Fall comes to Germany.

Since Berlin things have been pretty low-key. We've had lots of lazy mornings and spontaneous adventures, in which we explored various outdoor markets in the rain and not rain, played in pretty parks in the sun, and spent time walking around lesser-known parts of the city. A few nights ago we found and watched Findet Nemo on Youtube and it pretty much made my week. Sarah and I had plans and a ride to visit dear Smith friends in Denmark this weekend, but then her passport was most unfortunately stolen so that's been delayed. Mostly I've just been enjoying the autumnal odors and changing colors outside. The leaves generally turn yellow, then brown before they fall off. It's no knock-you-eyes-out New England autumn for sure, but I'm certainly appreciating what little we've got here. It's also gotten quite chilly as sometimes happens in the fall, getting down to freezing or just above at night. The picture to the left is the view from one of my kitchen windows. The next few below are from the Planten un Blomen park in the middle of the city, where I took lots of pictures of Carolyn yesterday.


I also had to locate where all my university classes would be taking place starting next week. My French linguistics class is going to be in this gigantic gigantic ugly building where a bajillion classes happen at a time. It has a talking elevator.

These are a few pictures I took while wandering around the harbor area one afternoon.

Something completely off-topic that I don't believe I've mentioned before is the topic of fun German traditions! More specifically, pre-marriage rituals. On the train to Lübeck we were surprised by a man dressed in prison stripes surrounded by a group of cheering cronies. The convict had a box of things around his neck that he was trying to sell, things being little bottles of alcohol, bras, etc... He went from person to person offering his goods or asking for contributions. We asked one of the natives about this, to which she replied that it was a tradition for people before their wedding to do something crazy as such that involves some sort of embarrassment. And alcohol. Later Martha said she saw a woman with a group of her friends on a ferry all dressed as firefighters also trying to sell from her box of things. I guess it goes in line with the bachelor/ette party idea.

We were told that there's another tradition that happens if you reach 40 (I think) and you're not yet married, where you must dress up as a street sweeper and sweep out in some public place until someone kisses you. Along that line, one of my favorite German words to date is Torschlusspanik, roughly meaning panic about the city wall gate closing while you're outside. It refers to the uneasiness people get as they get older and haven't found themselves a nice mate yet - running out of time and getting locked outside the city like happened in the good ole days.

Another something that continues to astound me is the strict regard for following the rules in this corner of the world. For example: there is no German word for jaywalking. It's not a concept that exists as everyone goes to the crosswalk and waits for the light to turn green, no matter if anyone is coming or not. An interesting comparison with big American cities.

Oh! Forgot to mention - tonight I auditioned for the big English-speaking theater group at the university. This semester they're doing, that's right, Agatha Christie's Mousetrap. Irony, anyone?

That's all I've got for now. Tonight I leave you with a lesson in Kompositors:

Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftkapitansfrau.

(The wife of the Danube steamship society's captain. Or something.)
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