As I thought about that the other day, it made me think back to when I first found out that we were moving to Germany... I was absolutely horrified! :) When Brian first approached me on it, I was adamant that we were not moving over here! I tried every argument in the book to convince Brian that we shouldn't come over here... I argued that I would have to quit my job, put my Master's program on hold, leave all of my family and friends, leave the comfort of my own home, etc... I remember trying to convince him that we couldn't move because we shouldn't miss out on our nephews and nieces growing up, or that we should consider remodeling our house instead of moving, or that our families would be devastated if we left so we shouldn't move so that we wouldn't have to make them feel bad... I also told him that Riley couldn't handle the flight over here, so if he wasn't going, then I wasn't going... Lovely! :) Oh, trust me, the list just kept getting bigger and bigger as I came up with every excuse in the book not to move! :)
And, now that we're over here, I literally cannot imagine not moving here! At first, it was quite a difficult adjustment and there were ALOT of pitfalls along the way... But, now that we've settled in and made friends and made a life for ourselves over here, I can't imagine not being here! :) It'll never be "home", but it's definitely turned into a place that is very dear to me. :)
I also feel as if I've grown so much as an individual through this experience... I now know that I can survive outside of my "familiar surroundings" that I was always accustomed to. I now see the world through different eyes... I've always believed America is the greatest country on earth and that it never had any faults... Now, I still believe that America is a great country and I'm proud to be an American, but I now realize that it's not perfect and it does have it's share of problems that it needs to resolve. I've also learned to face my fears since we've been here... When we first arrived, I was terrified to go anywhere by myself... I was afraid to drive the car, I didn't like to go to restaurants by myself because I didn't know how to order anything, I tried very hard not to have to communicate with anyone (if I had a question about something, I just wouldn't ask it), I didn't do much except for walk around Friedrichshafen as I didn't know how to get around by train or bus, and the simple task of grocery shopping was an all day process and oftentimes a very traumatizing experience when it came to having to deal with the ladies at the checkout! :) Nowadays, I'm totally comfortable driving the car (a stick-shift at that!!) and I'll pretty much take off and drive anywhere (well, except for in Italy... they're a little crazy there in terms of driving! :)), I get around by train and bus on a pretty regular basis, I can now communicate with people (in my limited German) and get by on a daily basis, and grocery shopping has been transformed from a 4 hour process to about a 30 minute trip... I feel as if I've settled into quite a comfortable life here, and it not only makes me happy, but pretty proud of myself at the same time. :) Plus, we've made so many wonderful friends and we've been able to partake in so many amazing experiences... I realize just how fortunate we are to have this wonderful opportunity! Now, I look back at the girl who was petrified to move to another country, and it makes me smile to think about how far I've come. :)
On that note, I've got to head into town... I'm meeting some friends for lunch... Plus, I've got to purchase our train ticket to Munich tomorrow... yippee! We're going to Munich with a group of friends to take part in the St. Patrick's Day activities that they have taking place this weekend... You know me and my love for St. Patrick's Day, so I'm sure you can imagine how excited I am! :) We'll be taking plenty of pictures and I'll tell you all about it when we return! :) Have a fabulous weekend!! We miss you much!
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