This Could Be Paradise

Here it is, almost two weeks since my last post. Sorry about that. It's partly due to the fact that I have gotten crazy busy, but I also just haven't known what to write about. I've done so much over the last two weeks, and many of those things have felt monumental to me, but when I start to think about what to write they just seem so... ordinary. I'm building a life here in Berlin, something that I'm incredibly proud to be able to say. I'm working really hard at settling in and getting a routine. I spend a lot of time at the Kita and a lot of time with my host kids, especially last week and this week, because AM has been gone a lot for work. When I'm not working I go to the gym or I just go exploring. One of my favorite things to do is just to get on the train and go somewhere that I haven't been before. I still have a lot of major sights to see in Berlin, but right now I'm really enjoying getting to know the less touristy facets of this city. Last week Martina and I went to Kreuzberg to find this secondhand clothing store that sells clothes by the kilo. That ended up being an adventure because I forgot to write down the address, lol. The place turned out to be a bit of a bust (their dressing rooms consisted of curtains that you could pull around you in the middle of the rows of clothes), but we still had a great time. I also love that I'm starting to develop favorite places in the city. We find ourselves spending a lot of time at certain coffee shops, something that I consider to be very European. We also go to some of the same restaurants over and over again because we know they are good or cheap (or both!). I still like to force myself to go to new places every so often though, because this city is enormous and I'll never be able to experience it all.

I think I've identified one of the main reasons that I so love this city though. As I meet more and more people, I can see that they all (especially the foreigners who've moved here) think just like me. There is just such an international presence here and everyone is so open to love and life and learning. I have had conversations with complete strangers and laughed with new found friends. And I can already tell you that the friends I'm making here are friends that will last the rest of my life. Even though we will all go our own separate ways some day, I can feel that we are connecting on a level much deeper than just proximity and convenience. I'm surrounded by this absolutely gorgeous city with so much history and culture that I can't even begin to experience it all, and I find half my joy in just sitting and talking with people. I have noticed my vocabulary changing a bit though, since I'm spending a lot of time with non-American English speakers.

Recently I've been thinking a lot about what I'm going to do with my future. Sometimes it feels like I'm being pulled in a dozen different directions. Other times I feel like I have no direction at all. This city does that to me. It all depends on how successful I am feeling on any particular day. I do think I'd like to spend more time here though. One year does not feel like enough. However, whatever I do from here on out is going to depend on my ability to find a job. And that is one stressful thing that I do not even want to begin to think about at this moment. Right now I'm really itching to get back to my German classes. They start up again next Monday. I want so badly to be good at German already, but I'm still struggling to get over the fear of speaking in German. I've been told this is the most difficult hurdle in learning a language. Eventually I guess I'm going to just have to jump in and deal with the inevitable embarrassment of screwing up these people's language for awhile.

I'd also like to say that it's been cold here. Way too cold for my tastes. I couldn't tell you how cold though, since I'm failing at converting Celsius to Fahrenheit, lol. I finally went and bought some warm socks and leg warmers and everything, but now I hear that it's supposed to start warming up by next week. I guess I should be glad though. The five minutes it takes to wrap yourself up in multiple layers before going outside is a huge pain. As is getting the kids to keep their gloves, scarves, and hats on.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day, so I should get some sleep. But I'd like to end this by saying that I've finally gotten to experience a real club and I am in love! I am just so into dancing these days... And ladies nights, because free entry rocks :)

And today's blog title is from this song. Paradise by Coldplay. Enjoy!

Oh, I almost forgot! Happy Valentine's Day to all of my readers and all of the people that make me feel so loved! It's not a very big holiday here in Germany and we didn't really celebrate, other than doing some heart art projects with the Kita kids. Fasching is coming up though, so I'll make sure to tell you all about that later this month!