New This Week, Parts 22 Through 24

Okay, at this point my apology for not having written for weeks again is sounding silly. When I wrote the last time, I was about to get out of my lethargy, move to Frankfurt and start rocking again. And in a way I did. At least that’s what my back signalized me after more than a week of pretty much constant carrying around stuff. When I moved into my friend’s apartment in Frankfurt, all that he, a good friend of his and I did was wrapping, packing and carrying downstairs his things, amongst which was an abundance of crystals. Yes, my friend loves crystals, and I agree: As long as you don’t have to carry them and you have space for them, they’re gorgeous. Too bad that I was the one to carry all of his stuff downstairs because he and his friend had serious back problems and couldn’t lift the boxes with his stuff. Well, my back had rocked for over a week, I could tell at the time.

Also, I am in doubt whether listing the new things of the weeks has proven to be so sensible. With my being back in Düsseldorf and pretty much mourning my sorry-ass existence in that old job, it seemed like a good idea to list the new things. Now that my life has come picked up the pace of life again, listing the weekly novelties seems a little ironic to me because what’s been basically happening is my life getting out of a cocoon, again, for good.

So you will probably believe me when I say I had some novelties in the last weeks. I just have trouble remembering them. Everything is rushing by so fast, and I’ve always been bad at making lists. So forgive me when I just write what’s been going on, for now.

To start off, a few paragraphs on what’s been happening with me.

My new job at the e-mail marketing company has been working out great, I think. I’m feeling in a good place with nice, interesting and creative people, love the job opportunities that are presented to me, and my bosses are great visionaries. I also like the city, or rather what I have seen of it so far. The only things about Frankfurt that leave quite a bit of room for improvement are the fact that the traffic lights are not synchronized, and that when you want to use public transit and don’t have a monthly pass, your only choice is to buy a ticket at a machine before every single ride. There are no books of four and no tickets that you can buy in advance and cancel when needed. It is as if using the system was supposed to be piss you off.

My apartment in Frankfurt is great, too. It is much bigger than what I need, and, in fact, unaffordable if I were to pay the market price, but I found a great arrangement with my friend who owns it. He can leave his stuff there, and if he ever comes back to Germany he can move back in, and I will find myself another place. I take care of his mail and handle things like the craftsman who is still working on the renovation of the guest bathroom. So it’s a win-win.

You should see the balcony on a sunny afternoon! The house is in a very quiet and nice neighborhood, and you can yet walk to the next subway stop in ten minutes, and I need approximately ten minutes by bike to my office. Also, I have two big sleeping couches that give room to up to five or six people. It’s time for a visit of yours, isn’t it?

This Energy-Consuming Time

But you can tell that both the move and the whole new job situation have taken their toll. The biggest downside is that I have grown tired of all the going back and forth between Frankfurt, Cologne (for the teaching), Düsseldorf (to clean the old apartment, pack away furniture and other stuff, and celebrate my birthday), and Mettmann (to visit my parents and move even more stuff). Right now as I’m pre-writing this entry, I am sitting in a train from Düsseldorf to Frankfurt after a seminar on privacy management for my new employer (see the irony?), and on the upcoming Friday I will have to go back to Cologne to teach again.

Although I like the teaching job I am very happy to say that on the 10th of July, the semester will be finally over and I will be able to drop at least this part of traveling.

It’s not the traveling part itself that bothers me though; it’s the packing. Every time I am planning a trip, I need to think about what I will need where and when, how to pack efficiently and what else to consider so that I’ll be able to do the things on my agenda: Did I pack the letter I wanted to send? Do I have the paperwork with me that I will need to contact the authorities about my one-month driving interdiction? Do I have the invoice with me that I will have to remind the college of? Did I pack the screwdriver that I will need to deconstruct the desk I wanted to pick up at my parents’?

Speaking of driver’s license, I actually have to hand mine in for a month because I was caught speeding with 46km/h too much on the A3 on my way back from Munich recently.

My Birthday Party Last Weekend

Most of you know because you were there but for all others, I celebrated my birthday again last weekend, still in Düsseldorf and again a theme party. And although I was originally hesitant to choose the theme again, I finally decided to have a clothes swapping party again. For those who don’t know it yet, here are the rules, again:

• You have to show up in clothes you want to get rid of.
• Everybody’s entitled to swap clothes with anybody else at the party other than the person they just got their clothes directly before. For the swapping process there is a special room that people can use.
• All clothes may be swapped, from single parts to whole outfits.
• Everything is changed, except underwear, shoes and socks, and jackets, unless both parties agree to.
• Everybody leaves the party in the clothes they are wearing when they do.

If you have never attended such a party you’re probably frowning and thinking that it is a sex-oriented party but that’s far from the truth. In fact, that might rather be your fantasy talking, as everybody is extremely relaxed and at one point will probably start dropping their pants right where they’re talking to others when you approach them with your swapping request.

This theme is much rather the best theme I have experienced when it comes to connecting people. Especially when you invite a wide variety of people and you want to prevent them from gathering in the small groups of people they already know, this theme is for you. There is just no ice breaker like, “Wow, you look even crappier in my already ugly shirt!”

All this being said, I think I speak for all of us when I say, we had a blast. Amalia had cooked an incredible selection of Asian food, and in spite of everybody who still had to drive home, we ate and drank a lot, danced and laughed our asses off. I am so happy everybody showed up again and had such a relaxing and fun party again. Thank you, everybody, thank you, thank you, thank you!

By the way, I got an extremely cool present at this party that I, admittedly, pretty much ordered. I know many have probably declared me crazy or that they wanted to send me their shirts, but the present I wanted to have and actually got is a professional steaming-iron station with the accessory ironing board. With this, ironing especially dress shirts will be not only more fun but turn out so much easier than before! I quote my friend who organized it, “The board even sucks and blows!” Honestly, what more could a gay man want! :)

These are the things I can think of now, knowing that I have probably forgotten half a dozen others, like the fact that I have followed a friend’s recommendation and installed and liked the new Trillian Astra, or that I have started playing the Facebook application “Vampire Wars” that is pretty much like Mafia Wars, which I have become addicted to. But let’s keep it at this for now. Drop me your questions in the comments, and I’ll answer them in the next entry.