"We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto..."

In the last weekend, as I wrote in my last post, I tried to meet all of my friends in Dresden. I wanted to see them all to say goodbye. I gave them some presents (that I brought from Israel) and promised to stay in touch. I really hope that I'll be able to keep my promise. Rob and I thought that we should come visit in Dresden every few months, something I would love to do, just that I know that it's not going to happen as often as we'd like.

On Monday Rob defended his thesis, and got a very good grade for it. His parents came to Dresden especially for that, and we spent the afternoon with them.

Our last night at the apartment was very weird. It was almost totally empty, except for our suitcases, an inflatable mattress and some other stuff that Rob left behind for us to use till we leave.

We left early on Tuesday morning (after sleeping for just a few hours, since I really wanted to see Andrea one more time the night before), knowing that we'll never go back to that place again. It's so weird leaving a place that you really liked, but I think I've talked about it enough already.

We got to Munich on Tuesday night, after stopping at Rob's parents for lunch. We had a carload of stuff to bring upstairs (I'm reminding you that our place is on the 6th floor with no elevator), which made Rob go up the 102 stairs 9 times, and me 6 times. I was so tired at night, but still didn't sleep that well. I still need to get used to this place.

We had quite a few problems here since we moved in, in the beginning the fridge door refused to close (that was already fixed), then the washing machine wouldn't turn and suck the water out (which was a mistake in the connection in the end, and was fixed by Rob), the lights in our bedroom don't work now, coz the fuse there burnt (going to be fixed, hopefully in the next few days) and finally: we haven't found a closet yet, that fits the size of our bedroom (since this is the attic the ceiling is tilted, and there's also a window in the middle of the only wall that can take the closet). I've been living in my suitcase for more than a month now, and I don't like it. Oh, and the bathroom mirror that we had in Dresden, broke while Rob was trying to take it off the wall, since we glued it too strongly.

The weather here is really cold (maybe in other places too, just my impression is that it's really cold here), winter decided to come early, and it's already 5 degrees outside (at night). I hope next week is gonna look nicer (the temperature is suppose to rise) coz Yifat is coming tomorrow for a week!!! This will be great! I can't wait till she's here.

I still have a lot to do, like sign up for a German course (coz I have to- for my visa), and then get my visa longer, and register here in Munich, and next Saturday I have an introduction day to the open university program that I signed up for. I still have to look for a job too (have to sit down and write applications, coz in Germany everything is complicated, and just sending your CV is not enough). I don't know how I'll do all that- learn German, study alone in German, for a Masters, and have a job, but I guess I'll just have to figure it all out.

Here's to new beginnings! The day we moved to Munich was the Jewish New year- so... I hope it'll symbolize a good new beginning for us.

Till next time from Munich...

Home sweet (new) Home

That's it! We're done bringing everything to our apartment, it took us a week until everything was in place- but now it is. Finally I have a home- a place I live in, and there's no more need to open a messy suitcase in order to look for a shirt. My things are in a closet!!! Our place looks so nice now, and so pleasant to be in... Next Wednesday the internet ppl are coming to connect us, sadly it's 2 days before we leave to Rob's parents's for my last weekend here... My flight to Israel is getting closer and closer...
We went to the foreigner office where Rob's parents live, to ask what kind of visa can I apply for, unfortunately there's no such thing as a girlfriend/partner visa, so the only chance will be to get a students visa. There's a few ways to do that, and as soon as we know more I'll write it here. Now we have to search for German language schools around here, and go there and ask questions, and go to the foreigner office here as well to see if the regulations are any different. I hope it'll be alright... I'm not allowed to work here as long as I learn the language (coz they say I'm suppose to study and not work) and that's a bit of a bummer... We'll see how we get along next year...
So, this weekend we decided to finally enjoy our home, for the first time (we've been at Rob's parents' house every weekend since we came back from China) and then I'll only have another week till I go back to Israel...
Have a great weekend everyone!

Facing the wall

In the last 4 days I've been a slave to the new apartment. We put all the lights up (Rob was the main driller, and I was the one who told him how straight things are), and I wanted to paint some walls too. As I told you guys before- Rob's mom gave me some colors and paint, and I was intending to use them- coz they seemed really nice colors. I wanted to paint one wall in the living room in something that looked like a shade of terracotta, so I started mixing the powder with the white paint. But oh my god- it turned out to be pink. At the end- the shade of pink wasn't too bad, and Rob himself said that it's actually nice. So we painted the wall in a shade of pink that we call "antique pink" in Hebrew. The day after that I took some leaves from outside - and made a pattern on the wall with them (Pictures soon), so it actually looks alright now. Needless to say that the moment I realized the wall was going to be pink- I panicked a bit- just like I can panic. The next day I painted the bedroom, only two stripes of two walls, parallel to each other. It looks cool. We went everywhere to look for a cheap but not ugly kitchen, and we found one place that offered what we want. We're still gonna try to get one for cheaper on ebay, and if we don't get it for the price we want- we'll buy the new one.

***

Sometimes I feel a bit mute here. When I walk in the streets alone, I feel as if I can't say anything- coz I don't speak the language. You're probably wondering what's the big deal- coz I've lived in China for a year of my life, and I should have felt the same there, but it's not the case. In China it was obvious to the Chinese that I'm a foreigner. It made things so much easier. It sounds funny that being different on the outside makes things easier- but it's true. This way no one tried to approach me in Chinese, and the fact that I spoke Chinese to them at some point made them appreciate it coz it's so obvious I'm not from there. They would try harder to make me understand (most of the time, obviously there were the annoying ppl that didn't make any effort) from the first moment they saw me. Here it's different. I look like someone that can speak German, just like anyone else here. I've been approached twice already, in the first time I asked the person in German- if he speaks English, he said yes, and that was that, but in the second time, it was when Rob was just next to me, and a girl approached me to ask a question. I had a confused look on my face, and pointed at Rob coz he was just there next to me- luckily she was an intelligent girl and she turned to him and asked him the question, understanding that I don't understand... So this whole situation makes me feel mute. And if you know me just a bit you know that mute just ain't my thing. I depend on language, language is my thing, my strength, the thing that gives me confidence, makes me better than others sometimes. I'm a person of words, words are my best friends, comparing meanings in different languages is my small hobby- and being mute takes all this away. Without being able to express myself I'm not me, I'm not the same person anymore, I can't show ppl exactly who I am. And yes, it gives me motivation to learn the language, but it also makes me feel as if I'm facing a wall. From all sides- there's a wall- a transparent wall I need to break as soon as I can.


***

Tomorrow we're going to Rob's parents' again, and on Monday we're renting a big car to take the rest of the big stuff back here. We're gonna pack it up in the evening and head back here on Tuesday morning. My back already really hurts, gone back to the terrible pain I had last time I came back from China, and this morning I started doing a little bit of Yoga again, and it helped a bit -so I guess I'll do that every morning from now on. In the bag I gave my dad was my Yoga book- and now I kinda wish it was here... But in 2 and a half weeks I'll be in Israel again and I'll try to get in shape again, at least for the sake of my back.
I miss Israel, I've said that here before, but now as time comes to leave here soon, I start understanding that I'll miss Rob very soon after I get there. Haven't decided when I'll come back here yet- but I'm definitely gonna check the flights as soon as I get there, if not coz I'm gonna miss him, then coz of the prices...

Hope to write here soon, peace to you all, and a late happy Independence day to Israel!

New apartment in Dresden

We were at Rob's parents for the weekend, un-assembling his furniture so we can take it next weekend with a big car, and packing boxes to take with us today. We actually took most of what we wanted to take, except for the big stuff. The weather is so nice here now (knock on wood!!!), and over the weekend we took a few drives out in the country side. I wish we had more time to actually go there and have a walk or just take a bicycle and wonder around. The highlight drive was with Rob's dad old Mercedes - a 1964 Mercedes - SO COOL!!! After that nice break- we kept going with the packing, which I obviously didn't really like- especially coz of all the dusty things we took out of Rob's closet- that made me itch and scratch all day.
So today we drove up to Dresden with a full car (there isn't room for another penny in that car now- and it's not a small one), and went to see another apartment, it was nice- but the kitchen and the bathroom were with no windows, and coz we already saw something nicer we decided to go for the other one. So we went to the office of the company who owns the apartment we want (it used to be owned by the government - in east Germany, but they sold these kind of old communist buildings to outer companies- who renovated them and they're renting it out to ppl) and we signed the contract for our apartment. I'm so happy about it!!! It's on the second floor, all full of light, and has a really nice bathroom. The kitchen, as I mentioned before, we'll have to buy, but we already started looking for things both in stores and on ebay. We got loads of stuff from Rob's mom who took our move as a project for her, and I can't wait until I paint some walls in it with the beautiful colors she gave me, and put everything as we like. I also can't wait to come back here after Israel- and bring here all the nice stuff I have to put in the apartment- so I'll feel at home...
So that's it for now,
Oh- and tomorrow, or as soon as I have time again- I'll obey The Big Guy's meme...