Magical weekend

I've never been much of a book worm. The first time I got totally hooked up with books of a series, I was about 6. The series of "Ich und meine Schwester Klara"is my first memory of books I loved (besides the fairy tales my mum read to my sister and me). It's not like there was much to read, but the mere thought of it makes me smile. This episode was followed by everything from Astrid Lindgren. Pretty standard those days. The next time stories soaked me in was when I read my first Sherlock Holmes story at the age of 12.

Ironically the detective stories lead to my first criminal act: I stole a book from the library! Well, I didn't actually steal it. They had a compendium of all stories ever published. It wasn't produced anymore (would have cost about EUR 6,- if available) and the equivalent compendium of books would have cost about EUR 80,-. So I borrowed it, went back a couple of weeks later and told them that my little cousin had finger painted most of the pages, paid the 6 bucks and left. Can't count the nights I spent reading in it under the blanket.

Tomorrow another obsession will come to an end: The last installment of the Harry Potter series will be published! In January 2000, I had never heard of the books, my flatmate gave me "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban". She said: read it, it's really good. I was slightly biased by the children-book cover but was proven foolish instantly. 2 days later I went to the bookshop and bought the first two books. Then I had to wait 5 moths, which felt like an eternity, for "HP and the Goblet of Fire". I remember driving to a park near by and reading it in one go. Then I had to wait - 3 YEARS - until "HP and the Order of the Phoenix" was released. In the meantime I discovered the audio books read by Stephen Fry leading to the habit of listening to some chapters while going to bed - kinda preserving a childhood habit. The 5th book was read in the garden of a hospital as my flatmate was stuck there with a back injury. When "HP and The Half Blood Prince" was released, I was in Shanghai. Despite my love for sleeping in I took a Taxi to Pudong at 8am to go to a bookstore, drove back to my apartment and only stopped reading for ordering take out. Tomorrow, 7 1/2 years, several re-reads/listenings and web site visits of fan pages to be up-to-date, later, it will come to an end. I'll get the book, close the curtains and accompany the trio on their last journey. Mind you despite my curious nature, despite the temptation of getting a copy that leaked on the Internet and despite the NY Times posting a review on the 19th I managed to remain completely unspoiled!

It's "just a book" and it doesn't really matter, but regarding those 7 1/2 years it will change everything. Reading a book for the first time is a moment that can't ever be recovered. Reading this book will change the perception of all the times I've read or listened to its predecessors. I'll never be able to read one of the books again without knowing how the story will end. No theory I might have had, no idea that sprang to my mind over the little hints carefully hidden in the books, will have a meaning anymore. Despite this seemingly bleak future I can't wait to get up tomorrow, buy the book and start reading. If you don't care about the books, think of it as being given a sealed box 7 1/2 years ago, only getting a hint what it might contain every now and then, but without the possibility of opening it before July 21st 2007. And then the day comes, you can open it and everything you ever guessed will be confirmed or smashed. I'll finally find out where Snape's loyalties lie, what Aunt Petunia meant when she talked about "that awful boy", if the trio will make it through, if Harry is a Horcrux, who will live and who will die... I'll finally know.

I feel thrilled, anxious, excited, sad and happy at the same time. I know that some might say it's childish, I know that some might say it's stupid and I definitely know that I couldn't care less what some might say ;-)

"Deathly Hallows", here I come!

Another month gone by...

...and France still doesn't make it to my top-5-countries-to-live. Ah well, time will tell.

Last week, after 6 months, I went back to Munich for the weekend. Only thing I can say is that I miss it even more than I did before. Getting there proved to be rather tough though - left Valenciennes at 5pm and thought I'd make the 850km in about 8 hours... 8 hours, 550km and 5 traffic jams later I came to the conclusion that, even with a proper commercial background, not all calculations can be correct. With my eyes closing way too frequent and a rough week in my bones I decided to pull over to the next parking lot and get some sleep. 5 hours on the backseat of a VW Golf with 13° outside might not sound too pleasant, but believe me, I never slept as sound before!
The following days I spend in Bamberg at our yearly commercial site manager convention. The alcohol consumption of some colleagues lead me to the conclusion that the company sponsors a 2nd liver once you worked 15 years continuously for them ...only 14 years to go then. However, despite the constant lack of sleep, the realisation that alcohol on a daily basis is not my bag and that men, after drinking stupendous amounts and sleeping 2 hours look the same in the morning while women somehow...disintegrate, I had loads of fun!
To make the week perfect I spend the weekend in Nürnberg. Even though I was tired and exhausted from the week, it was great spending time with friends, playing poker till 6am and celebrating Chris' 30th b-day with a big BBQ.

All in all a nice (yet toxic - liver wise) week. Thanks to Ela Chris and Tof for your hospitality. I'll try to live up to it when you visit.