As one may have gleamed from a recent slowage in posts, some things have been happening to involve my life in other ways than say, writing about my life. For one thing, I've fully delved into the research component of this year-- you know, the reason I'm here in the first place. That's been a gratifying kick to the brain, so to speak. After a very helpful meeting with my adviser, I've started reading history books on the last few centuries of Hamburg's cultural life and taking notes on the notable bits. It was a surprisingly slow beginning-- though my conversational German has gotten its groove back, scholarly German is another thing. It's taken a good week or so to be able wrap my mind around the written text in such a way as to process the information into long-term storage areas. However! I've been feeling much more confident in the past few days as the pages have started turning themselves more quickly. Something else I realized while getting started is that it's going to take a mountain of motivation to keep this project going-- and go it will! I'm figuring out the best places and times to work. So far my kitchen in the morning is the best way to go when I'm home, and alternatively I've found a great-vibed cafe with Wifi near the Uni for days when I have other engagements in the area.
It will also help when my university class starts (FINALLY) on Thursday. It's an active seminar all about theater and its cultural implications in Hamburg... Cha-CHING.
In other news, I figured that one good way to counterbalance hours spent sitting and reading about art/devastation would be to take SALSA LESSONS, and I don't mean the kind you'd find in a recipe post. Two weeks down and I'm already sure that salsa dancing could cure pretty much any ailment, except maybe tendonitis. (Still workin' on that.) Someday, I hope to be this good. (You really can find everything on Youtube!) I'll also be taking a photography course focusing on different creative techniques. Choir started tonight and shall continue to fill my Tuesday evenings with Verdi's Requiem. The English-speaking theater group at the University will get going with Hamlet at the end of the month. I'm planning on signing up for a French-speaking tandem partner to keep my français from feeling too neglected. And. I suddenly have a job.
Or rather, a "Minijob." I happened to come across a page with local job listings on the Uni website, one of which was for a swanky travel company looking for a native English-speaker to translate their website and other materials from German into Englisch. I sent them an email and Germanified resume, scored a job interview in their swanky office in the most swankified part of the city, aaand found out yesterday that I was hired. It felt totally outlandish to be conducting my first legitimate job interview in German, buuut everything worked out. It'll only be a few hours a week because of my F-bright and residence permit restrictions, and that is so fine with me. I'm excited to have this opportunity to gain some experience in the translation world before I decide on whether or not I want to spend lots of moolah to go into it professionally, though mostly I am feeling overwhelmed by the impact of all of this good luck.
Now for something a little more photogenic, here are some scenes from a stroll I took around the Alster on a beautiful day in the not-so-distant past:
...Speaking of photogenic, have you been introduced to the shiny, new www.margaretmetzler.com?
And finally, a recent observation: Perhaps the truest sign of adulthood is when you start buying toilet paper for yourself.
That is all.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY CONGRATULATIONS BIG SISTER!
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