Well, autumn is here, and I must say that, apart from a couple of rainy days, it has been a splendid one so far. It is cold and sunny, the leaves on the trees are quickly turning from yellow to red to brown as they subsequently fall off and dwindle to the ground. The streets are filled with people in thick winter coats, courageously braving the cold to capture those precious rays of sunlight which will most probably be the last ones of this year. The icy cold of winter is rapidly approaching and is likely to descend on us sometime during the next couple of weeks. Looking on the bright side though, Lidl has already started selling Christmas junk.
It has also been a slow month. For some reason, many of my students decided to take their summer holidays in September this year and when they came back it was already time for Autumn break. Yes, I know it is ridiculously early. Can you believe those crazy Germans had the school year begin on 15 August, this year. 15 August!! That was in the middle of summer and robbed a lot of children from a lot of well-deserved sunshine. My Italian teacher had a fit when she realised, she was planning to take her kids to her parents in La Spezia until the end of the month. I can imagine her surprise and disgust, August is the month when everything closes in Italy and everybody leaves the cities to go to the beach, the mountains or relax in any which way they please. 15 August, Ferragosto, The Middle of Summer, is one of the most loved and celebrated holidays in that divine country, but she had to take her children to school...
Anyway, this also means that as soon as part of my students came back from their respective holidays, all those with children started cancelling their lessons because they were leaving for two weeks. Things have started to get a little bit better but financially September was a disaster. Thank God for visitors, trips, yoga, swimming pools and, of course, wine. Steef and Margo came to visit for a weekend of fun and games, Marike popped by for a couple of days because she had a meeting in town and I met up with Wouter a couple of times when he was here for a seminar. We finally made it back to both Milan and The Netherlands for some quality time with friends and family of which we were in dire need. Hugs, kisses, good talks, laughter, massive XL cocktails at La Hora Feliz, fabulous mussels at La Cozzeria and beautiful memories, all of these were had in Milan. NL was mainly focused on family. Because we had been expecting to leave for Asia, we had been postponing an extended trip to visit our Heimat, but the long weekend because of the Tag der deutschen Einheit (3 October, Day of the German Reunification celebrating the day of the signing of the agreement in 1990 when the FRG and the GDR legally became one country again) gave us an excellent excuse. We brought a shitload of presents to make sure all the kiddoes will keep remembering us fondly as 'the uncles always bearing presents'. I for one was already glad that my oldest nephew, Neo, still knew who I was - The first thing he did when we got out of the car was ask 'Present?', need one say more - and to get to know his little brother a little bit better. I also cherished the opportunity to catch up with my parents and brothers, and of course have some sneaky drinks with friends as well. Thanx Sebas for lending me your birthday ;-)
Olaf is in China at the moment for a conference - and to do two more of the modern wonders of the world (www.hillmanwonders.com) without me, the annoying little bastard that he is, The Great Wall and The Forbidden City. Thankfully, he missed his connecting flight in Frankfurt and had to cancel his trip to The Great Wall due to his delay. Serves him right for not bringing me, at least this way we will have to go back. But anyway, this means that I am by myself at the moment, which is suiting me just fine. I have been watching a lot of movies he doesn't want to see, eating food that he doesn't want to eat and doing lots of yoga. I have also been busy trying to sort out my health insurance situation. I have had a British expat insurance plan since I came to Berlin, whose validity has been questioned. It took me a while to find out, but it turns out they actually conform to German law and are legally allowed to offer health insurance here, which is a huge load off my mind. They don't cover some basic things like dental care and going to your GP though, which is why I would like to change to a less dodgy German company. I had a meeting with a lovely agent this morning and it seems that this will actually not be as expensive as I feared.
This weekend is a weekend of total relaxation. I watched lots of movies last night - and can recommend 'O Jerusalem' (2006), a story about the founding of the state of Israel seen from a political as well as personal perspectives - and made myself some gnocchi al pesto. So far, I have spent today doing groceries, reading and taking a hot bath while reading Thucydides, the Greek historian of the Peloponnesian War. At the moment, I am vegged out on the couch with a big pot of herbal tea, looking forward to getting lost in Thucydides some more, going out to the Festival of Lights which is on this week and taking a lot of pictures, as well as some more experimental cooking and more movies. Tomorrow, I have got an all-day yoga workshop lined up, my first workshop completely in German, which should be interesting.
To sum it up, life is good at the mo'. I will be turning 30 at the end of this month and am completely ready. After all, if one can say anything about the lifestyle I described above, one must admit it does not befit a twentysomething to be so incredibly boring. I, however, love my boring bourgeois lifestyle and will be happy to stop pretending to be a hip and happening youngster anymore, but will finally be able to acquiesce into my thirties. In with a bang, and out with pop, I guess that is how it is supposed to be as one quiets down as one settles into working life and serious adulthood. Since it also our 2nd wedding anniversary at that time and, of course, Halloween, there really isn't a reason not to have a party. Bring on 'Haunted Hollywood'!
It has also been a slow month. For some reason, many of my students decided to take their summer holidays in September this year and when they came back it was already time for Autumn break. Yes, I know it is ridiculously early. Can you believe those crazy Germans had the school year begin on 15 August, this year. 15 August!! That was in the middle of summer and robbed a lot of children from a lot of well-deserved sunshine. My Italian teacher had a fit when she realised, she was planning to take her kids to her parents in La Spezia until the end of the month. I can imagine her surprise and disgust, August is the month when everything closes in Italy and everybody leaves the cities to go to the beach, the mountains or relax in any which way they please. 15 August, Ferragosto, The Middle of Summer, is one of the most loved and celebrated holidays in that divine country, but she had to take her children to school...
Anyway, this also means that as soon as part of my students came back from their respective holidays, all those with children started cancelling their lessons because they were leaving for two weeks. Things have started to get a little bit better but financially September was a disaster. Thank God for visitors, trips, yoga, swimming pools and, of course, wine. Steef and Margo came to visit for a weekend of fun and games, Marike popped by for a couple of days because she had a meeting in town and I met up with Wouter a couple of times when he was here for a seminar. We finally made it back to both Milan and The Netherlands for some quality time with friends and family of which we were in dire need. Hugs, kisses, good talks, laughter, massive XL cocktails at La Hora Feliz, fabulous mussels at La Cozzeria and beautiful memories, all of these were had in Milan. NL was mainly focused on family. Because we had been expecting to leave for Asia, we had been postponing an extended trip to visit our Heimat, but the long weekend because of the Tag der deutschen Einheit (3 October, Day of the German Reunification celebrating the day of the signing of the agreement in 1990 when the FRG and the GDR legally became one country again) gave us an excellent excuse. We brought a shitload of presents to make sure all the kiddoes will keep remembering us fondly as 'the uncles always bearing presents'. I for one was already glad that my oldest nephew, Neo, still knew who I was - The first thing he did when we got out of the car was ask 'Present?', need one say more - and to get to know his little brother a little bit better. I also cherished the opportunity to catch up with my parents and brothers, and of course have some sneaky drinks with friends as well. Thanx Sebas for lending me your birthday ;-)
Olaf is in China at the moment for a conference - and to do two more of the modern wonders of the world (www.hillmanwonders.com) without me, the annoying little bastard that he is, The Great Wall and The Forbidden City. Thankfully, he missed his connecting flight in Frankfurt and had to cancel his trip to The Great Wall due to his delay. Serves him right for not bringing me, at least this way we will have to go back. But anyway, this means that I am by myself at the moment, which is suiting me just fine. I have been watching a lot of movies he doesn't want to see, eating food that he doesn't want to eat and doing lots of yoga. I have also been busy trying to sort out my health insurance situation. I have had a British expat insurance plan since I came to Berlin, whose validity has been questioned. It took me a while to find out, but it turns out they actually conform to German law and are legally allowed to offer health insurance here, which is a huge load off my mind. They don't cover some basic things like dental care and going to your GP though, which is why I would like to change to a less dodgy German company. I had a meeting with a lovely agent this morning and it seems that this will actually not be as expensive as I feared.
This weekend is a weekend of total relaxation. I watched lots of movies last night - and can recommend 'O Jerusalem' (2006), a story about the founding of the state of Israel seen from a political as well as personal perspectives - and made myself some gnocchi al pesto. So far, I have spent today doing groceries, reading and taking a hot bath while reading Thucydides, the Greek historian of the Peloponnesian War. At the moment, I am vegged out on the couch with a big pot of herbal tea, looking forward to getting lost in Thucydides some more, going out to the Festival of Lights which is on this week and taking a lot of pictures, as well as some more experimental cooking and more movies. Tomorrow, I have got an all-day yoga workshop lined up, my first workshop completely in German, which should be interesting.
To sum it up, life is good at the mo'. I will be turning 30 at the end of this month and am completely ready. After all, if one can say anything about the lifestyle I described above, one must admit it does not befit a twentysomething to be so incredibly boring. I, however, love my boring bourgeois lifestyle and will be happy to stop pretending to be a hip and happening youngster anymore, but will finally be able to acquiesce into my thirties. In with a bang, and out with pop, I guess that is how it is supposed to be as one quiets down as one settles into working life and serious adulthood. Since it also our 2nd wedding anniversary at that time and, of course, Halloween, there really isn't a reason not to have a party. Bring on 'Haunted Hollywood'!
1 comment:
Seems like you had a blast of a Halloween party! I might drop by for the next one! ;-)
Post a Comment