our adventures?
That’s exactly what Eric Goldston and Kai Levato did. These two teenagers attended GASA’s German Summer Camp at Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center and had such an inspiring experience that they felt compelled to share their adventure with you!
GASA Camp June 2019: Der Zauberlehrling
By Eric Goldston (17) and Kai Levato (15)
German Summer Camps in San Diego at GPSSD
GPSSD German Summer Camps for Kids – A creative way to Learn German in San Diego
A few years ago, a brave woman from East Germany started a project that is now a wonderful meeting place for many German-speaking families and families, who are interested in the German language: The German Pacific School of San Diego.
In the beginning, Wiebke Elbe, a former pharmacist, had just a few resources but managed quickly to connect with a number of similar oriented projects in San Diego and other parts of California.
With growing know-how, she started one German after-school-class in a small facility in Clairemont followed by the first German Summer Camp in San Diego.
Within six years the school has grown and now has 4 locations in La Jolla, Clairemont, Carmel Valley and Poway with more than 200 students attending classes from 4 to 6 pm during the week and Saturday classes.
Our founder Wiebke has started a new project in Norway! But she has put so much effort and energy in our project, that today GPSSD is thriving and continuing attracting more and more germanophile families that attend our school.
Wiebke has always made a point of creating a relaxed and stimulating learning atmosphere. She had a discreet manner to inspire our teachers and helpers. She induced them to the philosophy that German lessons and German summer camps should be a fun experience, where children should be inspired and helped to develop their own initiatives and creativity.
With our new principal Christine Johnson, we are continuing this philosophy, and we are still getting a lot of support and help from Wiebke and her husband Hauke.
What about our German Summer Camp?
Summer Camp 2019 will be amazing! This year it’s all about magic!
This year’s GPSSD camp will be at a wonderful location at the French American School in La Jolla! It’s a campus that offers a lot of space for many outdoor and indoor activities.
GPSSD 2019 Summer Camp’s Topics and Activities
Depending on their interests, the campers will dive into a magical atmosphere where they can learn magic tricks, create their own theater play or even create their own video ( 3rd week)! We would like to give our campers impulses and inspiration and then encourage and help them to create their own play or show.
In our magic oriented group, campers will read and listen to magic stories and plays. The magic flute might appear from time to time to enchant us with new ideas. Campers will also be surprised by magic tricks and then learn and practice them for a little end of the week show.
In our theater oriented group, campers will get inspiration by German plays and stories, ways to perform a play, and materials they could use. Our camp teacher Heather has a broad spectrum of ideas and ways to carry away our campers imagination. They can choose to create a performance that matches their interests, from a simple puppet show or a self-performed play on stage.
In our third week, campers will create their own small video with the stop motion film making technique.
A lot of crafting, painting of props and other hands-on activities are always part of our summer camps. All groups will liven up their activities with fun games and a lot of music and entertainment. We will also do Karaoke and will not only use the airy sports field but also the playground to do our outdoor activities. And, of course, our camps are full immersion German language camps.
That means that we will help our campers to better understand German words and sentences by repeating, describing and explaining German expressions. We will also help our campers to produce German sentences and to speak German by their own initiative.
We are looking forward to a relaxed and fun summer event, that will take place from June 24 to July 12, 2019 from 9am to 4 pm. And there is also aftercare available for working families.
Weekly sessions can be booked online at www.gpssd.org. Call us for more information at 858-461-9118 or send us an email, germanpacificschool(AT)gmail.com
Text: Vicky Ripart – GPSSD Camp Team
Images: ©GermanPacificSchoolSanDiego
“In The Aisles”, German Movie Opens in Los Angeles in June
In the Aisles, a German drama film directed by Thomas Stuber opens in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Royal on Friday, June 21. We have two pairs of tickets to Give Away! Details below!
In the Aisles gives an affecting and bittersweet glimpse into the shared connections of a motley group of nightshift workers at a warehouse superstore, with the reclusive Christian (Franz Rogowski, TRANSIT) and the charming but mysterious Marion (Sandra Hüller, TONI ERDMANN).
“The story’s main focus is Christian (Rogowski), a tattoo-covered loner with a troubled past and a socially awkward manner that borders on autism. Christian has just begun his probation period as a shelf stacker at an unnamed warehouse superstore in a faceless East German backwater town. His avuncular mentor is old lag Bruno (Peter Kurth), a chess-loving ex-trucker who misses the mundane certainties of the former Communist era. The young rookie also develops a shy crush on Marion (Huller), a flirtatious married woman 10 years his senior whose abusive husband commonly features in hushed workplace gossip.” (excerpt Hollywoodreporter.com)
TICKET GIVE-AWAY – If you would like to be one of the first to watch this movie then send us an email with “In the Aisles” in the subject line, letting us know that you would like to be considered. We will give away 2 pairs of tickets to 2 lucky winners out of the first 10 people emailing us. The winners will be informed by the end of next week per email. Good Luck!
“In the Aisles” is in German with English subtitles. It will open in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Royal on Friday, June 21.
Buy Tickets Here: http://gwi.io/oovflj
Image & YouTube: ©MusicBoxFilms
German Summer Camps for Kids In California – 2019
HAPPY SUMMER – It’s Camp Time!
Have you chosen the perfect summer activity for your child yet? Here are some German Summer Camps to choose from. We will add to the list as we hear of other summer camps out there. Let us know, too, if you hear of one!
GPSSD German Summer Camp in San Diego – from June 24 to July 12 – 3 weeks to choose:
———————————————————————————————
GermanSchoolCampus Summer Camp in Newport Beach – June 17th -21st – Math Camp or Dance Camp:
MATH CAMP :
Summer Math Camp – $295/week covers fees and materials. Camp will proceed with a minimum of 6 Sign-ups, maximum 12.
DANCE CAMP – Rumba / ChaCha / Samba / Waltz
———————————————————–
GASA’s German Immersion Overnight – Camp at the Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center Irvine – June 16th to 22nd
———————————————————————————————
Tivoli German Summer Camp for Toddlers in Santa Monica – from July 29th – August 2nd
———————————————————————————————
Let us know about a German Camp near you!!
Featured Image: Pixabay.com
“A Tale of Two Émigrés” – Arnold Schoenberg & Erich Wolfgang Korngold at Pittance Chamber Music
A Tale of Two Émigrés with James Conlon presented by the Pittance Chamber Music
Pittance Chamber Music, known for featuring the extraordinary resident artists of the Los Angeles Opera pit and stage, presents A Tale of Two Émigrés with James Conlon. LA Opera Music Director James Conlon curates and conducts a unique program that tells the tale of Jewish émigré composers Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Arnold Schoenberg, who left their homelands and ultimately settled in Los Angeles as a result of the Nazis’ rise to power. The program will include a talk by Maestro Conlon, who will also conduct works by Korngold and Schoenberg performed by a large ensemble from the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra. The concert takes place at Zipper Hall, Colburn School in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, June 15, 2019 at 3:00 p.m.
This special program features E.W. Korngold’s Sextet, Op. 10 and Arnold Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony #1, Op. 9. According to Lisa Sutton, Pittance Chamber Music Artistic Director, “Both pieces are extraordinary masterpieces of late romanticism, requiring a high level of virtuosity from the performers.”
James Conlon, Music Director of Los Angeles Opera and Principal Conductor of the Italian RAI National Symphony Orchestra, is one of the world’s most important and successful advocates for the music of composers suppressed during the Nazi regime. He is the founder of the OREL Foundation, an organization created to encourage interest in and, especially, the performance of works by composers suppressed as a result of Nazi policies from 1933 to 1945 in order to allow the greater musical community of today and tomorrow the opportunity to determine the place of these composers and their works in the history and canon of twentieth-century music.
Lisa Sutton, Artistic Director and Assistant Concertmaster of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra founded the Pittance Chamber Music in 2013.
Single tickets for A Tale of Two Émigrés with James Conlon are $10. Tickets are available online at PittanceChamberMusic.org or at the venue on the day of the concert if tickets remain. Zipper Hall is located at the Colburn School, 200 South Grand Avenue, downtown Los Angeles, 90012.
WHAT:
A Tale of Two Émigrés with James Conlon. (Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Arnold Schoenberg). The program will include a talk by Conlon, who will also conduct works by Korngold and Schoenberg performed by a large ensemble consisting of members of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra.
WHEN:
Saturday, June 15, 2019 at 3:00 p.m.
WHERE:
Zipper Hall, Colburn School
200 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012
PROGRAM:
E.W. KORNGOLD Sextet, Op. 10
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG Chamber Symphony #1, Op. 9.
TICKETS:
Single tickets $10
Information:
www.PittanceChamberMusic.org
Image ©Los Angeles Opera