Looking ahead

Many things to look forward to. A lot still to process from this past year.

When I was leaving Germany, I cried. I had a great time driving first to Gera and then on to Karlsruhe with Robert's Mom, Helmut and his two brothers (we dropped Steffen off in Gera). Then I had a relaxed evening home with Robert before we headed to Heidelberg the next morning. He met his new Ferienkurs class at the University - I tagged along, and was even able to sit in on his class. A small group of intermediate German students feeling very nervous about their language skills listened avidly to their teacher and "Betreuer" (that's Robert's job title) tell them in very slow and deliberate German what fun things would lie for them in the weeks ahead.

Sadly I would not be there with them, but with three big suitcases and awaiting parents there was nothing I could do but get on that plane in Frankfurt two days later. We had a fun birthday party at one of his friends apartments in which I introduced the concept of mixing vodka with cranberry juice (the "Cape Codder", although I've never heard anyone call it that), and was able to catch up with people that I hadn't seen since the previous summer. They were amazed at how much better my German had gotten over the year, and I must say I was quite proud in return. But at Birthday Party #2 the following night I couldn't control myself. As much as I wanted to celebrate with Robert's Karlsruhe friends (we were back in Karlsruhe at that point) I just could not comprehend the change lying ahead of me. I was going to miss him, that was clear, but I'm not sure that I was actually sad about leaving Berlin. I know I'll be back there, in some shape or form. I was simply overwhelmed at the inevitable and uncontrollable passage of time. Everybody was understanding when we left early to walk home.

I have had a wonderful month since I've been back. A weekend at Fisher's, nearly a week in Montreal, catching up with a lot of family, a quick adventure to NYC with my Mom, a couple days of sunshine and beaches on the cape, hiking to the Franconia Ridge, and helping with research for a documentary on the fall of the Berlin Wall. I have had a lot of calm days at home to spend with my Dad as well. Now the second phase of my summer will begin, as I will be heading to the airport to pick Robert up. It's September and the New England weather could not be more beautiful. Luckily for me and all those other people on the quarter system, I still have a month before classes start! Oh, and I have finally sort of exhausted the all the possibilities for finding things to do with all the pictures I took over this past year. An i-dvd slide show and two photo albums, and I am nearly pictured-out.

So essentially what I am trying to say is that I'm signing off on this blog for now as I plan on fully enjoying the rest of my summer. I'll check in with any news on this Fulbright application, and then, if that works out of course, you just might be hearing about new journeys to Germany in the future. So stay posted.