I am Retired. So How Do I Feel And What Do I Do?

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Today I want to tell you what it is like to be retired as I've experienced it for some years. I’ve never been overzealous or meticulous but now I enjoy procrastination to the full. I intend to do something, then I don’t feel like doing it or something hinders me. So what? Why put off 'till tomorrow what you can do today'? “Why not?“ is what I say now. No empty hours then? Sadly, not only retirement comes with old age but also afflictions. I don’t want to bore you with details. Suffice it to say that I've had my share. I'm now going to explain the German system of so-called guest-listeners or senior students at university. If you want to study regularly and pass an exam, you need to have passed your A-level exams at a secondary grammar school. Guest-listeners don't have to have any prior qualifications. They don't study in the real sense of the word but attend lectures or seminars just for pleasure. They don't pass any exams and get no diploma at the end. I've checked some universities in different parts of Germany. They all offer this. The guest-listeners pay a fee for the term and can attend *if there's room for them*. Of course, the real students come first. What do I attend? The different departments of the university inform the office responsible for the guest-listeners about the lectures and seminars which are 'open' for guests. I have no idea according to which criteria they're chosen. Every term there's a brochure with all these offers. Yet, once one has understood the system one can also go to seminars which aren't included and ask the lecturers if they mind if one attends. I've done this and up to now I haven't been sent away. I always try to find something where English is spoken. I've studied Australia with an Australian lecturer, Beat literature with an American one. All German lecturers talk English, too. This was not the case when I studied, but now it's the rule. Last term I attended a seminar on the literature of the Indian minority living in South Africa. This term I attend one on The American Family in Literature and Culture. I also go to lectures held in German, for example about the History of Research and Technology. It started last year with Stonehenge, Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. Now we've reached the period which is called Early Modern Times (~16/17th century). Next week we'll hear about Galileo and Kepler. I've been to Ovid's Metamorphoses, Medicine in Ancient Greece, Leonardo da Vinci, a comparison of New York and Los Angeles, etc. etc. I go to whatever tickles my fancy. I'm glad that I live near a university town which is only half an hour away by train. I’m in my tenth year at uni now (longer than the average student!) and learn new and interesting things every time I go there. The students don’t seem to feel molested by me (in some seminars I’m the only oldie). A former colleague asked me for how long I intended to do this. My answer was, "Until I fall off my chair."