New Arrival, New Place, New Start (Throw Back)

Here's the first of many throw backs. (See Intro all the way down) This post is actually made out of excerpts from an email thread between myself and my parents. Since they are here to visit, I figured I'd honor them with this.

The background required here is that from Sept. until the end of Dec. I lived in an apartment that was a bad situation for me, my work, the neighbors and probably everybody else remotely involved. I came home for Christmas and returned to spend my first night in a new place, to start fresh. Berlin Fulbright Take 2, Action! (Ok, that was a little much, but it stays).

RE: New Digs?

Hey Pop,

I basically had a totally screwed up sleep arrangement. I was trying to make it until a normal hour before I went to bed...

But despite that, I have a nice big bed with a firm comfortable mattress, and since it was sunny today their was a nice mood in the apartment. I got here, and the chick from australia was here, They had had a party the night before but the place still looked fine. I chilled with Danielle, my flatmate for a while before bed, and I think we should get along fine.

I basically spent my first day catching up with everyone I had been in contact with. there are two firms that I have stuff to organize stuff with this week so I tried getting in touch with them. This is usually a long process...I got an email from [Alexander] asking when I'll be back. He asked when I was "coming into the institute" which I would say bears well for possibly having something of a place to do some biz.

I went for a run today too, the streets were still snow covered so it wasn't exactly easy, but I found the dry cleaners, a jazz/blues club, and the Catholic Church, in order of being found, mind you. I went by this park with a nice sized hill where there were so many kids and parents sledding it looked like an ant hill. The snow packs solid, so you can really fly, and everybody had those old school wooden sleds of the kind you'd see in the 50's or in A Christmas Story. There was a big tree at the bottom of the hill and somebody had put an old mattress there to stop from running into it which I though was pretty funny. The houses in the neighborhood are generally 3 story old places with a bit of character and I found the neighborhood to be overall more pleasant than where I was before. It was cool to see the whole place be out and about in spite of the cold and the messy streets.

TO: Mike
FROM: Mom

Mike,
What a great e-mail.

Those old wooden sleds from the 50's are called flexible flyers and we all
had them. Great sleds on packed icy snow. What a vision. Is the church a
pretty, old one?

So that's where I was and what I felt on January 5 2009. Life was full of hope and a new beginning.