My time at Hof Schwarzes Moor has too quickly come to an end. Today I’m at La Chevrerie, a goat farm a few kilometers away from HSM run by a woman named Angela. I’ll be here for a few days - until next Thursday when I’m off to France. I hope to learn a bit about the goats and how the cheese is made in the short time I have here.

The fall weather is beautiful in this part of the world. The trees have half changed colour, and when the wind blows it brings showers of leaves down to the ground like confetti thrown at a wedding. I keep expecting the kids from Traumrauber to burst out of the forest and do a perfectly choreographed musical number.

So last winter I had the idea that I might get a real job here instead of WWOOFing, so I did some reading on how I might go about doing that. One of the books I read was about German culture and what to expect while living here. It painted a picture of a quiet reserved people who avoid eye contact and were reluctant to invite people into their homes. To be fair the book was a) about cities and b) written about ten years ago, when the wounds from reunification were still raw. I have happily found things to be the exact opposite of what the book described here. The community on Am Stührberg (the street on which HSM is) is very warm and close knit.

Neighbours stop to talk as they walk, ride their bikes, or even drive their cars by. Every few weeks it seems someone else is celebrating a birthday or anniversary and everyone gathers together to celebrate. It’s rather the opposite of my life for the past few years, where I knew few of my neighbours by name, or even sight. I’m really glad that I decided to visit Germany this way. I have a much better feel for the Blenhorst community than I could ever have gotten from a neighbourhood in Berlin even given twice the time. I hope that I can stay in touch with the wonderful people I’ve met here.

Posted in just one more eurotrip blog |

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