Snow in Tübingen

Snow on the roof of the Evangelisches Stift

Snow on the roofs of the buildings Am Markt

We awoke to snow falling this morning. We welcomed it feeling assured that our marathon, which is now only a week away, would be nice and chilly (or at any rate a far cry from the oppressive heat that greeted marathoners in Chicago a few weeks ago).

The semester has just gotten underway, but much of the excitement and sense of new beginnings has past us by, although that today's sermon assured us that faith is always a new beginning (a contention that met a bit of resistance when the text for meditation detailed Joshua's military exploits in Palestine)! The preaching at the Stiftskirche aside, we both feel a bit behind with respect to some of the goals around which our Fall activity has been ostensively structured. S has, however, found the prospect of the upcoming trip back home an incentive to plod ahead with disseration work. For my part the recent work I've picked up has helped to structure my week, but is draining some of the energy that researching and applying to programs demands. I'm teaching six classes a week and will start picking up additional hours as a Hiwi (wissenschaftliche Hilfskraft [research assistant]) for a theologian at the university here as soon as I can collect the requisite paperwork.