Munich International Women’s Club (MIWC)

When Larry and I first moved to Walnut Creek, California, I joined a women’s group. My first encounter with them was a brunch at a member’s home on the other side of town. And I mean other side (economically speaking).

While we were happily crowing over our nearly half-million-dollar quaint cottage bargain in the San Francisco Bay Area, at this brunch I was walking into a miniature palace, complete with multiple princesses.

The question of the morning was not “what do you do?” It was “do you work?” 
I finally understood the “ladies-who-lunch” concept and it was not to my particular taste.

Starkbierfest ("strong beer" festival) 2018

So, when one of my best friends recommended looking into an international women’s club while I was here, I was reluctant. But after some research I was more heartened to learn they sponsored a charity and had conversation groups and museum and hiking outings and not just brunches and golf days.

I went to a meeting on a trial basis. The guest speaker was an opera singer who used breathing exercises and vocalization practice to help us literally and figuratively find our voices as women. I was hooked.

But I started my job about six months after joining the club, so soon I could only do weekend or weeknight activities. Yet each time I come back, it’s to open arms and familiar as well as instant new friends from Germany and around the world. 

The MIWC has been a great counterbalance to my solitary wanderings, and one of the things I cherish about my time in Munich.

Gingerbread house construction
is serious business

We created these beauties for the children of our charity

The Munich transportation museum had been on my list to visit,
and with the club I attended a private tour which lent itself to
personal reminiscences of changes in Munich over time.

One hike took us to the Mittenwald area, where a geological phenomenon
causes the ground to appear in waves

This year we scored a coveted spot
in the Faschingsparade

We were a small but spirited group
styling ourselves as the International Queens