update part 1

Man.  I'm sorry I've been such a slacker about updating.  It's just that lately I've been finding it difficult to find the the motivation to sit myself down and type anything.  Even e-mails.  Maybe I'm slowly entering the process of becoming a hermit?

I guess I will just make a list, since the caffeine hasn't kicked in yet and my brain is still tottering around like a two-year-old who occasionally bangs into the coffee table.

1.  The arm is almost healed.  It looks suspiciously different from my other one, though.  The doctor said that if we hadn't put a cast on it right away, it would have had to be operated on.  This is my last week of Krankengymnastik (physical therapy), so amen to that.  

2.  The weather has gotten to be very pleasant, so whenever possible, my WG piles into Ricky's cabrio and we depart Hamburg in search of a quiet meadow.  Last weekend we found one with a creek nearby and laid out blankets and basked in the sun and ran around full of glee.  It was awesome.

3.  The big thought that has been occupying my brain lately (I know, sometimes it's only capable of one task at a time) is what my relationship to my WG would be like if I understood every single thing that is said.  My fluency is decent, but I still miss stuff when something is said too fast or too unclear, or when there's a pesky verb in there that I don't know.  This is partly a good thing, because it forces me to be very neutral when judging my housemates.  I am pretty certain that if I had the fluency of a native speaker, my opinions about my flatmates would be very different.  More background information, stuff like that.  This also means that every day is incredibly interesting for me, because the process of getting to know my WG is never dull and constantly changing.  I've noticed, for example, that Anne is slightly OCD and very easily annoyed by lack of orderliness.  So when she's mad, she cleans feverishly.  Timo will go to great lengths to avoid conflict.  Lydi is almost never in a bad mood, but always talks to someone when she's angry and afterwards is cheerful again.  Ricky, on the other hand, always peaces out when he's angry and takes a drive or a walk.  And since he has a new job (his old job at Cafe Gnosa left him constantly pissed)  he is much happier and more relaxed.  Also, he recently cut all his beautiful curls off and looks very, very different.  For the better, I think.

To be continued, because it's time to go earn my meager living!