Alex the urban farmer...

Today a partially deaf lady told me that I have almost no accent. I wasn't quite sure how to take that, but I figure life is always sweeter when you take everything with a grain of salt. Wait... that doesn't make sense at all.
Anyways. Veronika and I bought a garden in Braunschweig. If there is one thing that is certain about Germans, it's that they love paperwork. We met last night to sign the contract - forty-five minutes later I walked out with pen-blisters on my fingers and a backpack full of forms. It was worth it though. We are now the owners of 385 sq. meters of garden just ten minutes walk from our apartments. The garden also comes with a small house on it, with power and water hooked up. Additionally, all of the tools that the previous owner used were also included - including his TV and satellite dish (which we're planning on selling). Perhaps best of all, there are four mature fruit trees on the property - three apples and a sour cherry. Since we're still operating under the assumption of a relatively short (ie. a few years) time here in Braunschweig, mature fruit trees are awesome.
The previous owner's name is Herr Geffers and he's a character. He's probably around 80 years old and has made it his personal mission to show me how each and every tool works. He's one of those guys that tells so many stories, you're not quite sure what is actually true. The fact that he has alzheimer's probably doesn't help either.
I've met a lot of foreigners in Braunschweig already, even though it's not known as an international city. Fortunately it's easy to tell who's from Braunschweig and who isn't: If they're scowling, they're from Braunschweig... if not, then you have an Auslaender. Today, I was briefly very excited that I was able to understand someone speaking so easily - until I realized that they were speaking Spanish - not only Spanish, but Mexican Spanish (Qué onda we, y hola a todos mis amigos del Tec!!).
The garden brings with it lots of work. We have to remove five trees that are either too big or are diseased. Fortunately, swinging an axe actually does a lot to remove the daily tensions I experience here in Germany. Once I get tired, then fortunately Herr Geffers also has a chainsaw - and believe me, I know very well how to put oil in it. In addition, we're taking out most of the lawn and turning over the soil to put in vegetables next year. If my facebook status wasn't currently a link to my blog, it would read: "Alex has a love-hate relationship with shovels."