Oh, goodness, gracious me!
In Detmold, we've been right busy, preparing for Alice, (The small stage, modern dance piece,) which premiered yesterday. (well, on the 8th.) Before that, we were busy preparing for the operetta Boccaccio which the ballet has a lot to do in. So, with this lovely free day, (the 9th,) I was going to Lüneburg, to find a place to live next season. (I'm working there, of course.)

In the afternoon of the 8th, before our premiere, I had set up meetings to see four flats. And I thought I might be able to contact a few more then that as well. By the time I went to bed though, that number had grown to seven. And I had seen, some time after midnight, that there was to be the premier of the "Studio" ballet in Lüneburg on the 9th, when I was going there. "Well," I thought. "Great... if I only had a place to stay there!" (Oh, and "studio" is what they call smaller, often more experimental dance pieces here in Germany. This one was choreographed by the dancers in the company.)

Well, I got up at nine, made a couple more phone calls, especially trying to contact the dancer whom I stayed with the last time I was there, watching a performance. Then I caught my 10:00 train, taking three hours to take me up North. Well, on the train, a number of people called me back. And by the time I was in Lüneburg, I had nine appointments set up. Well, I left my (slightly heavy,) bag in the theater, and then off I went. I was blessed in having a gorgeous day, with warm sun, and gentle, fluffy white clouds. And that lightened my mood, as I went power-walking from this side of the city to that. I had a break, of a half hour or so, in which I got some "mix it your self!" salad from a supermarket. In the end, a few of the places were further apart than I'd imagined. So I started running a bit late. And then I got another phone call, from someone else I'd left a message with, or an e-mail. They were asking when I'd like to see the room. I juggled my schedule around a bit, made some last second arrangements with some of the others, and squeezed this new one into my now hectic schedule.

After my brief lunch, it was simply continual looking at places, and then making notes, while I went speedily walking to the next. -All the while making phone calls here and there. (Asking where in the twisty-turny steets the house is, calling others and saying I'll be delayed, and, of course, still trying to make arrangements to stay in Lüneburg that night.) Seigh.

Somehow, I saw them all. And had the great luck to stay with the dancer from the theater again. And I got to the theater five minutes before the curtain opened. And that, was nearly that. (Nearly.) After, I went to the premier party for a while,and talked with various dancers, theater people, and others who were there. (How would you classify a man who used to be the cultural minister for the city, but is now retired? A person with "Other" connections to the theater?) I was then planning on going to some kind of party at the University, to meet the other two flat mates of one of my favorite flats. -So, I called the girl I'd already met, got her to walk out of the party, so she could hear me on her phone, and she gave me some general directions. And off I went...

Nearly.

Remember that I left my bag in the Theater, when I first got to Lüneburg? Well, it was with the Door-man. (Which is the most common thing in Germany. Every theater has the person at the stage entrance, who lets people in and receives the mail, and so on.) He had left some 10 minutes early from the theater. And my bag was locked into his little office. And I didn't know what to do. I went looking for him first, and that's when I heard that he'd left already. -As well as the less discouraging information, that there's a night security man around somewhere, with keys to all the doors. All that was left to do then, was find him. He was, however, on his rounds. So finding him was no easy thing. I then had the luck to have one of the dancers help me out. She went to the stage, and used the loud-speaker system to announce throughout the theater, that the night-man's presence was requested at the stage entrance. So, within ten minutes of my intending to leave, I was organized and ready to go.

Ah, and somewhere, in the middle of that, my girlfriend called, and was surprised that I was not at home. (I had only found out about the performance in Lüneburg after our call the night before.) So, while I was thanking the night-watch-man, and saying goodbye to the helpful dancer, I was kind of on the phone at the same time.

But don't touch that dial! The story still continues!

Because it was such a hectic day, after looking at a flat right by the train station, I went to see the extra, who'd called me in the middle of the day. -Instead of checking on train times in the morning. So, as I was walking the 18 minutes to the University party, I finished my call with Pamela, and then called Sophie, my flat-mate in Detmold. I asked her to check on the internet for train times. -And she was kind enough to comply with this request. (There was only the slight setback in that: neither her nor I use the German key-boards. So it took a while of searching, and back-and-forth, to get the right city. It's the same old ü problem, as I've learned to deal with for some time.) So, THAT was sorted out. Then it was just a matter of getting to this party, and getting to bed. Neither of which proved as easy as I'd hoped.

The directions I had to this party were (first of all, in German,) "It's in the main, big University building." Well, knowing where the University grounds were, I was confident I could find it. And I ended up finding Some party. But it was a nightclub on the campus, and not where the potential room mates were. So I called, and I called, and eventually found my way to he right party. -And then only had to call twice more, to locate the people in this party. And do you know what? One of them had already left and gone home. Sigh. Life isn't all that easy, is it?

Well, I talked with the other one, and she also seems nice. (I've said already that it could well be my favorite flat, right?) Then I only got a little lost, going to the colleague's home, and got there twenty minutes after midnight. -Then panicked a bit, because the light in his room was out. -Thankfully, he was just watching a movie on TV, so, 15 and a half hours after my day began, I was able to truly rest. AAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

And now, after getting up at 5:15, I've caught an early train back to Detmold, where I'll be in ballet class at 10:00. And it's about time for me to think over all the places I've seen, and decide which I liked best. (I had no time to do that yesterday. It was just go, go, go.) Hmmmm.... where would I like to live?...

Life is surly interesting. And yesterday was worth it, because I saw a lot of places... which are possible. In the words of Calvin's Dad, "It builds Character."

I guess so.