Spring is Springing!

Yet another glorious day in Freiburg!

February 28th, I do believe, will be remembered as the day that the sun decided to wake up and play with the pretty people in Freiburg.

Not that the weather has been bad... the day I came back from the States (two weeks ago) was also gorgeous, in a winter-wonderland-snow-sparkling-like-Edward-Cullen's-skin-in-the-sun kind of way. And for the last few days the temperature has been mild enough to the point at which I ask myself if my coat (which has officially been over-worn and is tearing at the seams, not dissimilarly to my purse) is really necessary. A day or two more of this and I think I will retire it, or at least trade it in for my dashing yellow number from last year's Urban Outfitters Online binge purchase.

I think almost anyone reading this blog knows already that the reason I came back to Freiburg was because I fell in love with springtime. There was one day, where I was riding my hand-me-down bike (that actually felt like it was custom built for me... man I miss that Jungherz) along the river that runs behind my dorm when I was just startled by the Springiness all around me. There were baby ducks and storks in the river, sheep walking along the bike path, daffodils sprouting out of nowhere (WHERE DO THEY COME FROM?) and the trees were a color that I unfortunately cannot find a suitable match to on the internet (somewhere between "Harlequin" and "Spring Bud" I would say... wiki it) It was awesome, and I fell in love with this place.

...that's the most poetic I think I have ever been. On a more serious, practical note, I think the colors on my laptop are out of whack. The color they call "Crayola Spring Green" on wikipedia looks positively beigey-pink on my screen. Drasted macbook. you think you're so alluring.

Otherwise, life is quite good. Being home was positively phenomenal, as was coming back to Freiburg. I didn't feel out of place or out of step anywhere and everything just flowed together fabulously. I saw almost all of my friends that I wanted to see (of which I knew I could possibly see, that is) and accomplished almost everything I needed to get done. I got to see Boston for the first time, which was awesome. I also went to see a lot of films my favorite of which was, much to my surprise, Milk. I thought I was a pretty easy sell for Slumdog, but just wasn't as wild about it as I was expecting to be.

The past two weeks have been pretty cool. Jane was here and we did a little bit of apartment hunting. Oy. For all of December and January, and for the beginning of February, there were like 10 Apartments posted online every day. So I figured finding one when we got back wouldn't be a problem. Ha. Since I have been back I think possibly four or five have been posted. One was on the first day and Jane and I went to visit it a few days later. It is relatively central (like a 20 minute walk into town, or like a 6 minute leisurely bike ride) but in a not-particularly-charming part of town... lots of '60s and '70s concrete block housing. That wasn't so much of a problem, but the kitchen was. I think it was maybe four square feet, possibly five. It has an oven (which I've come to realize is a big, big perk in the housing market here) but no fridge, not that one any bigger than a dorm fridge would fit. Anyway, I realized that I love food and cooking and grocery shopping way too much for something like that and pretty much immediately dismissed this place. Despite the two generously-sized bedrooms and awesome, awesome winter garden (greenhouse sort of thing). I really thought more would come around.

But nothing has. I think this week, Tuesday probably, I am going to go back to this place. I have been reading a lot of interior design blogs (and thereby killing my internet... Cheryl Recommends: apartmenttherapy.com, designspongeonline.com) and think I might just suck it up, replace the kitchen door with a colorful, thick curtain, install some sort of hangy-doohicky and call it home. We'll see.

Monday I start teaching full time again at the-school-that-shall-not-be-named (because they have an alert whenever someone posts anything on the internet with it's name and "Freiburg"... I didn't know such a thing exists! ugh I'm so naive) and I am pretty excited about it. I am doing another unemployment course but this time at a slightly higher level, so that should be fun. Not to mention the fact that I will be earning money again, and not wasting a ton of time watching "Fast Food Duell" (is it better than "Das Perfekte Dinner"? Possibly) Pretty exciting.

And, in 51 days my Masters starts! I am super excited about all of my courses and have heard lots of good things about my professors. But ooowie, I am going to be busy.

This should have been three separate posts. Sorry about that.

Last thought/quote, compliments of Thomas Paine via Jane's hippy UU church in Reading, Massachusetts:

"My country is the world and my religion is to do good"