The Big Meltdown

It is raining. For the first time in 4 weeks, it's not snow but water in its liquid form that comes down from the sky. I don't know if I like it or not. Our winter wonderland is an endangered species and soon to be extinct! That means no more ice-skating, no more snow ball fights and no more sledding down the hills...for Michael it means no more snow-shovelling and no more photo opportunities of our fairytale like garden.

We've enjoyed the past few days in the snow. Life is good, our days always start with a long and relaxed breakfast, leisurely times of curling up on the couch with a good book and a steaming cup of tea...Michael has started structured German classes on Monday and has made much progress, I think. Every day at 11pm, his private teacher Marina Gramm (yes, his mother-in-law) enters the kitchen ready to attack the next chapter of their text book. She is a much more patient teacher than I could ever be. And Michael has much more patience with her as his teacher than he would ever have with me, so it's a perfect match! The convenience of having a live-in German teacher is obvious: Michael has private lessons on whatever topic currently concerns our family, be it the snow, the movie we will watch in the afternoon, the birthday party we will attend later in the day, the food that's simmering on the stove next to the book-covered table and which we are about to enjoy for lunch, etc!

Our afternoons have been full of activities, too. We became members of the public library in Leipzig and are looking forward to their huge selection of books, DVD's and CD's. My mum frequently manages to get free tickets for rehearsels of operas and ballets at the Leipzig Opera House because she is a member of a literature club in town. I've had much time to indulge myself into the world of books and am spending a lot of time with all kinds of literature. I've rediscovered the joy of crossword puzzles and have become addicted. Michael has introduced me to a type of quiz called Sudoku which I'm sure most of you know a lot about but which has completely gone past me until now. On Friday, I discovered a CD-Rom with lots of Sudoku puzzles in the public library and am working my way through it now.

We've been trying to sort out the nightmare of sorting out Michael's visa application. Nightmare is too strong a word. Not a nice way to pass you time, I can assure you. They've told us nothing but useless information at the German Embassy in Adelaide and I wish they could have done the right things, it would have saved us a lot of trouble now. Well, like Michael keeps saying, we're here now and the situation won't change just because I'm complaining about it. The day we get that visa there will be a BIG post on the blog, you can be sure of that!

Recently we went to the movies with good friends and watched "Albert Schweitzer". We enjoyed it and hope it will come to Australia. Keep looking at the Palace/Nova programme. It is a French film about the theologian, doctor and music expert Albert Schweitzer and his hospice in Gabun (Africa). Even though it makes hardly any mention of Schweitzer's Christian side it is well worth watching even if one does not agree with his theology.

Getting back to the melting snow...with all these masses of snow all around it would not be too strange if our house will be washed away...where will all the water go?! You might find out in the next post!