New Faces

Another week has come and gone in the blink of an eye and I'm starting to think that these precious 8 months might pass a little more quickly than expected. I have to say, the highlight of my week was finding Mexican food in Germany right before my withdrawals kicked in. Just kidding. It was probably a tie between that and partaking in my first ever badminton game with a handful of veteran players. All of my friends are laughing at this thought, I'm aware, and that's okay because I'm laughing too. Allow me to take this moment to preface the details with the biggest understatement of the century: I am probably the least competitive person on the planet. Really, I don't think I could be less competitive if I tried. Anyways, you get the point and can probably imagine the excitement I felt after receiving my invitation to join in on this badminton game. Luckily, the invitation came a week in advance so I had a few days to come up with the most ridiculous worst case scenarios in my head. I have always been an over-thinker and trust me, it's more than overrated. Apparently I can commit to moving across the ocean to a place I have seen only via Google images with less apprehension than it takes for me to commit to playing a simple game of badminton (which, by the way, I learned is a pretty intense sport after watching the die hards at the court). I make no sense to me sometimes. And you know what? It was fun. So add that to my checklist of accomplishments and leave my athletic ability out to the side.

Jokes aside, the real highlight of the week for me was meeting a fellow au pair today who is also from the U.S. (a southerner as well, to be more exact). In my search for all-things-English, I have been researching international church services and successfully attended my second one this morning. Finding and attending these services have become weekly tasks that make me feel very independent in a place where I have to be taught how to do everything before I even dream about attempting something on my own- even down to making coffee. What, you can read German? Feeling helpless is an unfailingly frustrating thing. So this morning I set out to visit the second church on my list, only I got so wrapped up in writing down tram stations and departure times that I forgot to look up how to actually get to the church from the final stop. Typical fashion. With a heart full of faith, I decided to follow a crowd of passengers off the train and into the woods hoping that they were headed in a similar direction. Because when in doubt, follow a crowd of strangers in to a sketchy looking wooded area, right? Okay maybe not, but I got lucky today. The church is set back in thick greenery (shocker) and is an international church comprised of a congregation representing over 20 nationalities. Oddly enough, in this extremely diverse group, I conveniently met a 23-year-old Raleigh, NC native who just so happens to live a stones throw away from my host home (AKA my new friend). There totally is a god. Though my host family is nothing but wonderful and welcoming, I am so happy to have met someone I can relate to on more of a 20-something-American-living-abroad basis. I think I will stick with this church, second time's a charm here.

Happy Memorial Day weekend- I'm so jealous of the lake picture gallery that is my Instagram feed this weekend. Something about being able to see your breath outside when it's nearing June just doesn't seem right. xx.

Silver Linings

Today is my first official day being homesick and I have to say, I lasted two weeks more than I thought I would! Now, put those judging looks away and don't pretend like you don't understand what I'm talking about, you LaGrange people. You know you spend your life dying to get out of that Varsity Blues town and then you somehow manage to miss it when you're away. At any rate, I'm attributing this homesickness to the weather that has been incessant rain for the past two weeks. I came prepared to experience more rainy days than usual but holy December in May, where is the sun? Clearly I'm not in Georgia anymore. Yes, there have been definite desirably sunny days, but they have been few and far between and most of the time it rains off and on at seemingly set intervals throughout the day. However, the greenery and flowers that run rampant after the rain has subsided make this cold Spring weather worth enduring.
[*Side note: there is a perfect life lesson in all of that rambling and it is not wasted on me. Actually, go ahead and reread until it sinks in- your life will thank you later on down the road for embracing that lesson early. The rain is always worth enduring.]
To conclude, I have been informed that this constant dreary weather is not typical for this time of year here and hopefully this, like my homesickness, too shall pass. Soon.

In other (more comical) news, I had my first German driving lesson today. Mmhmm.. I'm coming for you, Autobahn. Since arriving here, I have learned that the Germans are without a doubt more fearless drivers than Americans, hence my confusion at the nonexistent speed limits that are not posted at your convenience. Huh? Me too. I feel like most everything in Germany makes my head spin these days (large emphasis on the metric system here- as if I didn't hate numbers enough already). Anyway, I digress, back to the driving lesson. Any of you who know me well also know that I ask one thousand too many questions at any given chance, so after asking for the fifth time: "You mean there really isn't a speed limit?", I got this response: "Yes. If you decide you want to go 100, you go 100, if you decide you want to go 120, you go 120, and then if you are in a big hurry maybe you just decide you want to drive as fast as the car will go." It took me a hot second to make a mental note of this new information and then I just nodded my head as if to reply, "good talk, I'm in." Talk about governmental trust. For all that, I will say this, if I were to ever hypothetically get hit by a car, I would want it to be a fabulous German one.

Finally, I am proud to admit that my limited list of accomplishments has seemingly doubled this week. Driving, check. Conquering the tram system, check. Making my first friend, check. Mistaking "off day" as "shopping day", check..... Just kidding, that one can't happen again. Things are looking up. Lots of love to the States. xx.

Peaceful Easy Feeling

Week "ein" is in the books and I can't believe it has been a whole 10 days! Look at that, the small town girl is surviving abroad (yes I'm talking to you, all of you encouraging friends that responded with "hahaha LaGrange does Germany" when I explained my plans). I knowww, "10" is barely hitting the double digits. Whatever. In terms of moving halfway around the world to a city where you don't know a soul, 10 days seems pretty lengthy in hindsight. Baby steps.

So many times in my life I have heard people complain about how they wish they could move to a place where they wouldn't know anyone [blah, blah, blah]- to which I, usually, mentally roll my eyes. I mean come on, insert rationality. Personally I have never entertained the thought, but I am finding myself oh-so-thankful to be living out the dream of those many "irrational" people. Although it's difficult to start a life in a new place, it's so refreshing, and I think it finally dawned on me the other day as I was biking solo into the city. Somewhere in the middle of stopping every 5 minutes to take pictures of totally ordinary things like a true tourist, one of my favorite songs came on shuffle and I had this moment of sublime happiness. It was sort of like an "I have no idea what I'm doing here but this is exactly where I'm supposed to be" feeling. Call them what you will, but I call these moments signs. And maybe it was an Eagles song, maybe it wasn't an Eagles song (talking to you now, Crouch fam). So 16 miles later when I arrived back home, I was still in La-La Land with my epiphany and the fact that I hadn't engaged in a single conversation with anyone the entire day (because, hello, I literally cannot) was just a minor detail of the trip. Each day is a challenge to adjust but it's exciting and reviving and I'm enjoying each one as it comes. "Color my life with the chaos of trouble," I wouldn't have it any other way.

And speaking of the speaking thing, I have finally gotten up enough courage to say "sprechen sie Englisch?" when communicating (or lack thereof) with the friendly people of this city. That's pathetic, I'm aware, but German is intimidating- am I right or am I right? Cue more baby steps. This may be the one time in my life that my habit of wearing my feelings transparently on my face is actually beneficial. Usually the locals can tell immediately that I get super awkward with their charming language and jump right into English-speaking mode. People can be so helpful! Don't forget it.

Alright, end pointless post here. And happy Mother's Day, Mom! I'm doing my best to "remember who raised me", just as you advised me to before I got on the plane. Only in the south. xx.

Another Kind of Green

Though I have only been in Germany for roughly 30 hours, I think this place is incredibly special already. Even at first glance from the plane window, Germany is beautiful. I was practically in the lap of my window-seat neighbor while the plane was landing in effort to take in the lush scenery. Germany is covered in vibrant shades of green, especially right now, and it really is an amazing sight to see from above. Think green patchwork.

It wasn't until I was 33,000 feet in the air that I realized I was going to be living in Germany for the foreseeable future- weird, right? Welcome to my life. The situation should have already been a reality with as much preparation as it required, but I guess it took being seated on flight 24 surrounded by passengers reading varying forms of German literature to make it feel "real." Nonetheless, I had a great (though long) flight and found myself waiting with my right-at-the-weight-limit bags at Starbucks after only being questioned about my passport once by the airport authorities. The amateur traveler rejoices. Oh and, while I'm rejoicing, PSA: my fear of flying has finally subsided. Conquering major things here on day one! Big thanks to Delta for their help that comes in the form of boxed white wine. You stay classy, major airline.

The family I'm staying with is wonderful. They are a beautiful blonde bunch and have made me feel very at home from the moment they picked me up from the airport. The children are very intelligent and so well-rounded. It made me smile waking up to the sound of the eldest girl taking piano lessons this morning. It's the simple things. Sidebar: their last name, Engel, literally translates to "angel" in English, coincidence? It never is (reference the E. Lesser quote from the last post here).

The town is very quaint and the people are friendly. It's pretty picturesque. Thankfully, most everyone here speaks English- emphasis on the "thankfully." I feel like such a black sheep being able to speak only one language. That said, I love hearing the exchange of German conversation. Even as I write this, I am enjoying listening to the German couple sitting beside me talk casually over lunch. It's a humbling thing not being able to speak the main language of a country in which you are living and I am appreciating every second of it.

I had some free time today so I decided to bike around and get my bearings. I biked down to the river (the Rhine River), walked around the local castle ruins (eat your heart out LaGrange), and now I'm sitting outside of the café down the street reading "The Sun Also Rises". Shout out to the thoughtful friend who gave me this always-amazing-product-of-Hemingway as a parting gift. Love it. All in all, it's been an effortlessly enjoyable day.

So I'll leave you with my deep thought for the day: it's a funny feeling moving to a place where you do not know or expect anything other than the fact when you leave, you won't be the same person you were when you arrived. Yeah? Here we go, Düsseldorf.

As the Germans say upon departure: "Tschüss." xx.