Time for another blog post, friends, so here we go. There is not a big trip to focus on this time, so I present for your reading and viewing pleasure mini-thoughts and experiences I've had over the past few weeks.
Let's start with some thoughts:
Something fun that has happened since we last checked in, is that I came to the startling realization that my life will in fact continue after the 20th of June when I fly out of Frankfurt and that's probably something I should start giving even the tiniest bit of brain space to. I am still trying to find the balance between living fully here and enjoying these last few months for all they are worth and also making sure I don't miss deadlines leaving me with months of thumb-twiddling when I return. I don’t have any answers yet, but at least I have started to think about thinking about it. :)
I’ve gotten back to seeing theater lately! When I was working at the theater, I often had rehearsals over when the performances were, and now that both shows I worked on are open and I am no longer in rehearsals, I have been able to be back in the audience. It's nice to be back on the other side of things again. Turns out I love both.
The Spring weather here has literally changed my life. I didn't think I was a person who was so dependent on the sun to feel joy, but my goodness it feels SO NICE to feel the sun on my face again. Unfortunately, we had about 2 weeks of sweet, sweet beautiful sun and are now headed back into two weeks of clouds and rain, but I am hoping the moment of sun we did have gave me is enough energy to get through!
We said our final winter semester Erasmus goodbyes. Of course, our goodbye parties were a mix of fun and sad. I think both my heart and my liver will be thankful they are over. ;)
I have been so lucky to get to work with the people I do here in Heidelberg. I suppose maybe this thought is better suited for the ‘Vielen Dank’ list at the end of the post but I just want to put it here too, that I am so grateful for all my coworkers and friends here in Germany. It took a hot minute to find a crew, but finding meaningful connections here was worth it. Of course, it had to be mere months before I leave again.
I’m sure I have more to say, but we will add further thoughts as captions to pictures, we all know that's what you're here for anyway. :)
First things first, a picture of me enjoying the sun. Or, Genißen die Sonne auf Deutsch. This is my favorite pastime these days
I think by the time it is all said and done I will have over 2,000 pictures with this castle. And I am a-okay with that. I never want to forget what it was like to live in the valley beneath a castle, it's cool!
ATTN: we will now be moving on to the Flower portion of today's blog post!
This first subsection will be about blooms and flowers here in Heidelberg. I know I'm not much of a photographer, but I think my framing here is quite nice
Okay, you caught me, this one is a shameless selfie, but look at those stunning daffodils in the background. I took this during a journaling session on the Riverside. SO MUCH SUN
This was taken on a little day trip with my host parents. I don't remember the exact dorf we were in, aber war schön oder? The pink with the clear blue of the sky is perfect. I took one picture. I think my host mom took 300 :)
Seeing Magnolias here in Heidelberg was such a surprise to me. The only place I have seen these before is in Alabama and it is certainly colder than Alabama here. Nonetheless, they were a great reminder of a place I love, and they smell great!
One more shot of the castle with stellar framing, Amature photographer much?
The rest of these flower pictures are all from Schwetzingen Schloss Park where my host mother, sister, and I went to see the Cherry Blossoms. It was absolutely stunning I was overwhelmed. The park is modeled after Versailles. So, that's cool I guess.
Rows and rows of Cherry Blossoms.
Just look at that excitement
There are buildings around the park modeled after different parts of the world, this one was ancient Rome I believe.
Listen, I just walk around grinning like this all the time. Its really no wonder people here think I'm weird
Just three shadows of three impressed ladies chilling in the garten.
And of course, after a long day of walking, we treated ourselves to burgers and ice cream. The Americans got a few things right ;)
And for the last few Frühling photos, here are some creature friends. Lizard!
And Swan!
This man fed one goose and immediately regretted it, but it was a good laugh for the rest of us
Lastly, we took the warm weather as an excuse to have a little fire and roast some marshmallows. Anyone who knows me knows this is one of my favorite activities, so I was VERY excited.
I also took a few trips back to Saarbrücken during the last months or so. You guys know the drill... I love that place to bits:
Emmi cut my hair while I was there. She is an excellent Friseurin
She and I took a little day trip to Luxembourg, so I got to cross another country off my list!
It pretty much looks like a Fairytale everywhere, big fan.
Look at that blue sky!!!
Proof we were there if you couldn't tell it was also quite windy!
We have a mission to try every Kinder chocolate before my time here is over, this day's sample was kinder cards
These are the steps you have to walk from the bus to the house. If you can't tell by my face...I am continually unimpressed
A birthday brunch for Marie!
From the 2nd visit. Julie and I didn't have anything planned so we spent a chunk of the afternoon having thumb wars... you know.... like adults
Sweet baby Arthur was happy to see me
Merlin was also happy to see me, you just can't tell from this photo 😂
And back to Heidelberg:
The very last of the Erasmus goodbyes. You will be missed Henry!
And a few cursed images to close us out, cause we all need a good laugh:
The theme for the kindergarteners' storytime was 'Happy Birthday' so we all made birthday crowns and honestly? I think I have never looked better
Thought I was safe for a quick walk to the drugstore, unfortunately, I got caught in the rain and lived to regret never packing an umbrella
Closing Thought:
I am working hard to fight the stress of it all ending so soon. Like today is the last day of March... April begins tomorrow... that is CRAZY. When I find myself worrying I find that it usually centers around the idea of regret. I am worried that I will regret how I spent my time here, that I didn't travel enough, or didn't work hard enough, or didn't relax enough, or whatever else. I work to dispel the worry by remembering, there is so little I regret in my life up until this point, so why would I magically start regretting everything now? Sure, I know there are little things I could have done better at every turn, but if given the chance to go back and change anything I wouldn't even consider it cause every weird and wild moment has landed me so perfectly here. I have no idea how the experiences I am living right now will continue to impact my life for the next 40 years, so how could I be so arrogant as to think I could do better than the way it has all unfolded. It's not fun to be anxious, but it's kind of sweet to think that the reason I'm anxious about the time ending is only because I love it so much. <3
Vielen Dank:
EINS) Colleagues here in Germany, they're the realest
ZWEI) The compassion I see in people here in Germany with regard to the Ukrainian REfugee Crisis. I could write a whole post about this, maybe I will someday. Just know that your kindness inspires kindness in others.
DREI) Deutsche Bahn. God I'm gonna miss those trains.
Bis Zum nächsten Mal
-KJ