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.
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