Sorry things got behind again. I know I've lost steam, but I still want to try and pull through. Like finishing my year here, I just want to finish my year on this blog.
Anyway, I guess it's only been two weeks since I posted, but a ton of stuff has happened in that time. First of all, like any good homesick American, I dealt with my first Thanksgiving abroad. I actually rearranged my schedule so I could work at the Kita that day. I figured if I couldn't celebrate with my family, I at least wanted to celebrate with all of my little ones and their unconditional love. And it was actually a really nice day. We had a feast (mostly consisting of desserts since we didn't really monitor the potluck sign up list) and I got to explain the reason for Thanksgiving over and over again. I spent cuddle time with my Hopis and I only cried once. As different as it was from every Thanksgiving I've ever had, I really did enjoy it. And I'm thankful that I got to spend it with those kids who give me all the hugs I want and scream my name when I walk in the room.
The day after Thanksgiving was a little bit crazy. First thing in the morning the hot water heater in my apartment broke. Again. So even though I hadn't been planning on moving houses with my host family that weekend, the plans suddenly changed. I actually had to pack up everything in my apartment overnight so that it would be ready for the movers the next day. But before I could do that I had to spend the day with J because his school was closed. He surprised me by asking if we could go to the Allied Forces Museum, something I had been wanting to do but had never gotten the chance. So we ended up going out there and, in my opinion, had a really good time. I think he enjoyed it, but it may have also been a little over his head.
Anyway, so the next day, Saturday, we moved. We only moved a few streets over, but it was a ridiculously long, hard day. I helped with the move and I swear I used muscles that I hadn't flexed in years. By the end of the night I could barely move my arms. But we got moved in, I unpacked in my new bedroom, and now we're making everything work for my last few weeks here.
On Sunday I desperately needed to get out and be on my own for awhile, so I actually went out and did the Berlin walking tour I had been meaning to do for months. My guide was a PhD student in German history, which meant he was extremely well informed. The tour turned out to be really good, maybe even my favorite of all the walking tours I've done this year. Of course, I might be a bit biased though, since we all know I'm full on in love with this city. After the tour I actually re-walked almost the whole route so that I could take more pictures and spend more time at some of the places we had passed. In the course of this I finally visited the Topography of Terror museum, another one of those free things that I had been putting off doing for the last 11 months for no good reason. By the end of the night I had walked well over 12 kilometers (about 7.5 miles) and seen a whole area of the city I had never properly explored before. I definitely deemed it a successful night off.
Then came Monday and back to work. I had to go to the Kita even though it was not one of my work days there because we had group pictures that day and my Hopis asked me to be in their picture, something that made me feel incredibly honored. I should be getting a copy of the picture, which will be really nice so I can remember them all. I do love those kids. Anywho, I spent the rest of the afternoon after that just hanging out in my empty, old apartment trying to go work done because we had no internet in our new house yet. Then I went to the new house for a few hours to watch the kids, and then back to the old house to clean the apartment. Another very exhausting day.
Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty normal days. I worked at the Kita during the day and watched my host kids in the evening. The Kita was a little sad, since it was one of the teachers from the Hopi group's last day. She is headed back to Australia at the end of December. But that's life here in Berlin. Everyone is constantly coming and going. It's a dynamic of the city that I both love and hate.
And then Thursday I went to Munich! But that's a story for another post.
Right now things are moving both too fast and too slow. I'm desperately ready to go home, but I'm also exhausted half the time from trying to finish all the things I need or want to do before I leave. And on top of all that there's the adjustment of actually living in the house with my host family now, as opposed to having my private apartment before. I can't complain though. This is what I want and what is best for me. And the excitement about the step in life that I'll be taking soon overshadows everything else.
I have a feeling that life's about to get a little bit crazy. But I'm more than ready for it.
Today's song. I heard it in a movie trailer and immediately fell in love. I've basically been listening to it nonstop since then. It's amazing how the right songs always manage to find me.
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