Well, it is my last day in Germany. After nearly 4 months away, I'm finally returning home. Oh, how I can't wait to see my dog, Cindy! While it hasn't been a time I will remember for its equilibrium between work and social life, it was an experience that has matured my character.
Working at the Erbacher Hof was a challenge but very rewarding. I am beginning to realize a lot of the things that I have learnt actively and passively during these months. How to think practically as opposed to theoretically, having a good work ethic, how to behave with people around work (and with people in general). Not to mention, my improvement in German and maybe a new found connection with my German roots.
Despite my excitement to return, I do sense the melancholy of departing. It will be odd not to wake up to find my grandparents downstairs, or having Schnitzel for the 4th time in a week. It will seem strange not to have family members in close proximity which seemed a fact of life when I was still living in Stockholm. In addition, I won't be seeing my colleagues from work who I have spent more time with than anyone in these past few months here.
The next time I visit Mainz is hard to predict. It should have been in January when my grandmother celebrates her 80th birthday at the Erbacher Hof. Unfortunately, my program in Malaga, Spain begins on the same day as her birthday, the 13th of January. Perhaps in September between the time I come back from Ethiopia and when I begin university. Perhaps during the fall, or maybe only in 2015. These are the consequences of living the traveler's life. This is not to say that I am tired of it, why, it only encourages more travel!
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