A lesbian student, a serious lawyer, meeting Annika and my resolution to live without a stove

October 18, 2023. Today, I went outside again with only a sweater despite the 0-degree temperature. As long as I take the bus and don't stay outside for too long, I can handle the temperature with just a light sweater. Today, however, I pulled my long socks over my toe socks.

When I arrived on the fourth floor, only four girls were sitting at the table in the corner. I continued writing my life story today.

Around 9:30 AM, I wanted to get a coffee, and as I stood up and walked past the bookshelves, a blonde student with beautiful blue eyes came towards me. We smiled at each other. I turned around again to look at her. She was wearing black leggings. So sexy and enchanting at the same time, I thought. I kept walking. I wanted to go to the toilet, but the one on the 4th floor was broken, so I went to the one a floor below, where the law students were. I stood in front of the mirror and thought: What’s stopping me now from going back upstairs and asking her out on a date? I thought of Bodo Schäfer’s saying that fear is my friend that helps me grow. So I quickly ran back to the fourth floor and walked along the tables to find that pretty-looking student. There were more people in the library, and almost every table had a student sitting at it.

From behind, I spotted someone with long blonde hair. I walked past the table and looked to the side to see if it was that student. She lifted her head from her notes and looked at me. It was her. But this time, she had square glasses in front of her beautiful light eyes.

“Hey,” I whispered, turned the free chair next to her around, and sat down.

“Hello,” she replied and looked at me.

“We just walked past each other, and I found your gaze very enchanting. Would you like to go on a date with me tonight?”

“Oh, that’s sweet of you. But I have a girlfriend.”

Somewhat confused, as this was probably the first time I had approached a lesbian, I replied, “Okay, no problem. Bye!”

“Bye! But thank you for asking,” she whispered back as I stood up and left. A feeling of happiness washed over me. I felt proud for overcoming my fear once again.

At the lockers on the fourth floor, a blonde law student, who practically lived there, was sitting. She was crouched in front of her locker, flipping through a red book. I thought of her just yesterday. Her face was clear in my mind. I had seen her so often that her face was etched into my brain: the square glasses with the clear frame, the blue eyes, the small button nose, and above all, that serious expression, reminiscent of a strict teacher. I imagined us meeting at Café Extrablatt in the evening, her eventually sitting on my lap, and us kissing.

Now I walked past her, and a slight fear overcame me. The fear was probably telling me, you can grow even more, speak to her. I approached her from the side and crouched next to her.

“Hey!”

She looked at me without smiling, which was typical for her. “Hey,” she replied.

“I've seen you studying diligently here many times. I wonder if you would like to go on a date with me tonight?”

“That was unexpected. But I have, I have... I have a boyfriend,” she stuttered slightly.

She turned back to her book. “Okay, too bad. Bye,” I whispered, stood up, and went to HanoMacke.

I got myself a coffee and stepped out into the icy cold. With the warm coffee in hand, the cold was bearable. I sipped my coffee, feeling incredibly happy and proud of myself for seizing the opportunities that fear put in my path.

After the coffee, I sat back down at my desk. The law student was sitting in front of me, all the way in the back in a comfortable chair, looking in my direction and then back at her phone. She was typing something. I completely diverted my attention from her.

As I was eating my homemade salad with kidney beans, green peas, carrots, corn, and spinach in the cafeteria, the red-haired fairy-tale woman walked by with a friend and we said hello. What an enchanting and above all very friendly woman. I envy her boyfriend.

Around 11:40 AM, I met Luisa in the elevator, who was chatting with a guy about something. In front of me in the elevator were two girls who were also talking. When I returned to my table, a law student was sitting opposite me. Since I didn’t want to flirt with him, I went to HanoMacke. I think I have better chances of flirting with pretty girls without words there.

It was loud and full of freshmen there. When I got myself a coffee and wanted to sit down, two students stood up, so I was able to take the spot I sat in yesterday again. A girl sat across from me and smiled at me. This is off to a good start, I thought. But she was eating a sandwich with salami, which killed my interest in her.

During the short break, I ate a banana and took out my phone to quickly turn on the hotspot. Then I noticed that I had disabled the mobile data. I wanted to turn it on for a moment but held back and put the phone away again.

Around 2 PM, I unexpectedly met Annika in HanoMacke. She was sitting at the table in front of me, first looking out the window and then at her phone as if she was waiting for someone. I took a break, grabbed an apple, and looked at her until she noticed me. She smiled at me and walked over.

“Hey, how’s it going!” she approached me with a big grin.

“Hey Annika, long time no see!”

We had a brief conversation. Annika switched from German Studies and Philosophy to Special Education and Linguistics. We also talked about karate, from which we know each other. She is not doing karate at the moment; instead, she plays football twice a week. I told her what I was currently doing, namely continuing to write my life story.

My story about minimalism and the absence of a refrigerator was interrupted by the ringing of her phone. She received a call.

“Hey, I’m at HanoMacke. Come in.”

“Hey, I’m Alexander! And what’s your name?” I extended my hand to the girl who looked Asian.

“I’m An.”

She used to do kickboxing in university sports. I asked her what she was doing here. They actually wanted to have a coffee, but HanoMacke was closed until four o'clock. An was also no longer a student and, like me, didn’t want to buy expensive coffee in the student cafeteria.

“Take care, Annika. Maybe we’ll see each other again!” The two then went elsewhere to have coffee.

I still remember how I had a crush on her back then and tried to subtly flirt with her over WhatsApp.

When I prepared my meal at home, lentils, corn, spinach, flaxseed, and walnuts, I realized that I hadn't used the stove in a long time. I was getting along fine without it. To reinforce this independence from the stove, I decided not to use it at home today. With that, the last electrical kitchen appliance I was dependent on would be eliminated.

From today, I officially don’t need any electrical kitchen appliances anymore. I also don’t need pans, pots, and so on—anything that is heated on the stove. Cooked items can be bought in cans. This saves me a lot of time because I don’t have to cook myself. Preparing the salad took at most 5 minutes. Imagine if I had to cook the lentils first and then wash the pot and the sieve. I didn’t feel like doing that.

Then Vanessa came into the kitchen, and we talked not only about the Enneagram but also about the Human Design model. I told her about my latest upgrades: that I no longer use a stove or a refrigerator. She said she couldn’t do without them. I replied that it wasn’t about doing without but living in a different way. A more independent way.

I then ate part of the prepared salad on a plate with a spoon and fork in my room. I sat cross-legged, and the plate was on the floor. The spinach, which was on top of the lentils, was not easy to pick up with the fork or scoop with the spoon; a leaf kept falling off. I just ate the spinach with my hand and thought: How easy it is to eat such greens with your hand! Maybe I should try that more often?