THE END

Me in front of Pomeroy House in Bethnal Green, my home for the last two months of my sabbatical. My room is on the top left.

It rained all day today. It seems as if London wants to relief me of the stress of leaving.

I packed my suitcase and two rucksacks, cleaned my room and went off to meet Rose at a café in Kensington. Rose and I were coursemates at the LSJ and became good friends. At the end of our meeting we both had tears in our eyes and agreed upon this wouldn't have happened if we were as strong as men.

In the evening I met Tobi, a friend from Nuremberg/Erlangen. Funnily enough it was him I met with on my very last day in Germany before I flew to London in April. So my sabbatical has come full circle.

Thank you all so very much for making my time in London to such a unique experience: Emma, Justine and Duji, Alex, Tony, Rose and my coursemates, Catherine and the staff of the LSJ, Andrew and all the other teachers at the LSJ, Bridget and Robert, Sandra, Jessa, Chris, Polly and Gemma, Richard and Julie, Thomas and Kathrin, John, Elaine and the other hikers and all the other lovely people I met!

Thanks also to those who enabled me to take this wonderful break: My boss Jan, my colleagues - first of all Heidi and Kathrin - and, last but not least, my spouse Günter. I can't tell you how grateful I am, so I better stop now.