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.