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So, after a rather busy last few weeks I have a longish train ride and time to write again. I did enjoy the last few weeks but they weren't all that easy. I spent 10 days in Radolfzell where I had a luxury suite (well, luxury according to my standards) for myself for free while I was helping in the catching of blackbirds which were used for a scientific study - some were caught and released with a little radio tag on them and some were caught to be kept in the institute for a year and cross-bred with blackbirds from different regions (Poland and France), so they can find out if migration is genetically programmed only or if it is dependent on the local climate (also). After this the birds will be released again, so ideally all of them will still get to enjoy freedom. For the record: blackbirds are partially migratory in central Europe, strictly migratory in northern Europe and not migratory in southern Europe which is why the species has been chosen. The work itself was rather boring but my co-workers were very nice and my boss was very fond of me, so I still enjoyed it. The days were extremely hot and mainly spent at the near-by lake - which turned out to be the most luxurious part of my luxury suite - although the shower with real cold water was also very appreciated. The nights I spent watching football, trying to sleep despite the temperature and getting up at 3 am to set up the nets for the blackbirds. So all in all it did not include a whole lot of sleep but then the work was not very hard either so I managed.
While there I received good news - for a change - from Kiel University, where I had applied for a master's program in Sustainability. I was accepted and immediately started to look for a room and a football team. I found both. But more about that later.
After Radolfzell I went to Konstanz to visit a friend of mine. I had a great time with her although I felt a little guilty as I knew she had a lot of work for her university still and she didn't want to work while I was there. But it was also still really hot so we still went swimming every day and it was generally a good time. I am glad I went and glad she still finished all her work after I was gone. After that I went to Innsbruck, which was also kind of on the way. I spent a few days there with a friend who will also start studying again this autumn. I also went in order to finish some stuff for the paper I wanted to publish where I needed the university computer. So I got to visit my old institute too - can't say I miss it very much now but it was fun to catch up with the latest gossip anyways.
The paper by now has been rejected by the journal I wanted to publish it in (for methodological problems which are nobody's fault but which mean that the data collected in at least 12 months' work are not publishable which did not particularly increase my mood either - although I had feared it would turn out this way). So, well, my time in Innsbruck was strictly speaking also only used visiting (few) friends but that's fine. It was still nice to see them and see the ways in which their lives turn. It's always good to keep in mind that people can have "normal" lives and still be happy. Good to keep in mind in the future if or when I should ever decide to start living a normal life. (Not that I have any intention of that now but you never know)
I then went back to Bad Aussee, mainly to wash my clothes but while there I also did my part networking making sure birders in the area know each other and won't need me in the future. Would be a shame if the spirit that just arose from the fact that I was there this past few months would die the moment I leave. Then I went to Vienna to visit more friends and from there to Hohenau where I worked the past 3 weekends. I would lie if I said the last three weeks were just like all those months before that I had worked there in the last 16 years. 16 years is almost half of my lifetime I was in Hohenau every summer with a very good reason: I loved the work and the way of life you get in the humble field station which is just a little hut with no running water and the quiet and simple life you can only experience in places like these. The first two weeks were rather tough mainly because there were so many birds and I barely got a moment to breathe which is quite hard when a work day has 18 hours. The last week was boring as we had the nets closed for about 9 hours each day because it was so hot and the downside of the location is that hot is really hot and there's not much to do about that. So I spent most of the time feeling sorry for myself for the fact that I can't come back to work there next year and trying to enjoy my last time there knowing that it was my last time. Of course I am used to leaving and I must admit that I do not always leave every place on my own account, although there are better and worse ways to go and the way I left Hohenau was certainly one of the worst.
Now, the thing is: I call the world my home. I always feel at home wherever I am, even on the first day. I have never stayed in a place where I did not feel like I should be there. I also never had a very strong bond with Austria or any home that I had, even when I have lived there for long. But Hohenau was always my home because it represents everything I ever wanted in life. A simple hut with lots of birds and work I love and people to have fun with. Not that you can't have this at any other place but it's the combination of it all in one place. And the fact that I knew it so well. And that I returned every single year after I first got there in 2000. All of this made Hohenau special for me. And losing this only home I ever cared about taught me two things: 1. It hurts to lose your home. 2. You're suddenly free. Freedom is nice but it can be scary too. I still have to learn to cope with it.
Anyways, so here I am now, just arrived in Kiel, and I will write about Kiel some time. I look forward to the start of the semester. I hope the program can live up to my expectations which are that we start a revolution there. The world can certainly not go on like this. The Greece-tragedy is only the top of the ice-berg, of course, but I think it should be enough reason for the revolution to start now. The question that remains is whether university is the right place to start revolution. But then, which place is?
Enjoy the life you have or change it so you can enjoy it!
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