The three days before we flew back to Germany, I was feeling very stressed out; overwhelmed, I think, and somehow just unhappy. I think that the stress of selling all of my stuff and boxing up the rest of my belongings (which I could fit into my little VW Golf), along with the fact that I would now be flying away, for the first time, without a return ticket and with no idea when I would be able to visit again, really took its toll. All I could think of were negative things, I was crying constantly, and I caused no small amount of stress for great guy. He, miraculously, didn’t tell me to just stay put, even though I was seriously contemplating it.
I got on the plane. And, the moment I did so I began to feel a bit better. Everything was sorted out and organized and taken care of (all with the help of some great friends) and I couldn’t do anything more, but sit back, relax and watch some movies, while snuggling with great guy. He was so silly, we laughed and laughed, and we weren’t even indulging in the free, intercontinental alcohol on board!
Now, being back here for a few days, I feel good and positive and excited about my future. My new little job started on Monday and I think it will be really fun…although I haven’t the Friday class of teaching 12 four-year-olds yet, by myself! I will most likely have something to say about that in the near future.
Last night, we had an incredible experience, and in my mind, it was the perfect 'home'-coming for me. Every year, there is a huge winefest here for 10 days, and on the Wednesday there is a giant fireworks display which the city sets up on great guy’s lawn. All of his friends show up (the special few) while hundreds and hundreds of people (the less special)gather to watch on the other side of the river. The city gives him red, tea lights to put in each window of the big house and with fire lights staked into the river on his shoreline, the entire place looks as romantic as you can imagine.
His friends had been telling me about it, everyone was excited, and the bridge above our place was blocked off to foot traffic. I tried to prepare. I bought drinks and made appys, like spündekäs (a great dip for salty pretzels, which is super easy to make) and bruschetta (using maid marion’s plump tomatoes), along with little toasts of B.C. salmon which we had just brought back with us (they were eaten up in about 5 minutes flat!) and tried to imagine what it was going to be like having fireworks shooting from our front door with the entire city watching.
What ensued was pure magic. Completely incredible. The Germans definitely know how to put on a fantastic fireworks show. We all gathered on the terrace overlooking the river, while great guy, myself, and max und bärbel watched the show from his little boat. In the middle of the river, rowers from the nearby rowing club were anchored, each with fire-lit torches, and the entire far side of the bank was jammed full of people. We hooted and hollered in delight with each fantastic burst of colour and design. It went on and on; giant explosions, raining colours, pouring waterfalls and bursting flowers, right over our heads. At the end, everyone, everywhere clapped and clapped. Perfection.
Afterwards, we headed across the bridge to join in the winefest festivities. We said hi to mickey who was manning his winestand (and where I’ll be working the next few nights), then wandered the packed, cobble-stoned streets from stage to stage, winestand to winestand, as old friends stopped us along the way to say hi to great guy. We ended the evening with our arms around eachother, swaying to the awesome oldie, german tunes (which I even knew) like ‘Sterne im Himmel’ and ‘Skandal um Rosie’-I’ve been singing them all morning! A terrific evening, with friends, fireworks, and a flaming hot guy (sorry, I couldn’t think of another ‘f-word’!)…oh‘fun'!! Duh.
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