the search

this weekend i was in karlsruhe looking for a room. from the many i wrote and telephoned with, there were three options to go see. one was much too junked up (a place with two art students..), one was way too upper-class (with a law student), and one was just right (like baby bears room...). please pray that they choose me!! they have several others interested and were not ready yet to make a decision. the room is 25m2 (mine here is 17m2 and all others i found less), costs only 250e (a little less than my room in bremen and the cheapest i have found in karlsruhe) and the three women roomates were all quite nice. all over thirty and a bit quieter than things have been in the hope house. the style was a cluttered non-mess.. kinda artsy and origionally decorated. hard wood floors, very high cielings, nice balcony, espresso machine.... :-)

otherwise the weekend was good in and of itself. even though i'd just seen andreas, we don't seem to get tired of spending time tpogether. his parents even bought a fold-out couch, so i had a comfy bed. we think it's their way of saying "why doesn't cate come over more?" the weather was ok, the food was awesome, and the city is.. well, i think i am actually going to like it there. as long as the summer doesnt turn out to be too hot.

before i go south..

my reverse migration is comming upon me rather quickly.. unlike birds that fly south in the winter, i will be headed that way for the summer (rather idiotic since i dont like heat). andreas laughed at me for still (after 4 1/2 years in bremen and several in hamburg) not having ever been to the north sea (ocean). we decided to do something about it. spontaneously.

so easter monday we headed off in ben's car for cuxhaven. we went to the beach and waded in the surprisingly warm ocean water and sat on the beach. then visited my friends yvonne and andy for coffee and a recommendation for a good fish restaurant. i know i have never been a big fish fan, so this might surprise you, but: it was increadibly good!!



after dinner we returned to the beach to walk in the watt.. thats the thick mud that is left when the tide goes out. basically the ocean backs up about 12km- all the way to the nearby islands. and people can walk the distance. we didnt, though. it is hard to walk in. we were trying to see the sunset, but it was cloudy, so there wasn't much to see. still cool though.



then we headed home for the night and set out again the next morning to another spot on the north sea, wilhelmshaven. bad idea. ugly city. confusing road signs. and, once we found a beach, it was a man-made one.. they imported sand and charge admission! then the actual shore is lined with pavement and stones. we made the best of it anyway, and were able to find a spot to get down into the hallows once the tide started to pull back and show the watt.


when it got chilly, we headed to oldenburg for dinner. it's a little town near bremen where some of my friends study, yet i had never made the trip. it was quiant and nice. we walked around the town a few times and finally settled on a place for dinner. so i was able to do several of the things i should already have done on this trip. it was a nice farewell-north tour.