The Only Constant is Change

Everythin's a changin. The weather, the season, my friends, the kids' school and kindergarten my daily routine, my perspective, and the very nature of my experience here. It's all quickly becoming something different, and needlesstosay so am I...of course, those who know me well can vouch that I always do change.

The truth is I am person who is very sensitive to the world around me. I am adaptable, flexible, impressionable. Few things go unnoticed or unfelt. Either my thoughts, my mood or my emotions, or any combination thereof, perceive what is happening. However the initial perception is not the challenge, it's knowing what to do with it, how to process, accept and adapt to it. The reality is that everything in life is transient...people, places, time, possessions, opinions, "realities", current events, activities, periods in one's life and experiences. It all has a beginning and an end. They come and they go. Nothing is forever.

This year in Deutschland has reinforced this belief of mine time and time again. In just 7 months, a life-time's worth of change and experiences has transpired. I have made and lost - either due to them leaving or our relationship fizzling out - many a friend. My relationship with the children and the family, like my perspective on this experience, has changed continuously. My German comprehension and speaking capabilities are growing everyday. I got my Fulbright. I got my bike. I traveled quite a bit. I've met many a new person, yet I have at the same time been challenged to develop my being-on-my-own skills more than I've ever had to before. Things have been up and they have been down.

In the beginning, as it was winter, a cold and brutal one at that, my friends and I spent alot of time at each other's apartments or in bars, drinking beers, cooking, watching films, listening to music, dancing or just chillin. Then as winter loosened its death-like grip on Bavaria's biggest dorf, the outdoors became a big part of my life here. I, with or without friends, spent as much time as possible at the plethora of outdoor sites that the city has to offer - the lakes ("sees" auf deutsch), the Englischer Garten, the banks of the Isar (the river that runs through Munich), the grounds of its many palaces, primarily Nymphenburg and Blutenburg, the city's many grassy knolls a la Gaertner Platz, Koenigsplatz and the lawns Pinakotheken. I took to riding my bike as often as possible, made my first hiking excursion to the Alps, played frisby, soccer and "indiaca" with friends in the park, I spent afternoons lazing about in the sun, and grilled by the river with friends, among other things. The emergence of sunshine also brought with it the beginning of something very dear to all bavarians' hearts... biergarten season. And we foreigners welcomed it with open arms...and bellies :-) Basically life was pretty good!!

But then things, as they do, began to change. First Glen left...then Shane left two weeks later... then I left...for a three-week vacation at the North Sea. Shortly thereafter, my friend Erin left... for Mallorca, and upon her recent return moved with her au pair family outside of Munich. And soon, very soon, one of my best friends Jo will be leaving to go back home to England for the year. But as I have been in and out of Munich for the last month and a half these changes hadn't really sunk in yet.

Upon coming back from Venice, though, the difference was glaring and the changes seemed drastic. It wasn't just the group of people immediately surrounding me that had changed, it was the whole city. Not only was there a persistent chill in the air, signaling the advent of Fall, but the atmosphere in the city was notably different. There were fewer people out and about, fewer and fewer "radls" (bikes) on the road, the trees had a yellowish, brown tinge to them, and there was a solemn, somewhat melancolic air to the city. I could feel the life being drained from it...the energy was trickling out of the streets. The summer had indeed gone. And my life here had once again changed.

For better or for worse? Who knows...who can even say? I don't really think it's a matter of better or worse...it's just different. Things have yet to settle back down to normal here at Ernst-von-Romberg-Strasse 1. We are all still unwinding from vacation, still getting used to Irene's new school schedule and preparing for Martin's new kindergarten, and Oma (grandma) Lizzy is still here visiting. But we're almost there, almost back to the usual routine. As we move forward, each day more and more concrete information is coming in about my Fulbright grant and Master's program for next year. I already have quite a bit on my to-do list. It's all very exciting, but at the same time it bothers me how much it is distracting me from the present reality, from fully experiencing my life here in Munich. I don't want my mind to be in Italy until my physical body is too. But I'll do what I have to do, while at the same time trying my best to stay aware of the here and now. So, anyways, we'll see what the fall, and more so the next 4 months and 10 days bring. Whatever it is, I'm sure it will be up and down, in and out and full of change :-)