Life can have a spiral nature. It was pointed out to me by my Brazilian flatmate Leandro last week. He was talking about how we had just switched the direction of the spiral around in our kitchen. I had cleaned a little, and he saw it. So, he cleaned a little more. But before that, someone left it a little dirty, so the next person left it a little dirtier, and so on.
And I have found the same thing with both my studies and my communication. I put off studying for Math today, and then I don't feel like focusing on German tomorrow, and I spiral downward into the ever-populated wastes of the internet. And when I don't write a card home this week, I fail to update the blog next week, and then I don't think about Skyping after that.
Well here is for reversing the spiral. :-)
Schnee. That wonderful sensation of crystallized dihydrogenmonoxide. That frozen mixture of Wasserstoff und Sauerstoff. I came to Germany hoping to find piles of it in the winter.
Since early December people have been saying "Next week it will snow". Why last year was apparently one of the worst snows Dortmund has seen for a long time. But December ticked by without a flake seen by me (apparently it snowed outside the library for 5 minutes).
Well there was January with some of the worst winter weather in Europe. Bayern was snowed in, and Italy has been unusually visited by the mysterious white guest. And I saw big fat flakes fall for 15 minutes to wet the ground outside the Bio- und Chemieingenieurwesen. But not to worry, there was sure to be snow in February.
Last Saturday or Sunday I sat at my desk in my room working on the computer (possibly working hard), when I looked out to see small white bits dancing in the breeze. Up and down. Back and forth. They flitted and floated. But only for a short time. And only for my eye to see at the fourth floor. Nothing visible was on the ground.
Well the time for nature was up. Last Monday after my Math exam, I took a train (and a bus) with friends to Botrrop about an hour away to an indoor ski slope.
Ten years or better since the first time I have skied. But with a few runs down the initial slope (lets not talk about the fight to grab the rope to get dragged up to the top of that initial portion), I felt ready for more. Down the I went, covering the 200m in very little time, almost colliding with a wall. And then onto a conveyor belt to get back to the top. And still on the conveyor. And look at all the holes people have poked in the ceiling above the conveyor. Man this sure is long ride. And out. I really think it took 30 seconds to go down the slope and 7 minutes to get back up. Well the skiing on powdery snow and some sections of ice was only a wetting of the appetite for future skiing (I hope) and for the included buffet.
That took us to around 11 O'clock, skiing and eating. A thing to note is that while public transportation in Germany is very good, it slows down a lot after 8pm and there is very little after midnight. We could have taken a taxi to the train station, but, equipped with a smart phone and a transportation app, we thought we could get home without paying extra.
What an adventure! The first two buses were alright, just the usual checking of direction, but then the app messed up. And we waited in the cold for an hour for a bus that didn't show. Waited another half hour for a cab, to rush us to a train, to catch another tram... Well it may have taken 3.5 hours and the use of all forms of transport except boat, but I did finally get home safe with the knowledge that next time we should just call a cab.
Well Thursday had the forecast for "Snow Grains", and as I walked over the white dusting to the bus stop to get to the Uni, I had to agree.
Well some in Europe are asking Chuck Norris to close his freezer, but I am crossing my fingers for tomorrow. The forecast is "Chance of Snow".
Nic
