It's been a month and a half since this blog was last thought of and, I must say, life has changed quite a bit. Here's a quick run down:
It was nice being home but I was so terribly bored. None of my friends were home for quite a while, which meant I was sitting in my dungeon-like living room not doing anything but forcing my mom to strictly adhere to the Five Factor Diet. which I must admit was awesome.
Then I worked two weeks for West Coast Sash and Door as... hmm, what will I call it in my resume... an administrative assistant? I earned a little money and developed chronically screwed cuticles (and fake relationships with contractors I will never know) while organizing 12 years of files.
Somewhere in there Mark and I decided to "postpone" our road trip, which was a rough blow to the whole "I'm so sure of what I am doing with my life" thing.
Then I came to Germany!
and now I am in Germany!
as in, for good!
which is a little nuts, really, and I am frustratingly, though I hope understandably and rationally, having a harder time with it than I expected. I have been a bit of an unpredictable mess, crying over lots of really silly things (example- a cell phone guy innocently mocked my accent and I cried all day) and generally feeling like dead weight. I think that is mostly because I am still in Hamburg, staying with Steffi and Steffi, who are being so amazingly generous and great, but I think there is this overwhelming feeling of being intrusive, inconvenient and temporary. I am of course excited to get back to Freiburg and have my own space and my own life, which I know will be a little rough at first. but I think I am ready for it.
man, that was a downer! there have been, and continue to be, lots and lots of high points that continuously reinforce that I am here for good and it is just that... good. Chaperoning the exchange was a fabulous experience and I got to know 21 positively lovely young people while seeing lots of great things on the cheap. Of course the highlight of all highlights was spending a week in Berlin and seeing Barack Obama speak at the Siegessäule, before which there was a surprise concert from Patrice, my very favorite German musician. There also happened to be a rocking DJ and lots and lots of press, which has led to what I have now accepted as my 15 minutes of fame. Unfortunately the really really rocking and surreal dance party that happened after the speech was not documented in American media, but I am pretty sure you can find some awesome pictures of my kiddies in some Italian newspapers.
The next few weeks have a lot to offer: tomorrow I am peacing out to Bersenbrück for Reggae Jam for three days, about which I am very excited. Sunday I am heading to Freiburg for a week, which I am sure will be lovely because my favorite beer and a few of my favorite people will be there to ring in my 22nd year with me. Monday the 18th I am starting my CELTA class, and after four weeks I will be a certified English teacher of sorts. Not that this blog is proving my worth at all. Then right after that Mark and I are going to Sweden and Paris, a trip which I am sure will be a fun adventure.
So that's that. I feel really good about what's going on so far, though, as expected, it has been a wild ride.
