The story of a year

Nostalgia, and the very misguided thought that if I avoid posting re-cap like blog entries this month this year will not actually ever end, have prevented me from posting and entry this June.

But the world spins madly on, and whether I like it or not I'm close enough to coming home that I can check the 10 day forecast. It's time to recap.


But where do I even begin? There has been as much learning (if not infinitely more) and growing in these past 10 months as I experienced in my entire 4 years of college. When I look back at the jungles of red tape I navigated through to get to this my final and emotional week of Fulbright I can hardly believe I survived--and not just survive but flourish.

The journey that took me from being homeless to having an apartment and roommates with whom I could travel on a casual weekend vacation is one filled with stories, lessons, mishaps, and lots of pictures. And if you're interested I'd like to recap this journey with the pictures I took.



The Journey Begins- September 1, 2010

Upon arrival I was surprised that the vest I had worn to be merely a pillow on the plane was actually NEEDED as a piece of warm clothing in the cold north. If only knew at that point how much colder it was to get...

I started the year without an apartment, but thankful for my Advisor who took me in as his 5th kid and pseudo nanny. 

Sleeping on the floor and living out of boxes for the first month.

Despite the stress of apt searching, I am so thankful for this first month as it provided me a family with whom I have been able to share so much this year. Thank you Lemke's for adopting me as your extra daughter. 

The other (real) Lemke daughters. 

But I did eventually find an apartment. Thank God. 

It had no furniture, no heat, and no real window, but hey--I'll take what I can get. 

There is something incredibly powerful about seeing a work in process. 

The final product--built with my own 2 hands. If that doesn't give you a feeling of accomplishment, I don't know what will. 

Once the apartment was settled it was time to find friends. What a strange concept... I'm still baffled as to how everything turned out. I am so thankful for my American friends, German friends, International friends, and colleagues. I feel so lucky.

Foundations of the Fulbright Family at Orientation September 6. 

The whole "fam" in Greece April 28

German friends/roommates grilling out on the beach

Tuesday night International dinner crew--Bastian from Norway, Benedikte from Denmark, Lisa from Lübeck, and me from Amurica (my roomate Wiebke is standing in for me).  How we all met up is a mystery--God has crazy and unpredictable plans and I'm just thankful they always seem to work out. 

These friendships led to so many unbelievable experiences. This part of the post could go on forever, but I'll do my best to give an overview of some of the cool things I've done and seen this year.

Family at Oktoberfest--our first of many trips together

First of 7 trips to Cologne--my german home away from home!

Apple picking with the girls in the fall on the coast

Thanksgiving--one of my favorite memories of all time

Christmas cookies at the apartment

Christmas Market with high school friends and fellow fulbrighters in Vienna

The only way to survive January--Karaoke with Wiebke

Skiing is the other survival alternative. Ski Jumping world cup in Willingen--January 2011. 

Ski Apres--dancing in our boots only to ski down the mountain in the pitch black of the early morning in February

Dancing at the Fulbright Ball in Heidelberg February

More dancing (there was a lot of dancing this year) at Karneval in Cologne. March 2011

More academic endeavors at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin for the Fulbright Conference. March 2011

Going out in Hamburg's famous Red Light District in March

Hanging out at the Forum in Rome, Italy

Enjoying an Easter celebration in Mykeonos with Marie

Parthenon--Athens April 2011

Enjoying a Flensburger on the Harbor with friends in May--it's finally warm enough to sit outside!

Golfing in Denmark

Enjoying the finally blooming flowers in Hamburg in May

From the Rathaus in Hannover. May 2011

Sailing with Wiebke June 2011

Biking in Sylt on vacation with the roommates June 2011

And that's only a small small taste of it. The most memorable experiences are the incapturable things--my first handball game, first full lesson as a teacher, first University class (and registering for that in general).

The real parts of my daily life were the most important--the breakfast talks with my roommates, the baking sessions with good friends and the adventures of learning how to cook in a foreign language--how do you quantify that? How do you document that? I wish I could but I can't.

As a consolation I can share with you the stirring beauty of life in the north--God's reward for surviving the darkest winter I've ever experienced.  Maybe that you can compare that power to the power of everyday life.


The absolute beauty of living in the North. 

The spectacular wonder of the Scandinavian Sky. Is this the sunrise or the sunset? I don't know! Horizon at 12:40am in Sylt. 

The Red Cliffs of Sylt

Evening Harbor in Flensburg

Expansive mudflats of the West Coast

Windmills

And Canola fields of Schleswig-Holstein

Medieval Charm

Northern Coastal Thatched Roofs

Sunsets--so many. So beautiful. Tonight (summer solstice) the sun sets at 10:04pm. Which means it's still light enough to ride my bike without a light at 11:15. 

Try as I might to capture the beauty of this year--the growth, the experience, the joys and the pains--I know there are no amount of words or pictures that could do this justice. It will just be my personal secret I guess and hopefully I'll be able to let it shine through enough for you to see the beauty of this experience too when I get back. 8 days. See you soon.