"I did it," she said with a big smile on her face. "A 180 noserole - for the first time it worked! I havenīt been able to do such a trick on my skateboard at home but itīs so easy doing it on a SNOWBOARD!" Leo gave her five and grinned. "Yeah, and falling on snow is a bit different from falling on asphalt...it was a good idea to come here to enjoy the snow and the sun," he said. "And itīs good to see your smile again," he added, "you were so disappointed after the negative reply from the University of Brighton."

Thinking of that letter again, Kim was cut to the quick. How could she pass the final English exam? She was afraid of making many mistakes because she had not talked English for such a long time. She considered a semester at the University of Brighton to be her last chance of going to an English-speaking country before she did her finals in English literature at the University of Cologne. However, that chance was gone. Kimīs face darkened. "I donīt want to talk about it. Letīs go to "Gefrorene Wand" ("Frozen Wall") again to say bye-bye to our favourite run." "OK honey, but letīs take the chairlift. I can still feel the pain from the ski-tow yesterday. That kind of construction isnīt that comfortable for snowboarders." Although they were still beginners they enjoyed snowboarding very much and had a lot of fun. They liked to be outside the whole day breathing the fresh air at an altitude of 8,500 ft.

Back in the Hintertuxer Valley again, the two counted their remaining Austrian Schillings before they had to leave the following day. From the beginning of the year 2002, many European countries will have the same currency. As they did not know if they came back before that date they wanted to get rid of those "alpdollars". They bought some "Wurzen" (very dry sausages) and a bottle of Marillenlikoer" (a liqueur made of apricots), typical Austrian stuff they wanted to take home to Germany.

Back in their holiday flat they prepared their meal together, talked about the day, making fun of the people they met in the cable car. "I think I have a new 'concept of the enemy'", Kim said. "I canīt stand these women wearing pearls in their ears." "Who do you mean?" "The one on our last train downhill in the cable car. The nerd with the wickedly expensive snowboard gear. All the way down to the valley station she was afraid that there could be a stain somewhere on her pants due to the not so clean cable car and the melting snow all around."
"Yeah, that kind of woman really sucks - but how do you think that there is a connection between pearls and that kind of behaviour?" "Not just pearls," Kim replied impatiently, "pearls in ears".
"OK. Whatīs the connection between pearls in ears and that kind of behaviour?"
"Itīs a special kind of women. They have a masterīs degree in economics or law, get married to a man their parents love because he is so successful as a business consultant making 120,000.--DM in his first year."
"You mean all women wearing pearls in their ears get married to men who are business consultants?" Kim knew that there were things Leo did not want to understand. Things which did not have to do with ratio but with intuition or maybe knowledge of human nature. She knew that it did not make sense to explain her feelings about that woman she had not even talked to. So she said: "Exactly. Thatīs what Iīm talking about." Leo seemed to think carefully. "OK, itīs quite easy for the boy to recognize the girl because of the pearls, but howdoes the girl find the right boy - the business consultant?"
"Thatīs why they study law or economics. Itīs like a big pool - they only have to cast the line...Come on, letīs have dinner - Iīm starving," she ended the conversation. The liqueur didnot have a real chance to make it to Germany - Leo and Kim had a funny evening and the bottle was empty in two hours' time. They went to bed early in order to get up early in the morning.

They left the traffic jams behind and had a good trip home. Back again in Cologne, they parked the car in front of the house they lived in (next to a big sign saying "No parking anytime") and put their luggage in the hall where Kim waited until Leo had found a spot to park their car. Although they lived in a suburb of Cologne there was a lack of parking lots. While waiting inthe hall, Kim fetched the mail of the last days. Nothing special, she thought, and put the letters in a bag. She could see Leo arriving and began to put the luggage in the lift. They pushed the top button and finally arrived in their flat on the 7th floor.

"Did you check the letter box?", Leo asked. "Yes, the mail is in the green bag, itīs nothing particular," she replied. "You got mail from Ireland? Did you apply there, too?", Leo asked. "What? I didnīt see a letter from Ireland."
"Here you are, dear, sender is a Sean Cannon". Kim opened the letter, read it and looked puzzled. "My family name was found in a diary of a painter I havenīt heard of before. Iīm invited to an island where this Brian OīDonnell lived. They think there is a relationship between him and me. Rubbish. Neither heard of that island nor of that painter."
"Maybe itīs a trick, they say you won a journey to Ireland but first you have to pay an amount of money or something and then you donīt hear from them anymore," Leo assumed.
"No, I donīt think so. Nothing about a prize, nothing about money. Thatīs weird. What is this about?", Kim said to herself. "I donīt know, but I do know that Iīm really tired. I gotta go to bed now - I drove all day..."
"Yes, Iīm tired, too".

They went to bed, Leo fell asleep at once, but Kim could not sleep at all. Always thinking ofthe letter from Ireland, she got up, took the letter and switched the computer on. After having spent two hours surfing the internet, Kim knew she had to go to Archill Island. Even if she had got nothing to do with Brian OīDonnell, she was absolutely determined to go to that Irish island. As there were only a few days left, everything had to be prepared in a hurry. She booked her railway ticket online. The next day she told Leo about her decision.

He did not want her to go there on her own but he could not come with her. He could not take another day off. Leo knew he could not keep her from going - she was so stubborn sometimes. At least, he managed to take two hours off to take her to the Cologne central railway station by car.They crossed the "Severinsbruecke", one of the seven bridges which connect the two sides of Cologne. On the top of that bridge there had been a big globe, a work of art of H. A. Schult, a local artist. Although Kim did not like him very much, she thought that he had good ideas and it was always a pleasure for her to follow the controversial discussions about Schultīs work ("Is this art?") in the provincial Cologne newspapers (picture of the bridge with the globe). The river Rhine separates the so-called left Rhine side from the right Rhine side. People from the left Rhine side hardly ever enter the right side. They do not see a reason to go there. The center of Cologne is on "their" side. All the fancy shops and pubs are there, the Cologne Cathedral, all the interesting museums, the opera, theatres, the University and so on.

The City of Cologne is trying to make the right side more attractive to all inhabitants, e. g. by supporting cultural projects in the working class districts. Of course, there is the new location for the big events, the "Cologne Arena", however, Kim could hardly believe that something like a 'scene' could be established at that side of the Rhine. "Here we are," Leo said. "Donīt look for a parking lot, itīs useless. Letīs say goodbye here. You donīt have to take me to the platform, itīs alright." "OK, Kim, take care of yourself. And give me a call - you hear me?" "Sure. You do know me. Iīm cautious. Always." She kissed him goodbye, took her rucksack, went to one of the doors of the station, waved once more and entered the hall.