Closing Time

"Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road. Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go: so make the best of the test and don't ask twice--I hope you have the time of your life..." (Green Day)

We're standing in our office, end of the day. My officemate/advisor gathers her things and comes to my desk to say goodbye. We've grown rather close these last six weeks; she can vent her frustrations about some of the particulars of our department, we talk about her wedding and my plans and our lives. We still address each other formally though it actually doesn't feel weird to do so. As she is about to say goodbye she stops for a second, then says, "I actually wanted to say this earlier but couldn't figure out a good way to do so--I wanted to say, if it's okay with you, that we can address one another informally." (It only sounds slightly less awkward in German). She had noticed my other advisor addressing me by first name, and wanted to make sure I didn't think she was completely uptight. I think the whole situation is funny, and I spent the whole time wondering when we would be on a first-name basis, since I already knew way more about her life than your average acquaintence would. Ah, social awkwardness.

Well, that was it for my internship. I didn't actually do anything useful today; I sat and played free cell and tried to find paid internships to Africa (a few possibilities!). One of my advisors, to whose house I was invited to dinner, came and gave me a journal signed by his entire department and a purdy pen. My other advisor, with whom I share an office, gave me an entire bag full of fruit from the market and homemade muffins/cupcakes. I gave them each chocolate and a bag of microwave popcorn (my last one, till I get ahold of my suitcase!). She's half American, so she'll know how to cook it.

The rest of the day was wandering around, turning in my ID, paying my €1.17 phone bill, my €2.20 coffee bill, saying goodbye, cleaning out my desk, and trying to eat my refrigerator empty.

Everyone I know in Mainz sent me a text message and wants to meet up tonight. I'm going to pass on the disco invitation but will meet other people for drinks even though the weather is encouraging me to stay home with the telly. But that's a pathetic existence, so I'm going out.

"He who would travel happily must travel light.
(Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 1900 - 1944)

I have lots of stuff. I complain every time I move. I move far too often. It's a lot of work. I now have a backpack and three small packs full of clothes and stuff. I am taking my beloved pot with, though the plates and stuff will have to stay. I have no idea how to get all of this to the train station tomorrow. And I change trains twice. I hope I don't fall over backwards--I'd be as helpless as a turtle...

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." (Mark Twain)

I met my friend O., my friend from aupair days with whom I went to Austria last year, for coffee yesterday. If I had been on the ball I'd have contacted her sooner--now that I am not jus around the corner it will be harder to see her. She's going to be studying in Mainz this year, business, I think. She's getting married in March. Her boyfriend is a pretty nice guy--I met him in Berlin a few months ago--though only 22. I want to go to their wedding. Wow...friends of mine getting married. She even joked that it would be cheaper for her to have kids while still a student than after she's done studying. She told me that, for a Russian, she's already considered old, and most girls her age are married with family. She also has to pay tuition in Germany--her diploma from Russia is not recognized by employers, and is considered by German universities to be the equivalent of an Associate's (though it *should* be considered at least a Bachelor's), meaning she has more studying to do if she wants any kind of German degree, but the University is charging her tuition as it is considered a "second" course of study. The lovely catch-22 of a foreigner: her degree only hurts her without helping her, all of the downside and none of the upside of having completed a course of study. This is her seventh consecutive year of study and she is considered 'just beginning'. Once again, the Blue Passport benefits make themselves known…

So, tomorrow I'm off. No idea when I will see internet again...