Warning!
This is a book for the open-minded only!
If you feel that you already know all about the mysteries of our existence, your view of life is set and you would like to keep it this way, then this book is not meant for you. Don't bother reading...
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Do, or do not. There is no 'try'.
- Yoda ('The Empire Strikes Back')
The day after we had returned from Greece, Berni called to let me know that we still had a full week of our Interrail-ticket left. Therefore, after a brief consideration, we spontaneously decided to go on a short trip to Paris.
Well, the journey by train, about 16 hours one-way, was anything but short. But the duration of our stay was: as Paris was a rather expensive city (especially compared to the Greek islands), we had decided to limit the visit to three nights.
The price for a decent meal in a restaurant alone could make one completely lose one's appetite. In spite of the delicious French Cuisine. . .
While we were walking through the streets of the famous city, on our way to the Louvre, Les Halles or Notre Dame, the strangest thing happened: literally everybody we met would nod at me, greet me, or ask me for directions.
Confused, but intrigued, I responded by smiling back at all those friendly faces, while Beni kept shaking his head in wonder.
At the second week of September, my last year of school started. And while Beni's university classes in Graz did not begin until October, he had to leave early to enroll. And to move in with a boy from his home-town, who had already been studying there for some years.
Having spent so much time with him during the last few months, being suddenly without his constant presence felt a bit strange. We had definitely grown close over the summer and I was finally fully content with the fact that I had a boyfriend.
Yes, it had taken me that long.
As soon as the school's mathematics teachers had managed to create the final timetables for each class (which had taken three solid weeks that year as opposed to the usual ten days, since they had been using computers for the first time), my philosophy lessons started.
Four lessons a week. . .
. . .which soon turned into my favorite classes by far!
Our teacher, the same one that we had had for psychology, was truly passionate with regards to his subject; therefore, he actually practiced philosophy, instead of simply teaching us the views of different philosophers.
Meaning, that on some days he would introduce a new school of thought and ask us to try and argue against it, while he would assume the role of the defender. At other times - usually because I had asked a philosophical question at the start of the lesson - he would spend the full fifty minutes discussing the topic with us – or mostly me.
In this way, philosophy really helped me sharpen my mind. It also further developed my capacity to recognize contradictions and faults in other's (and my own) ways of thinking and made me rather critical towards anything I heard or read. Much to the dismay of some of my fellow human beings, who were not as fond of those mind adventures, as I was.
