Autumn has arrived. The view from my living room window of the forest is mottled with orange and yellow and the air is crisp. Coats, hats, and scarves have been pulled out of the closet. I no longer want to eat anything other that soup, stew, curry, and oatmeal spice cookies.
It took it’s time to commit to cool weather. Throughout September, the weather would swing from cold to quite warm from day to day. Most days I was cold while dropping Herbert off at Kita and overheated while picking him up – despite wearing the same outfit!
We enjoyed our time in September. We spent an afternoon in Berlin with some friends from Kaufbeuren, and on my birthday we took another day trip into Berlin. We checked out some second hand shops, visited the Technical Museum (which was more a present for William and Herbert) and went out for some delicious Mexican food at Ta’Cabrón Taquería. It was a lovely day, and that Mexican food was exactly what I wanted.
William took off work the last week of September. We had been hoping to do some traveling that week, but you know. Corona and frugal living. Plans fell through. Instead, he and I hunkered down and worked on personal projects as best we could. I was mostly catching up on German work. William had loftier projects, I think.
This past week, school is back in session. Although I do not have any courses for my degree this semester, I chose to take an intensive B2 course. In 7 years of studying German, my 5 months taking an intensive course in Kaufbeuren was the best experience and most effective by a landslide. The class meets 3 hours a day, 4 days a week. Just one week in, I am so happy to have made the decision to be in the course. It is just the right balance of challenging, without being overwhelming. It’s taking some time to adjust to the new schedule, as always, but it’s worth it.
Herbert, as always, is doing wonderful. He received good marks at his 4-year-old checkup, and his teachers has been commenting on how well he understands German. He speaks more and more German by the day, particularly when he’s frustrated. He frequently tells me that he doesn’t want to go to Kita because he doesn’t want to nap there or because he wishes his teacher and friends spoke English. I can totally sympathize, but I think he understands a lot more than he realizes. He has also developed a love for Mr. Rogers (even the black-and-white episodes from 1968) and Daniel Tiger.
Beyond that, life continues on. We anxiously watch politics in the United States (we mailed our ballots this week) and hope the rising COVID cases in Berlin do not come to Eberswalde (Berlin is now a high-risk area). The Christmas market was canceled, which is basically the most disappointing thing that can happen as far as I’m concerned. We agonize over frustrations with the immigration office and questions of what to do with our lives. And we remind ourselves that it will all work out in the end. It always has.
