Choir Rehearsal

Wednesday night Kathryn-Claire and I went to choir rehearsal at the Augustinerkirche church. I was honestly nervous about the whole thing... the thought of showing up in some random choir to sing with a bunch of people who speak German was slightly overwhelming, but on the other hand I figured we had nothing to lose. After all, if something goes really badly over here as far as social interaction is concerned, I know that I will be out of here in three monthes and it won't matter anyway.
So we went, and I am so glad we did. We got there early, well before any of the other choir members, except one elderly woman who told us in broken English that she sang tenor. As soon as more members began to drift in, I felt at ease. One man was particularly welcoming and explained some of the procedures to us, and I sat next to a very kind woman in the soprano section who did her best to help me keep up with a rehearsal conducted in German. The repertoire we sang was predominantly in Latin, with a few German pieces thrown in, and it consisted of various Christmas songs and carols. Many of them I had never heard before, but some such as "Silent Night" and "O Come All Ye Faithful," though sung in German, were like familiar friends.
The rehearsal lasted two and a half hours, but it didn't feel long at all. After the rehearsal the director asked Kathryn-Claire and I to sing a few scales on our own (I'm assuming so that he could make sure we aren't tone-deaf). Then he invited us to eat downstairs with the choir. There was fruit and bread and cheese and everyone was talking and laughing and passing around plates. They really are like a big family. I felt right at home, which is saying a lot I think, considering the circumstances. We met a girl named Katrin, a student our age who is studying at the University of Wien. I liked her immediately and we had a great time talking about everything from movies to cultural differences between Europe and America. Hopefully we will be able to travel with her one weekend, and I think that will be an amazing experience.
I am becoming aware of the differences in interaction between strangers in the southern U.S.A. and here in Wien. I have noticed that we southern girls are extremely friendly right off the bat, while the Viennese are very reserved and don't want to share their intimate private lives with us. For example, both our German teacher and our travel guide have been very vague when we have asked them about their familes, and they usually try to change the subject as soon as possible. Kathryn-Claire asked the choir director about his little daughter, to which he replied, "Is that a normal question for you?" Here one's professional life and one's private life are two completely separate ideas, and we are learning not to ask what we would think to be standard questions about the lives of the people we meet here. As we develop relationships with these people, it becomes easier to talk with them, but on the outset personal questions are a bad idea.
I still cannot believe that I sang with a choir in Vienna, even for just one night. Our travel schedules will make singing there often difficult, but I hope to sing there whenever I am in town, as long as the director will allow it. He did not seem too pleased by our scheduling conflicts, as most choir directors would not be. However, those two and a half hours were worth millions to me. And anyways I am now an auditioned and officially registered member of the choir, so surely we will be able to sing again...