Lots of old and new friends said goodbye to me last Saturday, even some of the guys living a far cry from Münster visited their old home town, or at least the place they studied at.

Famous German brewery Beck’s kept her promise and equipped me with no less than 10 free crates of beer. Only one of them was left at the end of the party – so much for that.

Thanks to our obviously hearing impaired neighbours who did not complain at all (not even at seven in the morning!), self-proclaimed DJ Jörg could put the PA to the extreme, using a well-working combination of YouTube and MacBook Pro as an inexhaustable source of fine house music. I take people dancing in the pouring rain as a reliable indicator of good entertainment. Even people passing by on the street joined us spontaneously!

Tim and Dütti, colleagues from the local college radio station, surprised me with a pre-produced radio show dedicated to… – me, of course. “The Hazel Show” runs over 80 minutes and features interviews with lots of fellow colleagues and friends, and even one of my former teachers (who obviously didn’t remember me too well). Thanks again for that, guys!

Also, I have to thank my dad for his moving speech and my sister for the great and offhanded interpretation of Oasis’ Wonderwall, courageously singing live in front of everybody.

The party’s aftermath was actually pretty nasty, and cleaning a whole garden while recovering from a nice little hangover definitely won’t make it on my favourite occupation list…

Get some further impression with this flickr gallery.

But as much as I liked this final chapter of my personal Münster story, I really need to focus on my forthcoming move to Dublin now. I’ve started to try to separate the good things from the bad, the useful from the obsolete, and so on – beginning with my bookshelf. On Friday, a bunch of guys from the relocation company come by and pack my stuff. The week after, I’ll be in Hamburg with Cristina, and my final flight to Dublin goes on Monday, August 18.

Whew. There’s no turning back now…