i feel so much fall

The air has that spicy, familiar, woodsmoke chill today. I keep sniffing, hoping for the smell of burning leaves. waiting.
The leaves are falling, but they aren't changing colors first. They just fall, turn brown, and start to rot wetly.
The nights, mornings are cold. I have only one blanket, I've been sleeping in sweatshirts and knit hats, but taking them off in my sleep. I can't find a happy medium.
I love grocery shopping here. I've found vegan mushroom pate, horseradish flavored frischkaese, sweet plums tiny, small as my thumbs, twin stemmed like cherries. They come in only one size of packaging, 1 kg boxes, for 89 cents. I've put some in the egg cups that are built in to my refridgerator, thinking of them being so sweet. and so cold.
These days, this weather, I want to sit sipping jasmine white tea, with a drop of fresh cremhonig, eat dark chocolate, plums, nothing else. Burn inscense all day.

This past weekend I went up north. Stralsund's old city is an island, surrounded by the baltic sea, lakes, rivers running south to north. It's filled with ancient facades, christian churches with runes cut into the wall, fish markets. The signs are in both german and swedish. Breakfast comes with herringsalat, even when you say no. After three days I didn't want to come home, but after 4 I was ready. The trip costs 9 euros each way, and takes 3.5-4 hours, and I might go again next weekend, for the company.

I am on vacation right now from teaching. I love working in my school, but I love being lazy more. I have orientation for the university here right now, so I cannot travel during my two week break. But orientation is both making me excited to take a class, to meet people, and boring me, because it's all things I've done already: registering with the city, paying fee's, signing rental agreements. Most of the other foreign studetns arrived just this weekend. I've been here for a month now. Crazy. Classes start on the 16th. I paid the last of my fee's today.

I'm hoping to make more friends now that things are really starting. I am happy here, but isolated. It would be nice to have a social network, so that I'm not always running away to Stralsund or some other locale.

And finally, I love berlin. I am going exploring every free day I have this week.