For the remainder of May and all through June, I was waiting for permission to work in Germany from the work agency and to receive a visa from the immigration office. In the meantime, I had quite a bit of free time. I got set up with an apartment in Pischelsdorf and began living somewhat on my own. Besides no internet, it is quite beautiful and clean with a great view of the rolling hills in the distance. I've taken walks through the woods and journeys around the area by bicycle. Pischelsdorf is quite sleepy, though, so as I waited and waited the sleepier and more discouraged I got. I just wanted to DO something. I was offered hours at Bloomingfoods and I already had an apartment to return to in the States, so there was quite a draw for me to come back home and get on with my life.
But I stuck it through. All the days I felt homesickness was made worse by the fact that I existed in limbo. No idea what would happen, always waiting and wondering, and plenty of free time to think about doing stuff with my family and friends back home. I tried to counter this inevitable feeling by keeping myself occupied with all that Germany has to offer. I feel like I've done everything in Munich that there is! Sarah RahRah came to visit, which was a refreshing break from all the Germanness going on, and though it was bad to speak so much English, it would be the last visit with and American I would have. We explored the city a bit and saw all the main attractions. Then, on a whim, we visited the Bavarian Film Studios where such films as The Sound of Music, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Das Boot, and The Neverending Story were produced. For 5 lousy Euros, we got ourselves into a "4D experience", which really was a 3D ride with moving seats, smoke, and spraying water. Wow, it was a blast... The sets and exhibits in the studio area looked interesting from the outside, but we were too late for a tour. I was very interested, seeing as film is one of my specialties, and I ended up making a second visit when Sarah went on her way to explore more of Europe. The tour was pretty cool. I ended up meeting some people from Sweden and an old Florida couple. They were pretty astounded at all the "movie magic". I rolled my eyes a lot. I also visited the old olympic village and park, BMW's headquarters, the zoo, and one time I was so bored that I got on a 30 minute train to the airport and back.
I also spent time in the halls of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität where Hans and Sophie Scholl dropped hundreds of leaflets citing Goethe, Aristotle, the Bible, Novalis, and Schiller in opposition to the Nazi regime. They and six other core members of The White Rose were caught and executed by decapitation in 1943. She was 21 years old. It sends chills down my spine every time I'm in that hall. Besides that, though, the university is amazingly beautiful and there are all kinds of lectures and events happening. The surrounding area is full of great bookshops and cafes, which I happily frequented throughout the day.
After going to a few parties and outings, I have met many new German friends who are really cool and nice. I'm having to really get used to the Bavarian language as it is almost impossibly different than German. The younger generation doesn't use it so much and are easier to understand than some older people, but the accent sometimes remains depending on who you are talking to. Sometimes I feel like the token American, but I guess that is exactly what I am, an "Ausländer". Nevertheless, I've met even more people that I first knew way back in 2006 and have had quite a few good conversations. I'm looking to start playing music with some people, too. It's been far too long, and to finally find some people with a space, a drum kit, and instruments is music to my ears (haha).
I frequented the immigration office very often, inquiring again and again whether my visa would go through. Unfortunately, I couldn't work at all until I got the visa, and the days became long and dull. I just hate sitting around for weeks doing nothing, especially amidst my fervent stress wondering what will happen, and whether something went wrong with the visa processing. The visa was supposed to be ready by May 31st at the latest. Turned out my student visa would expire and I would be given a "Fiktionsbescheinigung" providing a grace period until June 30th, yet another deadline. Apparently, Germany is just super slow. Bureaucracy is the devil.
Towards the middle of June, I decided to make a trip to Sweden to visit my relatives in the event that the visa did not come by the end of June. Before leaving Europe, I just had to see them again. I stayed for about a week. First, I stayed with my cousin Mikael and his family for four days. We took it easy, visiting the small city of Karlstad and taking walks through the forest. We visited the residence of Sweden's greatest poet, Gustav Fröding. The area of Värmland, where we were, is especially known for its natural beauty, and I can easily see why so much poetry came from the area. I went on my own one day with a bike and a map, riding along the river and taking obscure paths. It was fun to just have an adventure in a peaceful, quiet place. Sweden is just stunning. Little red cottages and barns popping up once in awhile out of the pine forests or rolling fields, the myriad of boats lining the rocky coasts of huge lakes, blue skies against yellow buildings in the town centers. Just great.
Next, I returned to Sven and Gun's summer cottage, where I stayed the good part of August 2006. It's great there, just a little red and white summer cottage in the woods, about a minute walk from lake Vänern, the largest in Sweden. They were both so happy to see me, and I was of course so glad to have made it back. First we just played cards and talked. Anna and Jan visited with their kids. Their daughter, Alice was born when I last visited. The dark haired infant I remember was now a blonde little girl full of energy, running around with her now ten year-old brother, William. I had a nice time with them, and afterwards Sven, Gun, and I had a barbecue with pork steaks and wine. Good to be back!!! The next day was to be a small lunch party outside. We got lucky, because it just happened to be the one beautiful sunny day on the trip. My cousins Frida, Magnus, their son William, her brother Johan, Frida's grandmother, and their dog Vilma came all the way from Gothenburg. Also, Sven's sister Bibi and her husband Mats came again with the grandkids (Alice and William). It was a big success. Johan had never met, but we hit it off pretty well almost immediately. He is a drummer in a band called Vitors (you can listen here) and is very much into film as well. Considering he knew one of the most obscure movies by Werner Herzog and one I've written quite a lot about, Even Dwarfs Started Small, we had a lot to talk about. So the two Williams and Alice got along great together, and played with Miki the tortoise a lot. The older Swedes hung out a bit, and I caught up a bit with Frida's family, as well as conversation about music, film, culture, politics and the like with my long lost Swedish cousin Johan. Another great day, followed in the evening by another great little barbecue with sausages and wine.
The next day, Frida and family picked me up to go to their home in Gothenburg, my final destination before my flight back to Germany. I said goodbye to Sven and Gun, but promised I would be back. It was bittersweet because we had such a good time, but only had two days. In any case, it was good to see Sven in the best shape of his life at age 75 and Gun still her charismatic and loving self. Going back is definitely on the agenda.
The drive was long, but of course it was great just getting a nice glimpse of the Swedish countryside. When we got to Gothenburg, we were all quite tired and ordered some pizza. We just hung out, looked at YouTube videos, maps of America and Sweden, and reminisced until two in the morning. Yep, the sun was still up. We got up in the morning and had a great Swedish breakfast complete with strong coffee, fresh vegetables, flatbread and all kinds of assorted meats. Oh yeah, and this paste they make out of fish. It is the one thing I have never tried and also have no desire to. Pulverized shrimp, salmon, and fish eggs in a tube I can do without. The days were quite windy, so we never got to go out on their new boat, but I at least got to see it. Very spacious and beautiful, Swedes sure do love their boats. It's understandable. There are so many inlets, rivers, and lakes along the coast of Sweden, you can have adventures for months going through different landscapes, cities, and towns all while sailing along. We also went to a cool record shop and a tour of the harbor where my Great Grandpa left for America. The city is building up quite a bit, and there are tons of apartment complexes rising up along the waterfront. They are all different, some take the look from the industrial buildings they replaced, others are colorful and modern, but they all are gigantic and ridiculously expensive. It almost seems worth the price given the spectacular view and vicinity to the city center. Good luck eating, though. We took a walk through the main city area and took a boat tour that goes all through the city, under some bridges so low you had to almost lay down to avoid being decapitated. They took me out to the scenic coast as well, where there are traditional houses scattered all along the rocky shore. You have to drive the car onto a ferry to get to some of the islands, so it took a little patience, but the atmosphere of old Sweden is very much alive once across. The boats everywhere, the old barns, cottages all along the docks are just a site to see. Sweden is just ethereal, and you just have to sit and take it all in. Breathe that clean air as much as possible, too! During the nights, we just hung out lazily, which was great. William and I played the new rage amongst kindergarteners, Beyblades, essentially your classic tops that spin and hit each other. The player whose top stays spinning wins the match. Amazing how enthralled he was. Who knew that after hundreds of years, this toy would still be "in". The kids aren't allowed to have them at daycare, so they make their own from scratch with materials there and play anyway. Crafty little Swedish kids. He never understood that I couldn't understand him, so we often conversed not knowing what the other was saying. It was quite fun. It was finally time to go back to Germany, and I felt nicely rested and happy that I could meet my cousins again and spend good quality time with no rush. Of course there is so much I could say about these people I really love a lot, but I hope I at least covered the fact that I had a great time! Magnus took me to the airport, and we said goodbye until later. Copenhagen, then Munich bound. Oh yeah, and I wasn't just going back to Germany as a visitor, but as a newly accepted resident in German society.
The visa FINALLY was approved!!!!!!!
I would now be staying in Germany until May 31.
A new phase in life to begin.
soon to be continued...
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