And then it was fall.

I feel like summer turned into autumn very suddenly here. I was sitting in the teachers' lounge (I have a three-period break between classes on Mondays, so there's a lot of time for me to prepare things for Tuesday, read the paper and try to untangle German syntax, or just twiddle my thumbs) and I looked out the window and was suprised to see that the leaves on the trees outside had changed colors and were starting to fall off.

The weather is, however, not that cold - after temperatures in the 50s (I think they were in the 50s - of course the temperatures are in Celsius here, so I can't really tell) last week, it's supposed to be warmer this week.

I've noticed a distinct drop in the number of people asking me directions lately. Part of this must be, I think, because my knowledge of Berlin and my German are both improving, so divine justice would dictate that I shouldn't get opportunities to exercise them. Another (real) reason is probably, though, that I'm wearing sandals. I noticed this in Athens as well - we had a December with weather in the 50s and 60s, so of course I kept on wearing my Birkenstocks until almost Christmas. Either Europeans are just naturally colder than us and feel the need to wear more layers and proper shoes, or they just tend to dress according to the calendar, not the weather. Anyway, I'm the only one I've seen wearing sandals, and I think it pretty much screams that I'm an American. Which is okay; I'd rather get the last out of the open-toe season and put up with a few strange looks.