August Break, September Meet

It's August and the living is easy. Our next general meeting will be September 25th. The Program Committee will update us soon. In the meantime, stay cool and enjoy the best of summer in Bavaria.

Just to let you know, AAUPW earned and donated over 230 Euros to the Klinik Clowns by selling cakes at their very warm 15th birthday event on Odeonsplatz in July.

Plus, our table at the U.S. Citizen Information and Passport Day 2013 was greatly appreciated by the U.S. Consulate in Munich. Not only did we have a chance to enjoy some junk food from home (not available in stores here), we helped contribute to a 20% increase in attendance over 2012.

We said a fond good by to our Junior Year in Munich student whom we support with our dues and our love and wisdom. We are a community for young women a long ways from home.

In June we hosted a picnic at the English Garden with the young women of IMMA (see link on the side) and delivered our annual donation.

On the Fourth of July weekend, we had a great picnic and visit at the home and yard of one of our members where we also elected a new leadership board.

See you in September!

Volunteers Needed for Sichere Wiesn (Safe Oktoberfest)

Many members have expressed interest in supporting our efforts to help with the Sichere Wiesn project.

We need volunteers for two things:

1. Distribution of English "Stay Safe" tips brochures to our list of hotels and hostels directly in the city center. 
2. Distribution of the English "Stay Safe" tips brochures to tourists in the Marientplatz / HB area. This task will require a 1-hour training which will be held at the end of August/early September. This is our new trial program to get the tips directly into the hands of girls and women visiting for the festivities. 

A few points for both volunteer opportunities:

• We always work in teams of 2 to 4 people; 
• It is important that we stick to our approved message. 

 If you are interested in helping, we need volunteers for any or all of the following dates
(expect to spend about 2 hours)

• Friday (afternoon-evening), September 20, 
• Saturday, September 21 
• Saturday, September 28

  Sichere Wiesn Für Mädchen und Frauen website

The Book Club Begins Again in September

Great food and even better conversation is shared at the AAUPW monthly book club meetings. The September 10th meeting will gather in Nymphenburg/Neuhausen at 7 p.m. to discuss The Submission by Amy Waldman.

Reimagining 9/11 and its aftermath, Amy Waldman's provocative novel begins with a resonant scene: a jury gathers in Manhattan to choose a memorial for the victims of a devastating Islamic terrorist attack. After tense deliberations, they select the Garden, which features trees both living and made from salvaged steel. Then the jury discovers that the anonymous architect who created the winning design is an American Muslim.
  
The revelation triggers both fury and ambivalence throughout New York, making the designer the staunchly independent Mohammed "Mo" Khan a symbol of beliefs that seem foreign to him. His most visible defender is Claire Harwell, the only member of the selection committee who lost a loved one in the attack. Cool and eloquent, Claire grows increasingly frustrated by Mo as he stubbornly refuses to answer concerns about the origins or meaning of his design.

At the helm of the memorial project is Paul Rubin, a grandson of Jewish peasants who has risen to a position of influence and wealth. Paul's idea of America is rooted in tolerance, but he must also take into account the emotions of outraged, grieving family members who want him to quash Mo's design. Within the crowds, two powerful voices come to dominate the debate: the widow of an undocumented worker who cleaned offices champions Mo's design, while the brother of a fallen firefighter calls it the worst kind of disrespect.

As the emotional rhetoric escalates, The Submission becomes a mesmerizing meditation on the human experience. (From the publisher.)

Upcoming books:

• September: The Submission by Amy Waldman
• October: Desert Flower by Waris Dirie
• November: Taste What You're Missing: The Passionate Eater's Guide to Why Good Food Tastes Good by Barb Stuckey
• December: The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
• January: When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice by Terry Tempest Williams
• February: What Do Women Want by Daniel Bergner
• March: Influencer: The Power to Change Anything by Patterson, Grenny, Maxfield, McMillan and Switzler

When: Tuesday, September 10, 7 p.m.

U.S. Citizen Information Day at the Munich Consulate

Cakes for Klinik Clowns - July 27, 2013

Together with the IWC the AAUPW has volunteered to sell cakes and cookies at the 15th Birthday Celebration of the Klinik Clowns, which will be held on Saturday, July 27th from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
We are still looking for 2 or 3 other members to help sell the cakes.  Plus, we are still in need of cakes, cookies and brownies!  Please see if you can find the time to bake something and bring it by Odeonsplatz between 11 and 12 on Saturday.
 
This is a great cause and a wonderful way to help our community.

http://www.klinikclowns.de/

Program Meeting - July 24, 2013

We are happy to announce that our member Shari Temple will be speaking to us at our July 24th program meeting.  Shari works for the Aidmatrix Foundation and has been flying all over the world to help distribute medicine in crisis areas.  Her talk will focus not only on her work, but also on hunger prevention.

June Book Club

June's book is "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn.  Reviewers have praised the novel's use of unreliable narration, its surprising plot twists, its edge-of-the-seat suspense, and the way it transcends the thriller genre by playing with genre formulas and reader expectation.  Book Club will meet to discuss the book on Tuesday, June 11, at 7:00 p.m.

In July, Book Club will meet to vote on the next set of books they will be reading.  The discussion is always lively and fun, so if you haven't attended a book club meeting yet, your time is now!

May Program Meeting - Walking Tour

Formerly the “June Walking Tour,” May’s program meeting has been replaced by a walking tour. We are in for a real treat because Prinz Karl von Thurn und Taxis will be our guide on Wednesday, May 22, showing us his personal favorite spots in Munich as we tour the inner city on foot.

Program Meeting - March 27, 2013

On March 27th, we are happy to welcome Bob Fosbury with his presentation "We are stardust! The origin of the chemical elements."

You may all fondly believe that you were conceived in a big bang. Your bodies, however, are built from raw materials that emerged from "the" Big Bang some 13.7 billion years ago. This primordial gas consisted mostly of hydrogen and helium and so a great deal of cosmic history had to unfold before the rich mix of chemical elements became available to make you into the charming, beautiful people you are.

This is the story of how these basic chemical building blocks were constructed during those 13.7 billion years. It is a tale of gravity, of stellar birth and death and of a gradual synthesis of the elements as we see them around us today. It is a wonderful story and actually dreadfully complicated. But I'll use lots of great pictures and try to tell it in a way that will excite you as much as it does me! Using our telescopes as time machines, we can see many parts of the process being acted out in front of our eyes.

Bob recently hosted a Hubble talk which can be seen at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT9RTIzNUPM

Program Meeting - February 27, 2013

Fellow member and book club coordinator, Eleanor Mayrhofer, will talk about the ongoing challenges and rewards of designing a creative life on Wednesday, February 27. She'll take us through her journey of leaving a secure corporate job to start her online business. She'll also talk about more personal projects like her blog about Munich, her efforts to share what she's learned about project management in the corporate world with small or 'micro' businesses and the dream project she hopes to realize one day in the not too distant future.

Program Meeting - January 23, 2013

Join us for an evening with David Dowdy as he cruises through a variety of topics including the electoral college result and the presidential election: Who voted for whom and why.  During this speech he will discuss the changing demographics in the USA, voter fraud laws and the lessons learned (What Republicans should have learned).  He will also give us insights into the fiscal cliff, Medicare and Medicaid, as well as Obamacare.  Plus, he will talk about military spending, lobbying and super PACs and their influence in US politics.

Dave is in his 50's and has over 30 years of experience working in Germany.  He has worked in gastronomy, computers and electronics and as an entrepreneur.  He brings all of his experience with him as he shares his insights with us.

December Activities

Holiday Party!  We will be having our annual Holiday Party for all active AAUPW members on Friday, December 16th this year.  Please bring your potluck contribution and present(s) for the IMMA girls (list of wished-for presents are in the blog).  We will also be having the speed white elephant game, so don't forget your white elephant gift.  Details are listed in the blog and in the e-vite sent out to members.

Our choir will also be singing this year mid-December at Anna Haus!  If you are interested, please write a note to aaupw@yahoo.de and get the details.

The Book Club is Back!

We laughed, we cried, we ate! We also rolled up our sleeves, did some heavy-duty arithmetic (thank you Jennifer!) and hammered out a book list and schedule. The reading list results starting November 2012 through June 2013 are:


Monday, November 26: In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
Monday, January, 7: Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
Tuesday, February 5: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Tuesday, March 5: Sad Desk Salad by Jesica Grose
April: This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz
May: Night Train  to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier
June: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Program Meeting - Wednesday, November 28

Have you ever tried to drive while having the gas pedal floored and the other foot on the brake? This is what most of us are doing throughout our lives when our conscious mind wants one thing and our subconscious believes that it is not safe for us to attain our goal. Kinesiology uses many methods to gently and permanently resolve blocks we have in our system, thereby relieving the stress they cause. This evening is an introduction to how this works and what the results are, as well as the chance to learn some easy exercises known as “kinesiological coffee” which you can use to balance yourself!

An example: a professional woman starting a new job at company HQ feels upset and afraid. Intellectually, she knows she is well prepared and well suited to the job, yet she has no control over the feelings of worry and anxiety she is feeling. After a session to address the emotional source of her distress, she is able to start the job with renewed confidence, relieved of this piece of old emotional baggage. 

At our program meeting on November 28th, we are happy to welcome Patricia Biondo.  

Patricia is an active member of AAUPW while at the same time pursuing her own interests in kinesiology.  We're looking forward to hearing from her.

October Program Meeting - Wednesday, October 24

               

We are excited to hear from our member Joan Totman at our October program meeting, which will be held on Wednesday, October 24th at 6:30 p.m. Joan's presentation is titled "My Year in Moscow - or How I learned to like vodka and caviar!"

In 2011, AAUPW member Joan Totman flew back and forth to Moscow every week. At the October meeting she will share stories and photos of her year in Moscow. If you thought you had culture shock when you moved to Munich, image the double shock of coming from California/Munich then heading to Russia.

September 26: September Program Meeting

To kick off our regular program meetings, we are pleased to announce Dr. phil. Gabi Sabo of the KlinikClowns e.V.  The KlinikClowns have been active in Bavaria since 1998 and visit many different hospitals and institutions.  But while doing so they also adhere to a strict ethics code to guarantee that the clowns work professionally and show respect for the patients and people they visit.

The clowns' work is based on the scientific evidence that laughter and humor can have a positive effect on people's health.   We will learn more about the KinikClowns' work and what sort of support they are looking for at the meeting from Dr. Sabo in person.

Amerika House Debate on Sept. 20

Mark your calendars!  The AAUPW sponsored presidential debate is taking place on Thursday, September 20, at 7:00pm.  Please spread the word.

Please note:

We do not meet in August. Starting in September, our monthly program meetings will take place on the FOURTH Wednesday evening of the month. The book club will resume its activities once a new organizer is found.

July Program Meeting

Given the AAUPW emphasis on women, education and empowerment, you will not want to miss the July meeting! Come hear our members Betty Camacho & Wendi Boxx tell about their involvement and recent trip to India to see first hand the work being done at the Pardada Pardadi Educational Society, an NGO that runs a girls school in Anupshahar, Uttar Pradesh.

Here, deep in provincial India, a world away from rapid modernization, you will be inspired by the story of “Sam” Singh, the industrialist turned idealist who returned to his hometown village with the task of educating the rural Indian girl child. Through this mission to educate girls in the countryside, Pardada Pardadi started a movement that is literally transforming one of the poorest areas of India.   You will be moved by the story of the 1,118 girls currently getting an education in an environment where once there was no chance to dream.  This school is giving these amazing young girls the opportunity to shine.  More importantly these gifted young women are being given a voice to declare defiantly: “I AM NOT A BURDEN.”

Please come and learn more about how you can aid in the education of the most marginalized girl children and about current volunteer opportunities!

When:    Wednesday evening, July 18th, 2012

Girls' Night Out

To wrap up this year, we are going to the Kocherlball at the Chinese Tower in the English Gardens on Sunday, 15 July, from 6 am to 10 am. That’s right: this is not a late-night event, it is a Greet-the-Sun-with-Fun one!

The tradition of the Kocherlball started around 1880 when house servants (cooks, nannies, butlers, etc.) met on Sunday – their free day or at least free morning – to dance and generally enjoy themselves. And enjoy themselves they did for the Kocherlball was banned in 1904 for “Mangel an Sittlichkeit” (lack of morality). It was re-instated in 1989 as part of the 200th anniversary of the English Gardens.

Nowadays people still come to dance – waltz, polka, Zwiefacher and Münchner Francaise, many dressed up in Tracht or 19th century dress. But most (up to 10,000 when the weather is good) come just to enjoy the morning atmosphere in the Gardens, listen to the music, and watch the dancers and other festivities. Yes, and have a beer or two.