"Heimat is hier und dort - ist überall, wo Menschen uns mögen."

I like this quote. I've spent my whole life looking for a definition of home that actually applies to me, and here it is. Home is here and there - above all, home is where our loved ones are. For me, that's pretty much everywhere. I've never been one to wax poetic about the idea of home; in fact, it has usually just irritated me. I hate the looks of pity I get when I say "Oh, I'm not from anywhere in particular." I just don't understand why that's necessarily a sad thing. Instead of one home, I have many. I may not live there anymore, but I carry them with me no matter where I happen to be, and they are no less important in my life than a more traditional "home" is in someone else's life. I'm made more aware of this each time I find myself in a new place, poised to begin yet another piece of my life. It's exciting and scary at the same time, knowing that an unfamiliar place will soon become an inextricable thread, one that will stay with me forever. When I look back on a previous home, it's as though I'm remembering two places -- the one in which I lived and loved, but also the place as I first saw it, crisp with newness and hazy with time. They always feel different, and even when I'm settled and comfortable, I never forget the beginning.

Right now, I'm again in that transitional moment, so I've been thinking a lot about those other times and places, as well as what's to come. Not only in Tübingen, but in the coming year - my last as an undergrad.

As for the present, I have spent most of my time in class thus far. We have about five hours of German per day, and when we're not in class, we're all usually hanging out together. There's never a dull moment. Last week was spent in Blaubeuren, a little town in the Schwäbishe Alb about two hours from Tübingen. I was little skeptical; after all, we were facing a week in tiny village with no internet and even more class time than we have here. But even with these drawbacks, it was amazing; every day there was something new to do, we had delicious food, the weather was fantastic, and I got to spend time with people whose company I genuinely enjoy. We also spent a day in Ulm, which is a great little city. One word: Brotmuseum.

We left on Friday, so since then I've just been catching up on homework and bureaucratic stuff, like choosing classes for next semester. It's looking like I will be abandoning all pretense and taking only German history/studies classes for which I can write papers about gender. And I'm still in disbelief that I'm choosing classes for my SENIOR year. Weird.

Blaubeuren cloisters and Blauetopf.

Deutsch-Kompakt.

Kirche in Ulm. We climbed all 750 steps to the top.