365 Days (and then some) of Deutschland
A year ago this time, Josh and I had just got the keys to our apartment on the park. It was a massive victory, with the countdown to Christmas putting a lot of pressure on us to find something and find something quick. Those of you who have seen our place know that we were fortunate enough to not have to sacrifice our standard of living because of time constraints.
It’s safe to say we’ve fully settled in here. All of our things have their place and we have our at-home routines and places that we’re most likely to be found. We know our area and discovered neighbours, both German and non. It feels like home.
Back in the day, because that’s how long ago it already feels, Josh and I figured 18 months would be a reasonable time for our adventure. Soon after arriving, we decided that two years was probably more likely.
But the something strange happened.
We weren’t on a working holiday. We were kidding ourselves when we said this was a working holiday. We’re living here, and simply taking advantages of Germany’s ample mandated holiday time while we’re at it.
Fact: Josh still has 13 vacation days left. Yes. That’s despite us going skiing in France in March, spending Easter in Budapest and travelling to Cologne three times. That’s despite us eating gelato in Italy for two weeks and paddling through lakes in Northern Germany over the summer. That’s despite jaunts to London, Denmark and Paris in the fall. That’s despite our return to London at the beginning of this month. It’s not like we didn’t try to use our holiday time.
Why would we put a time limit on this? It wasn’t until this fall that we felt like we had settled into our life here, with a circle of friends and a group of people we’re happy to include in our plans both in and out of Berlin. I’m not ready to call this our halfway mark.
So, basically, what I’m saying is, a year later, Josh and I still really love living here. There have definitely been times when its been hard to be away from our families, but we’re taking a good therapeutic trip back to the Canadian hinterlands for Christmas.
Now please start making offerings to St. Christopher (the patron saint of travellers) so that we don’t get stuck in an airport somewhere!
