Dear World,
it's been something like 12 and a half months since I moved to Germany, which added to the two prior visits I'd already made, makes something like thirteen months of my life that I've been in this country. That is, 3½ or 4% of all the time I've ever spent, anywhere. I thought you might be interested.

Fall (Herbst) is coming soon. Last year at this time, I was wearing short sleeves and shorts all the time, and sweating well into October on the way from Heydenmühle to Lengfeld and back. This year it's cooler, as they say, "fall is in the air." I'm much more comfortable than I used to be, at least most of the time. When I'm in German-speaking groups I still have more trouble understanding the answers after I ask a question, than if I just keep quiet and try to pay attention. Despite that, I haven't stopped asking questions. I'm enjoying a long weekend in Mainz with Veronika and we're settling into the idea of another year: another year of back and forth from Heydenmühle to Mainz; another year of hellos and goodbyes; another year of wondering, what's happening next.

Work continues to go well. There's constantly a mood in Torhaus inspired by the question, "What can we do better?" Or maybe the question is rather, "What do you need?" At any rate I'm still convinced that it's a good place to be working, and it hasn't gotten boring yet. I've got my new Visa and I've got my new status at the Heydenmühle as Mitarbeiter (coworker). I'm no longer a Praktikant (intern). The distinction hasn't made too much difference in the daily responsibilities of my job, but I am attending a few meetings and all of a sudden I know a lot more of the people who are around in the Heydenmühle. I am officially more responsible than before, for instance sometimes I have to be on call even when I'm not working. So far I haven't been called with any problems. And that's the latest. I've got as many questions as answers, when it comes to the work, but since that's appropriate for the mood of the house, I can't complain.

Yours,
Noah

In case you haven't been following the story, things are different now. To begin with, summer vacation has come and gone. I once again had the experience of living with Veronika for more than a few days at a stretch and I look forward to more time like that—but not for a while. August 18th will mark my first full year in Germany, and like I said, things are different. I can get by here now, and more. I understand a high percentage of everything I hear during the day at work. In other contexts I mostly catch the gist of the conversation. But I'm still a long way off from 100% inclusion. That said, when have I ever been part of things 100%, 100% of the time? (Seriously though, I am lost and left out more than I used to be.)
So what's new, besides that I went to Barcelona with Veronika?
Work. Work's different. I moved out of Lengfeld and down to Heydenmühle proper. The new address is

>Ausserhalb Lengfeld 3
>64853 Otzberg
>Deutschland

I'm also not just anywhere in the Heydenmühle, but sharing a room with the (already there) office in Torhaus, where I work. The commute is a lot shorter! And I've got my own bathroom. I'm still working on getting the last of my furniture sorted out and getting everything nicely "eingerichtet." We've also got a new team working in Torhaus, and after half a week we're off to a good start. I have admit that it surprises me that I'm so excited to think that we'll be able to keep building, and not have to stop every few months to train someone new, and not have to work with people who are only there one or two shifts a month, who might be good at what they do & might be able to offer more than simply two hands but don't just because they don't offer us enough time for it! Yes, it seems like it will be a good year.
I was walking to the train station today going across the fields. After surviving the mud pit I came up the hill. The sun was shining. The wind was blowing. it smelled the way it always does (thankfully not quite as sour as sometimes, Winter having ended really a long time ago). It smelled, you know, evocative; familiar. It was one of those smells that made me feel comfortable. Which shouldn't be a surprise. I did, after all, walk that way to and from work for most of a year.

Since this is a log, I will once again apologize for the as always unplanned lack of entries for such a long time: Sorry I haven't posted for ages. I hope you appreciate the update.

Well, that's the real life... or that's the feel of it, somehow. There's such a bustle of voices outside, and I can hear someone clapping. I'm here at the Heiliggrabgasse apartment on my own for possibly the first time. Well, I've been here on my own before. But I just arrived (tired, it's nearly midnight) and ate some leftover pizza from the roomate. Veronika and her sister are in Darmstadt at the Schlossgrabenfest (i think that's what it's called) and I'm here on my own for the whole night. After two nights sleeping in the tiny bed in the office in Torhaus, it's nice to be here. And tomorrow morning, my parents are arriving. Sometime between 7:30 and 8:00, I think. all this makes me think it's time for bed.
so... off I go. goodnight.

...so much for a series of small, detailed entries describing my time on the Schlei. Life moves on, and it seems that this is my vacation-time. This past weekend, I was in Turunç, a small town (with a big hotel) in Turkey. I was pretty amazed to be there - I've never taken a trip like that before in my life. Veronika's sister found the deal for us, and we flew and got picked up from the airport and taken directly to the hotel, and brought back a few days later. It was warm, it was sunny, there were pools and ocean and waterslides and it was really, really nice and relaxing. Drinks and food were all part of the package, though the haircut I got was a little extra. In two more weeks, my parents, sister and Grandma will be arriving. I hope the weather here in Deutschland is nice by then. It's been solidly cloudy for weeks.... Well, we'll see.
I've heard that my visa is approved! I am still waiting for the official paperwork. So far we only have word-of-mouth confirmation, over the phone.

Windmühlen

The first thing I noticed about the North of Germany is that no matter where you are (outside), you can look around and see a windmill. One of the big ones for electricity. There are also old windmills around. I think I saw ten or so of them around, some looked pretty, all painted, new roofs, wings (are they called wings?) looking like they're ready to fly around.... I didn't actually see any in use. Most of them used to be grain mills, and one was also a sawmill. Some of them are also standing around just looking weathered, with the spinning parts detached and nowhere to be seen, the tops capped by tarpaper.

Work update: a month spent at the Schlei, not so bad. Intense, good for the working relationships, no details at this time.

Future work update: waiting for a response from the Arbeitsamt about whether I can work in Germany or not.

General update: maybe soon, after I shower, if we're lucky....

oh whoa whoa WHOAwhoawhoawhoa I signed my contract and I've visited the Ausländerbehörde and now I just need to go see Mr. Mohr again and tell him what the woman in Dieburg told me and then, well, we'll see. I just need permission from the Arbeitsamt to work, and if I have it, then the Ausländeramt gives me permission to live here without asking any further questions. They're happy to work through my papers for me. They just ask the folks at the work-office first if it's okay to go ahead with it. So that's it, and that's that.