Five months ago today I boarded a plane with 49 other AFS CBYX'ers. I had a big suitcase, a big backpack, and a big laptop case. There were strikes in Frankfurt Int. Airport that week and so when we landed the next morning after our 8 hour flight we didn't go directly into the terminal. I walked off of the plane directly onto the tarmac and finally I got the sense that I was really about to leave everything I knew behind for 10 months. 

The biggest change I have experienced here so far is how I look at time. It has been flying by so incredibly quickly, five months have been here and gone in the blink of an eye. It shocks me to think that by the time I arrive back in America, I only have a few more months left at home for good. I have the feeling that my year spent abroad will have the result of me starting my "adult" life earlier than I may have previously expected to, which is okay. 

Some things have not been easy. How can I explain standing still in the freezing cold after school for an hour just because theres a breeze? And the lump in your throat that you get because even though theres that breeze, it isn't the same as the one that rolls off of the ocean you're surrounded by at home. It is also a little comical having to explain the reason you are sulking around is because you cannot remember what the faucet in your bathroom's sink looks like. And that time that you realize you just spent two hours listening to a combination of Stan Rogers, Dramtreeo, and the Indigo Girls.. a mix that would normally make you cringe and run from your living room in the USA. After the crunch of holidays, it is the little things that make you miss home.

But all those little things that can nag at you will never compare to the good feelings. The ones you get when you try a new food for the first time. Learning new customs and traditions. Studying Buddhism! The feeling of sheer success when you can understand every single word that the teacher said during his five minute examination of nuclear energy. How gleeful you feel when your classmates first have a conversation with you. The weird feeling that you get when something that never made sense in English suddenly is crystal clear auf Deutsch. When you learn that sometimes everything wont go your way, but it is better to make the best of whatever situation you are placed in. When you discover what is holding you back, and then you beat that and realize that you can do absolutely anything you set your mind to. When you decide to throw away the planner and live in the moment. How absolutely fantastic it is to travel and expand your knowledge of this gigantic, messed up, beautiful world. 

It makes me both happy and sad to realize that I am now on the downhill side of my time here in Germany. Five months may seem like a long period of time, but it is only passing quicker than before. I am anticipatory of what is to come, and looking forward to making new friends and going new places. Although the air was cold today, the sun shone strongly and I could swear I felt the tiniest bit of warm air on the tail end of a light breeze. Spring is just around the corner, and with it, a whole new set of experiences waiting for me to come and lap them up.