You'd have thought I was Lord Voldemort crossing the threshold to Hogwarts the way the 7A screamed and ran away as I approached the cathedral. Made me smile. They're 7th graders, see, and despite the fact that I was going to see them perform, they're not THAT good at acting. The giggling is a big hint that the fear is fake, and while Felix routinely claims that seeing me has just ruined his perfectly good day, he kind of undermines his credibility when runs after me in the schoolyard to tell me that.
What I was at the church for--the play/dance production--was excellent, by the way. Probably the most enjoyable modern dance performance I've ever seen, though I realize that knowing half the cast made me a little biased.* I only see these kids once a week and know relatively little about their personal lives, but I feel kind of attached to them. Certainly attached enough that when they do well, I'm really proud.
Like with the Big Challenge, this state-wide English competition that some of the students participated in. Over 1,000 7th graders competing total. Alex-von-Humboldt kids took first and second overall. Yeah. Not that I had anything to do with that, but it's still cool.
It's amazing to me how often I see people I know here--at least as often as I do when I'm in Topeka, but there I had a couple decades to rack up that many acquaintances. It's a nice feeling to be recognized, especially when some of the people smiling and waving are ones who don't seem so enthusiastic when they're at school.
If I can afford to come back here before I finish grad school, I really want to. Not just come back to Germany, but to Greifswald. And preferably in the next 4 years before the younger ones graduate. I really want to see what's happened by then--what they're like, how they've changed. I want to see if they've gotten really good at English, because some of them are quite impressive right now. I want to see if Marvick is still polite and charming, and if Julia's found it hard to be religious in the former East, and if Paul got into a college in Florida, and if Johannes still has that adorable curly blond hair.
It goes beyond the kids, though. I took several roads less traveled the other day while biking and ended up in a damp, deciduous forest near my house. As I stood among the weeds and trees, mosquitoes swarming all around, I had the same feeling: that somehow I belong here. There's that cheesy song "I lost my heart in Heidelberg" that all exchange students to that city are supposed to come back singing. I did not. But here...for some reason I've felt that way from the very beginning. I definitely want to go home right now, but I know that as soon as I do I'm going to miss this place like crazy.
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*The music helped a lot, too. It was all Russian (/Soviet) with lots of Tchaikowsky and Khachaturian.
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