Weekend wanderings

Gorgeous weather throughout my first weekend here makes it easier to like this city. Yesterday, I stumbled across a street fair beside the river, packed with tourists and locals enjoying amusement park rides, beer gardens, ice cream, bratwurst and some terrible-looking fried concoctions. I took a lot of pictures, and will post some soon.

In the evening I went to a party at a coworker's house, loosely termed a barbecue (actually she just had one of those 12-inch hibachis with a handful of charcoal in it, but managed to at least warm some sausages and cheese). It was a good opportunity, the first I've had, to get to know some of the people that seem so intimidating in the office. Turns out they're quite nice when not on deadline, actually. Many of them reassured me that they, too, didn't know much about financial reporting -- or German -- when they first started. I went out with a few of them after the party to their favorite neighborhood bar, and didn't get home until 4 a.m.! So much for getting into the right time zone.

This afternoon, I joined the hundreds of people sprawled on the soft, sloping lawn of the local park, sleepily watching the squealing children play in the small waterpark in the center. For a few minutes, I actually felt like a local...or at least not concious of my own foreignness for the first time in days.

Now I'm at another sidewalk cafe, wearing a tank top and cotton skirt and enjoying the feel of the breeze and sunshine on my skin. (It was quite cold the week before this.) I ordered an "eiskaffee" from the menu, thinking it was simply iced coffee, but I forgot that "eis" actually means "ice cream" in German...a delicious mistake!