Reverse Culture Shock

Maybe I never got around to mentioning this, but I never felt culture shock in Germany. Actually, I didn't expect to. I've wanted to go to Europe for years. I've also been saying that when I did finally go, it would be to sing, and that I wouldn't want to come back.

Both true.

Although I noticed some things that were different, they didn't bother me. Actually, I liked them. There were even a few things I noticed that I might prefer about America--but those differences in Germany still just intrigued me.

But I think one of the biggest differences is how people react to opera singers. Here in America, when I tell people I'm an opera singer, I get one of two reactions. The first goes like this:
Long blank stare.
"You're an opera singer?? I love Phantom of the Opera."

I actually had this exact conversation with an American flight attendant on the way back. And if you're reading this and you DON'T know, Phantom of the Opera is NOT an opera. It's a Broadway musical. And I've never heard anyone sing it in a way that would, as my teacher says, "do battle with a 100-piece orchestra and win."

That's the good reaction. Here's the bad one:
Long blank stare.
"You're an...opera singer?! I hate opera."

Seriously? I hate what you do, too, and your little dog as well! How rude do people have to be?

Meanwhile, in Germany, when I told people I'm an opera singer, I got this reaction:
"You're an opera singer?! This is amazing! Why are you in this tiny little town? Where are you singing? When can I come hear you sing?"

Is it any wonder that I didn't want to come back? Today I spent some time in downtown Harrisonburg (which I do actually like, by the way) and talked a little with some very nice people about my trip. But even my friends don't really get it. I don't have words to explain it, any more than I could explain to my German friends how, as an opera singer in America, I have three degrees for which I paid thousands of dollars, and I'm qualified to work as a teacher making less than $15,000 a year...or to wait tables. (And the Germans wondered why we Americans were so nice and friendly to all the waiters when we ate out.) As a singer in Germany, you can get a job where you get a salary that you can live on and benefits and paid vacations (six weeks a year!), and you're working in a theater and singing all the time, and you work from 10 am to 2 pm and then from 6 pm until 10 or 11, unless you aren't needed for that day's rehearsal.

Is it just me, or does that sound like a perfect life? Plus the food is amazing (did I mention that?).