Beautiful park on a beautiful day in Celle, Germany
Eight months ago, I arrived in Germany with a new pair of shoes. It took over a month for those shoes to break in and for my feet to stop bleeding. Lesson learned, break in your shoes before you leave on a ten-month educational adventure.
It was not only my shoes that needed breaking in. Everything was new. I arrived in Lüneburg, dumb, frightened and completely unaware of the change that I would go through eight months later, let alone aware that I would even be staying for more than three and a half months. I cannot imagine what it would have been like if I had left when I originally planned to. I only know that it would have been a huge mistake.
Last semester was my fun, spend all the money you have and travel every weekend semester. This semester has been much different, much humbler with many more lessons learned.
I measure my progress with learning the language and adapting to the culture by my haircuts. Fluent German speakers accompanied my first two haircuts, as I was terribly frightened to attempt to explain my hairstyle preference alone, in English or in German. The thought of it nearly gave me a panic attack. Today, I went by myself and walked away with what I think is the perfect Jonathan-style haircut. These are small but important steps for me.
It was not about the haircut, but about how scared I was for at least two months to make a mistake. Today, mistakes are my best friend. I am a professional mistake-maker and very proud of it.
Honestly, I have always enjoyed the thought of running away to a place where no one knows me and starting over. In some ways, that is what I have done here. The only difference is that I will be returning to my other life soon: my other friends, my family, my dog, my university, the Ozarks, etc. However, Lüneburg feels just as much like a home. I know that it always will.
Returning to Germany is almost certain and finishing my study of the language is naturally a must. I have a long way to go.
Eight months ago, with bloody feet and no idea about anything, I walked off a plane into a whole new world. I leave Lüneburg, or will leave in a couple of months, with a broken-in pair of shoes and a completely new set of eyes.
bloody brilliant. love you.
this text is your best so far. love the metaphors…
I adore this. Great title, wonderful theme. Lovely.
I like this piece a lot. The haircut thing really hits home – it’s the sort of thing that separates a one-off travel experience from a bigger thing that really sticks with you for the rest of your life (not that one-off’s can’t also do that).
I think you should go somewhere else next. Germany is comfortable for you now (relatively speaking) and you definitely have “the bug.” For me, the bug is only satisfied by new challenges. Something different, something less familiar.
Maybe it’s time to seek out a different experience that presses your reset button again and feels like a whole new world.
China would be a good option. Or Japan, although Japan is pretty easy in comparison to China.