three weeks? is that all?

Time, while sometimes said to fly, is not always so hasty. I arrived in Basel three weeks ago, to the day, but it might have been five, or six, or eight. It would be very hard to put my finger on it exactly, if I didn't have a calendar. Although much has happened, not very much happens, in a day-to-day sort of way; all the same, I feel protective of my time, as if I'm going to use it wisely, somehow, despite the fact that I've shown very little evidence of having done so thus far. Ha.

I do continue to make small improvements in my living situation, most recently with the purchase of two plants. The thyme, you've already seen. There's also a begonia, shown in two different "attitudes" here:

pensive, at night

I chose this photo for the blown-out area in the middle, just to give you a sense of the uniform white that is outside. Did any of you have the impression that spring had begun? I should tell you, it has not. The groundhog, if the Swiss believed in that foolish business, would have seen his shadow this year.

Finished the Elizabeth Bowen last night, late; if I had been hoping for a tight clean perfect ending (had I?) I got one. If I had supposed that the last chord struck would be joyous, hopeful, and enthusiastic (as it appeared until the penultimate moment it would be) then I was being a bit foolish. Silly, even. Desperate, perhaps? Oh well. Points, next, to anyone who can properly define the word "dolichocephalic" without looking it up. In context (describing the Tudors at the National Portrait Gallery in London): "Brittle bejewelled fingers and cobweb lace ornamented the surface only: one was in an internally maniacal, autocratic, dolichocephalic labyrinth."

In other news, I posted an ad on the University website looking for a Tandem partner, that is, someone with whom I could speak elementary German, in exchange for elementary English conversation. It's a funny process, and I almost feel like I'm going on dates, or something; I weed through emails, look people up on the internet (one bro got an automatic disqualification when I saw his profile picture on facebook), try to feel them out. Many people are quite young. It's to be expected, I guess. I met up with a very nice girl on Tuesday, but her English was so good that I felt like a twit trying to halt through my awful German. Tomorrow I meet with a promising partner; her English email to me was quite bad (although my German, to her, was no doubt worse) and so I won't feel so bad being the abject beginner that I am. I'm not, as things go, very good at being bad at things.

The more embarrassing truth is that I don't even want to learn German. I just want to know it. I sit around at home, eat dinner on the floor, and watch American TV shows on the internet. The undeniable fact is that I'm going to have to get a little more serious about learning the language, if I actually want to speak it. It's not like I don't have enough time.