Summer in Germany

It's warmed up considerably here in Germany, and we're enjoying weather that is poking into the 80s. It's beautiful. A little humid for my tastes, but it feels good. The trees are in bloom, the sky is blue and dotted with white, puffy clouds, and the city is a bustle of activity.

Summer in Germany reminds me of why I love it here so much. Today, as I walked through the Altstadt (old town quarter) toward the park, everything I saw made me want to smile. People licking gelati ice cream cones. An outdoor market, rich with lush fruits and vegetables. The owner was discussing the World Cup (what else?) with one his customers, laughing. "Did you see the game yesterday? Amazing! Oh, that makes 3 euros, please! Oh, and if you're interested in some fresh strawberries, we just got these in this morning!" As the warm sun beats down on me, the churchbells all over town begin to ring. It has just struck two, and the deep, resonating dong, dong of the huge bells in the towers echoes all over the city.

I sit down in the cool, green grass in the park, shaded by a huge oak tree. The park is packed with other relaxers and studiers such as myself, whether enjoying the weather, enjoying someone's company, or enjoying a good book. Off to my right another musician is playing a cheerful, upbeat tune on his accordian and setting the mood for this scene perfectly. I can see the steeple of the Stiftskirche, Tübingen's main church, over the red rooftops of the Altstadt.

Days and moments like that remind me of how lucky I am to be here, and of how much I enjoy this country, its culture, its people, and its language. Yes, I have sacrificed a lot to be here; time with friends, time at my university, time with my family. But yet here I sit in this green grass, with a cloudless sky, a warm breeze, and a vibrant, medieval Europe all around me. I am, quite possibly, the luckiest guy alive. Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's the fact that I dropped that stressful class - but today I am so burden-free, so relaxed despite my work. It's wonderful.

It's also on days like these that I am truly content here, when I am reminded of how much I want to live here for a longer time period. It has been difficult at times to be away from home, away from ASU, for this long, but now that my stay is quickly beginning to draw to a close the reason that I came here is being reinforced ever stronger in my mind. I came here, more than anything else, to discover the German life. To see what the effect on me would be if I tried to live in Germany for a year. To see if I could indeed STAND living in Germany for a year. This year has been, above all, a trial run for my future.

And I've discovered that my love of this place has only grown, and my resolve to spend even more time here in the future has also grown. The closer the end of my stay approaches, the more that my excitement to come home grows - and the more my regret at having to leave this place grows as well. I can definitely imagine myself moving back to Germany after graduation, and if I get my way, I will do just that.

My family and friends are surprised and even indignant that I would think of moving back here so quickly. "How long will you stay there?" they ask me. The truth is, I don't know. I'll stay as long as I want to. That could be two years, it could be twenty. I can imagine both scenarios. I just don't know. I do know that I am determined to make sure that Germany truly becomes my second home in every way.

I am already dying to get back to Europe after spending a year at ASU. That's the plan, anyway. Spend one last year at ASU, watch my friends graduate, and then fly back to Germany for a good 6 months or so. Do an interrnship. Then finish the last semester up at ASU. I have tasted studying in Germany - now I want to taste working in Germany. I don't feel like I've really gotten the language immersion experience that I wanted out of this originally, and in hindsight, it was naive of me to expect that from a university study abroad experience. That is part of the drive for me to return and do an internship.

It's funny - every time I come to Germany I discover a different part of it, and every time I come I only fulfill a part of what I wanted to accomplish. So Germany keeps calling me back, drawing me back into its wonderful European lifestyle, culture and language. I love it, and I hope it never stops.