May 2, 2011

I Have Not Forgotten About You–Resuming Life in Munich and the Daze of Spring

With all this talk of my Italian vacation, my life in Munich has kind of been overshadowed and I haven’t really been giving it much justice, have I? I am down to seven weeks here and the thought of that blows my mind. I have been having a horrible time balancing it out, too. I want to be home but I want to be here. I can’t keep myself from being in both places and, for a while there, the homesickness was eating me alive and turning me into an emotional mess. I think I’ve pushed past it though, I’m feeling better and more balanced. I’m not missing the days of vacation and I have so much to look forward to over the next few months and so things are good. All is well with this German girl. :)

The last week went easy on me, where both work and my social life were concerned. The girls were not in school so they had the week off and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I didn’t have to work until 3 pm everyday of the week. We watched a lot of movies (Nana is absolutely terrified of Tangled, next time I will let her watch it in German to take the edge off), played a lot of Angry Birds (the six year olds have surpassed me on the levels), and ate a lot of pasta (what else is new?). The weather was beautiful so my friends and I spent a lot of time out in the sun either at the English Gardens or BBQing at the Isar. Munich in the spring is absolutely stunning – the trees have all turned green and are flourishing with the rain and sunshine. Lilacs are blooming (my favorite!!), birds are singing, the sun is shining. Everyone here is happy!

202029_10150230301604468_507089467_8569950_6554252_oDown at the Isar with friends

DSC09771Sunset on the Isar

DSC09781Bruno Mars in Munich?!?!?

DSC09846Lilacs in a Bavarian approved vase

A little bit of home has found its way to Germany, too – my good friend, Christina, who I used to work for in Monterey, has come to Germany to visit her mom, Kathe, who I have mentioned before in this blog. I went to Garmisch this past weekend to visit her and had such a relaxing weekend full of family, food, and much needed relaxation. I will make a separate post about the weekend, of course, but for now, let’s just say it was incredibly wonderful to see her and even though I had to say hello and goodbye to a piece of home, I was grateful to have her here! Hopefully I get to see her again before she leaves.

On that note, darling Jennie is returning to Munich today! If you haven’t read her blog, Too Hard to Find a URL, go do it. She’s witty and intelligent and Canadian so obviously she’s worth knowing. I met her last summer, here in Munich, and she’s returning now for an internship at a law firm here in Munich so I’m excited to have her back here while I enjoy my last few weeks in Munich. I am going to meet her at her new apartment in a few hours, too! Fresh off the airplane!

Now that Easter vacation is over, it’s back to regular scheduled programming. The girls are back in school, the Frau is filling up her spring social calendar, I am back to being overworked, and life goes on. For seven more weeks (to the day), I will live my German life to the fullest possible extent. Frühlingsfest commenced on Friday so I hope to take advantage of that soon (but more on that later!) and it is now officially May! This time last year I was polishing off my Capstone project and presentation, preparing for graduation, leaving most of my jobs, and getting ready to move out of my apartment. It’s hard to believe that a year has gone by since then or that I’m even this close to the end of my experience here in Germany. Sometimes, especially now with the spring weather and the nostalgic scents of the season, it feels like I just got here. Hopefully, I can make the best of my remaining time and leave Munich with a heavy but happy heart.

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