End of Chapter One

It is December and I have been here for the whole of three months today.

When I packed my bags in September I didn't even know if I'd come here for a week or the planned three weeks or just a weekend or something in between. I sure didn't expect to spend all winter here and so I only packed a couple of t-shirts and flipflops. I started freezing weeks ago.

So... It was definitely time to pop back to Germany for a few hours to get some more stuff. So I did last weekend.
A rather disappointing trip home, in a way. Didn't see my brother, really and only one of the two selected friends I meant to meet up with. Plus I spent all Sunday night arguing with my mother, both of us being drunk on red wine (and in my case beer and Gluhwein).

I did spend some lovely hours on the Christmas market with a Julia, though. Ate as much German food as I could possibly put in my face within 60 hours and spent shitloads of money on Gluhwein. Also I escaped my dentist's chair once again without him using a drill or anything. 25 years and I've never had a dentist do anything to me! There's something to be proud of...

Most of the weekend I spent packing. I packed like someone who was going to emigrate. I packed sensible shoes and fancy shirts and all the pants and socks I could find. I had to wear 3 Jackets on my way back, for different reasons.
Reason number one: My suitcase was already more than full and way too heavy.
Reason number two: It is fucking freezing in Germany/Switzerland as well as London.

There is a lot of snow here. People die and everything. No one goes to work and school's shut down.
It is ridiculous. Says the laundrette man. He was very happy to see me the other day.

"Finally!" he said "a German person! You won't complain about snow!" No. Obviously after him welcoming me like that I didn't complain about the snow, despite just having carried 25 kilos of dirty laundry through a snow storm.
"The British are pagans (dunno really, what he meant by this), they don't know anything." he said. "They are closing down schools in North London because of the snow! What snow? There's no snow! Look at this, can you see any snow? That's nothing! If they close down schools, the children won't learn anything anymore. Like American children. They go to school for 12 years and when you ask them where Germany is, they will point at South America! I don't know what they do in those schools! And soon it will be like that in England..."

And all because of the snow. Shocking. I love the laundrette man, he is so dramatic. And he loves me for not complaining about the snow. I practically am from the alpes, though.

My mum and I are ok again, by the way. She bought me Schupfnudeln mit Sauerkraut and I bought her an advent calender and then she stayed awake until I was safe in my bed in Tooting, cause she was worried my plane would crash or some London gangster would shoot me on my way home, now that we had had a massive fight.

Home. See how I used it? It is nice being back.

I was walking through Konstanz and thought... I love it so much more when I don't live there. And I do! I love it so much! It is so pretty with the lake and it's tiny crooked houses from 1273. It has the Casba, which is The Best Bar. (Basically it's a room with two foosball tables, three bar stools and a darts machine. All the walls are hidden behind boxes and boxes of bottled beer and the staff are only allowed to drink for free during opening hours.) Also, it has my family in it (Konstanz, not the bar. Only sometimes the bar has parts of my family in it...) And it's full of happy childhood memories and awkward, but important teenage memories.

But I do start calling London home, and it feels all warm and funny in the belly.

In other news: My NVQ course ended today with an English and Maths test. I think I did quite well in both. Didn't really learn anything at all, but well. It's always good to have a certificate for something. Maybe I can sell it on the black market or something.

Three months, ey. It seems so much longer. I am all settled and have friends and am going to Germany as a visitor, when all I wanted when I came here in September was one conversation.
Can't even remember what that man walking his dogs and cat that one morning said to me that made my drunken mind go "he's right, I should probably stay here", but I am very happy I met him.