I am home. Sort of.

I miss R--------- already. I miss the Ferrars (should have picked a pseudonym for that family that was easier to pluralize). I miss German light switches, door handles, and windows. I miss the adrenaline rush of trying to pay attention to meaning (the difference between what I want to say and what I know how to say), pronunciation, genders of nouns, and other grammar ALL AT THE SAME TIME. I miss people telling me all the time how good my German is (only partly true-- they are somewhat led on by my excellent pronunciation-- but it still feels good to hear).

I miss the kids at the kindergarten.

As my mother would say: sigh.

However.

I looked on my email today (I got home yesterday) and found a job posting for a city quite close to R--------, for which it appears that I may be qualified. I meet the minimum requirements set out, and speak some German ("good" German for a visitor, and good enough at least to start in a classroom). They said that they didn't need a German speaker, but I'm hoping they look favorably on what I do have.

So, that is what "home, sort of" means. I got used to Germany while I was there. I didn't really want to come back yet, but I feel that I made a good decision. My visit with my parents at Christmas was too short, anyway, and in some ways it will be easier to apply for the job from here (the German embassy is quite close, for instance, so visa issues will presumably be somewhat easy to work out).

Next posting: Paris, with pictures! (I can finally download my camera's pictures, as soon as I download the software and read the manual...) Not too many, though, since my battery froze and therefore died after the first four I took, three of which were of the Eiffel tower. Sorry. I'll just have to take more next time I go. Which, if I make it back to Frankfurt soon, may be within a year.