Get me to the church on time

Elias and I have decided to learn circus tricks while we're in Freiburg, so this morning in the back yard he practiced with his new Diabolo--a sort of free wheeling, off-string yo-yo--and I took baby steps toward juggling Koosh balls.

After our workout, we made a quick trip to the corner bakery to buy rolls and Bretzen for lunch. As usual, the shopkeepers found an excuse to toss an extra roll into the bag--this time because one of the ones they were selling us was "too small" (i.e. exactly the same size as the others). They do this every time and have naturally earned our total devotion.

After lunch, we hopped in the car, and I drove through Freiburg for the first time without Stefan by my side offering constant coaching. The rule that still perplexes me is rechts vor links ("right before left"). Rechts vor links means that when you arrive at an unmarked intersection at the same time as another driver, the driver to the right has right-of-way. The presence of various signs overrides rechts vor links: a modest yellow diamond (you don't have to yield--you're on the main street), a thick black upward arrow with a horizontal line through it (likewise), or a yield or stop sign (you have to yield). But the vast majority of intersections here are unmarked, and it doesn't matter if the street you're driving down is three times as wide as the alleyway T-intersecting with it: if the alley is on your right, the car emerging from it has right of way.

In theory, Rechts vor links means that everyone habitually slows down at intersections, making cities safer for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians alike. But my observations of other drivers suggest that once you get used to driving, you get used to braking suddenly and weaving out of the way if necessary, so you don't really have to follow that 30 km/hr speed limit, and traffic can always move at a good clip.

But hey, who am I to complain? Americans die from pretty much everything, including automobile accidents, at faster per capita rates than Germans. Today I considered myself lucky to have messed up rechts vor links just once (I think), and thankfully as the rechts-driver rather than the links. There I was, waiting patiently to turn left out of what I was sure was a parking lot egress, when a driver and a bicyclist coming from the left stopped in the middle of the main road. When I finally realized I must be on an actual road and was supposed to make a left turn in front of on-coming traffic, I held my breath and drove boldly forth. On the way home, I irritated the drivers behind me by slowing down every time I approached a road to my right.

If you've read thus far, you're probably wondering why I was putting lives at risk driving in the first place. Elias and I were heading to St. Petrus Canisius catholic church in Freiburg-Landwasser, where, thanks to one of Professor D.'s students, I have permission to practice on the 33-register, 2-manual + pedals, 1993 Rieger organ twice a week. Once school starts, I'll need to find either another organ or after-school care for Elias, but for now, I'm delighted to have access to an instrument again.