Where does the time go?
Cannot believe it I woke up on Friday morning and realised it has been a year since my return to Germany. Wow, yet scary at the same time! Half way through my experiment - and still undecided on whether to stick around in Germany or whether to pack my bags again and try a new adventure in another excotic country where it is less of an hassle to integrate but yet still serve sausages and cake (not on the same plate of course, I might have developed a strange taste while living on the island but it is not THAT weird).
Needless to say, I needed to celebrate/ commiserate my one year anniversary in style and went to a pub. As I couldnt't find a decent British Pub in Hamburg (or lets say Google wouldn't find me one) I took the second best and went to an Irish Pub which even had live music, once the football had finished. Coincidentally, my one year anniversary fell on the same date of the opening game of the Bundesliga, when plenty of German men get excited that their is a reason to their live once more. One of the things England and Germany have in common. The background noise made the atmosphere even better in this great pub, cheering fans for the opposing team as they kept scoring and booing from the fans of the local team. Just missed the bouncers.
Sitting at the table with my friends having a sausage and bacon putty and a pint of lager and a packet of crisps (couldn't resist, if you lived in England for a bit longer I am sure you remember this great series :) ), I had a chance to reminiscent. Here, I was in Hamburg after 12 months of adventures and arguements with bureocrats, job centre, heath insurance, hit and miss job interviews, living with my parents again and settling into a new city where I originally had no intention of going to, I still missed London, the security of knowing where to go, how to avoid paying too much and my friends. At that moment, I have would have given anything for them to be there with me in that cosey pub. But then I realised how much I had achieved in just a short period of time. I didn't give up, although I was very close a many couple of times to book a return ticket to London. I managed to find a job and a place to live. Finally, I can afford to live by myself without having to pay a ridiculous price for rent. And I looked around the group of friends, sitting around the table, who celebrated that I have come and stayed in Hamburg. A nice odd bunch of people, whom you can have more than just a pint with and most of them have also just moved to Hamburg within the last year and still feel as foreign to the city as I am.
So as the second pint arrived, we prosted on my second year in Germania, and are looking forward to exploring what this city has to offer.
Cheers!!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
First week back on German Soil
August 2010
My thinking behind returning to Germany in August was that I thought that at least while I was unemployed and feeling depressiv because of being unemployed at least I could enjoy the German summer of 25+ degrees. Lying in the garden, listening to the birds, our neighbours child screaming and the building works on the former allotments opposite while sipping a cool Pimms & Lemonade (so I wouldn't feel homesick) and slowly aclimatise to the German way of life again. Now that sounded like a good plan. But no it came slightly different than expected - as always.
When I stepped of the plane greeted by friends and family it still hadn't hit me that I was returning for good. It rather felt like going on another short summerholiday.
The next morning though, after I woke up and unpacked my things from my suitcases, it dawned on me that this might be a longer stay than my usual one week break. I also remembered that my boxed had also been delivered. And there they were, neatly piled up in the cellar room next door. Not quite the square shape as I remembered them to be (and all boxed tend to have before they get tossed and kicked about). These 8 boxes contained 10 years of living in England - 1/3 of my life - I wasn't sure what to think of it - bit depressing that so little came of with me. I guess squeezing all my friends into the boxes might have gotten me in trouble with customs. (mh could have been worth a try though). Also due to living in flatshares all this time, I never accumulated any furniture. Lucky most flats in the UK came furnished packed with second-hand, handed down, 10 year old furniture that never anyone thought of replacing.
(oh yes I was living in the cellar - my old room had long been transformed into an office/walk-in cupboard/fitness room - but I guess this happens after 10 years away).
And, I seemed to had brought back the English weather - or maybe it thought it would be a good idea to follow me home so I wouldn't miss England so much or it wanted to match my mood. Yes, I have to admit that I was feeling down and slightly miserable for knowing that I have closed a massive chapter of my life but on the same side was looking forward to a new beginning new adventure and my friends and family where enjoying to have me back.
So who needs good weather when you can just go from having coffee and cake at one friends house to having coffee and cake at another family's house :) Although I don't like coffee - still a tea drinker - I had more cake to compensate for that fact.
Well, I am sure I could wait for a reality a bit longer before it was going to hit me and hold of looking for a job for a bit longer. I was very much in need of a two week break from all that stress of packing, leaving dos and saying my Bye Byes.
So Germany I am back - so show me what I have missed!!! (and a bit of sun wouldn't have been too bad)
D
My thinking behind returning to Germany in August was that I thought that at least while I was unemployed and feeling depressiv because of being unemployed at least I could enjoy the German summer of 25+ degrees. Lying in the garden, listening to the birds, our neighbours child screaming and the building works on the former allotments opposite while sipping a cool Pimms & Lemonade (so I wouldn't feel homesick) and slowly aclimatise to the German way of life again. Now that sounded like a good plan. But no it came slightly different than expected - as always.
When I stepped of the plane greeted by friends and family it still hadn't hit me that I was returning for good. It rather felt like going on another short summerholiday.
The next morning though, after I woke up and unpacked my things from my suitcases, it dawned on me that this might be a longer stay than my usual one week break. I also remembered that my boxed had also been delivered. And there they were, neatly piled up in the cellar room next door. Not quite the square shape as I remembered them to be (and all boxed tend to have before they get tossed and kicked about). These 8 boxes contained 10 years of living in England - 1/3 of my life - I wasn't sure what to think of it - bit depressing that so little came of with me. I guess squeezing all my friends into the boxes might have gotten me in trouble with customs. (mh could have been worth a try though). Also due to living in flatshares all this time, I never accumulated any furniture. Lucky most flats in the UK came furnished packed with second-hand, handed down, 10 year old furniture that never anyone thought of replacing.
(oh yes I was living in the cellar - my old room had long been transformed into an office/walk-in cupboard/fitness room - but I guess this happens after 10 years away).
And, I seemed to had brought back the English weather - or maybe it thought it would be a good idea to follow me home so I wouldn't miss England so much or it wanted to match my mood. Yes, I have to admit that I was feeling down and slightly miserable for knowing that I have closed a massive chapter of my life but on the same side was looking forward to a new beginning new adventure and my friends and family where enjoying to have me back.
So who needs good weather when you can just go from having coffee and cake at one friends house to having coffee and cake at another family's house :) Although I don't like coffee - still a tea drinker - I had more cake to compensate for that fact.
Well, I am sure I could wait for a reality a bit longer before it was going to hit me and hold of looking for a job for a bit longer. I was very much in need of a two week break from all that stress of packing, leaving dos and saying my Bye Byes.
So Germany I am back - so show me what I have missed!!! (and a bit of sun wouldn't have been too bad)
D
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