Goodbye Days

Considering the fact that my flight leaves tomorrow, and I have a multitude of things to do before that time, I am assuming that this will be my last post from Germany. It will not, however, be my last post about Germany; not by a long shot. After I recover from jet lag, I fully intend to post some pictures and stories of the last few weeks here, trying to fill in some of the multitude of gaps. With a little bit of luck (and perhaps a few reminders), this post will not go into the paving stone category with all of my other intended posts.

Tschuss, und aufwiedersehen.

Days go by...

Everyone told me that Time's leaden feet of the beginning of my stay here would be transformed in the last days into winged things such as those which made Hermes so famous, and despite my doubts, the days are indeed flying to their close.
Siobahn, the new au pair, arrived Monday night.
I leave in five days, and have more plans for those hours than can possibly be realized.
Silke and I are visiting the Netherlands on Friday.
I still need to purchase obscene amounts of chocolate to bring home with me.
There is laundry to be washed and hung to dry in the corner of the yard where I run no danger of being embarrassed by the passer-by being able to see my undergarments.
Felix, seeming instinctively to realize that I am being somehow withdrawn from him, has become adorably clingy and kuschlich (prone to snuggle).
Photos of all the places I do not want to remember are still in need of being captured.
...Therefore, if you hear nothing from me for a week or so, don't be alarmed. I haven't been sold into white slavery: I'm just tired, stressed and trying to make it back to the states.

Sunshine...

...has been witnessed in increasing proportions of the last few weeks, but only quite recently has the temperature cooperated with the trend toward spring in the area. This afternoon, as the entire family was away for a vacation, and I have not yet left for Salzburg, I reveled in the luxury of lying in the sun reading snippets of the introduction to The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and dozing in an attempt to dispel the conviction that is being formed in the minds of my guest family that my skin is unable to show tokens contact with the sun. The only expression I can formulate for my gratitude that the sun has returned has already been formulated by Mr. Denver... "sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy; sunshine in my eyes can make me cry; sunshine on the water looks so lovely; sunshine almost always makes me high." There you have it. And now it's stuck in your head.

The official news

I have been going back an forth for quite some time now on the issue of what the destination should be on my return ticket to the United States. Tonight I finally bought my nonrefundable-in-the-case-of-cancellation-ticket which sealed the decision I had already made to move to Maryland on July 8th for an indefinite period of time (read there: at least a year, and then I would have to earn enough money to move back to the West Coast). What will I do there? Well, that part of things is still uncertain. I am pursuing an opportunity to teach part-time, and am hoping to pursue music and writing more intensively. Odds are much better that I will be able to keep up with my German the closer I am to D.C. Don't worry, all you Eugene-ites (and Portlanders, and all the near-that-area-ers) I will be back to visit Eugene for my dear cousin's wedding in late July/early August, so if you are in the area at that time then please throw me a party so that I can see all of you. There, in brief, is my news. As the rest of my plans are at a liquid stage, and running all over the place, I will wait until they are a little bit more firm to fill you in on them. Don't worry, there's nothing too dramatic in the works. ...And now you know the rest of the story!

Going down South

Well, I don't have very much to say at the moment except that it will be a little bit before I write again. I am leaving tomorrow with the family to spend five days in a smallish town called Lauf. It is near Nürenburg and about a six hour drive normally. Since we will have two kids in the car, it will likely take us around eight hours. Wish me luck because this could be an interesting weekend. I'll tell all about it when I get back. Until next time: goodnight, sleep tight, and pleasant dreams to you. There's a wish and a hope that every dream comes true. And so till we meet again... adios! au revoir! auf wiedersehen! goodnight!