Friday, September 12, 2014

Some Thoughts Upon the Occasion of My Birthday

I'm sitting at Starbucks right now, nibbling a croissant and watching people pass by the window in a chilly, gray Frankfurt day. I have now been in Frankfurt for a little over two months, though it feels a whole lot longer. So much has happened and changed since I got here! I can carry on a reasonable conversation in broken German now, I know Frankfurt better than I've ever known any city or town, I've eaten strange foods, met strange people, braved strange locations alone... It's weird to think about how much has happened in such a short time.

And today's my birthday. The first birthday I've celebrated in a foreign country -- the first birthday more or less on my own. I guess that makes me grown-up? Maybe.

It's been a pretty good birthday. I bought my present for myself yesterday:



:D So I now have an official return date (barring any complications or delays). July 7th. Meaning that I'll be in Germany exactly 365 days.

Anna bought me a very wonderful present -- a rolling pin! LOL -- no more using the baby bottle to roll out dough. And now I have my very own rolling pin. Like, forever. :D

I've been thinking more and more lately about what I want to do when I leave here. I mean, I know generally, but I keep fantasizing about specifics. Most days, this involves mainly having my own kitchen and grocery budget. Cooking is so relaxing to me, and I love feeding people something I've made. I dream of having a dining room where I can entertain, and a living room to fill with people and books.

The longer I'm here the more convinced I become that, as much as I love Elsa and Daniel, and as much as I adore little kids in general, I don't want to have my own. And before you get up on that platform I've heard so many times -- "That may change, you're young, you can change your mind, I was the same when I was your age" -- that's great. Thank you. But it doesn't change the fact that this is what I'm convinced of right now. It's like my saying, "I don't want burgers for lunch" and people hastening to assure me that it's ok, I can change my mind and have burgers another day, they have days when they don't want burgers too. I'm like, "That's cool -- but totally irrelevant. I don't want burgers right now. I want a taco. My wanting a taco now doesn't affect whether or not I'll want burgers another day." :D (I just had this conversation with Anna the other day.)

It's a little bit lonely, being away from all of my friends and family for my birthday. But everyone in my German class wished me "Alles Gute zum Geburtstag," which was very nice, and I've gotten quite a few Facebook "happy birthdays, I miss yous" from people back home. I love this whole world-traveling thing, but I think in the future I want to take a travel-buddy with me. Everything is more fun when you do it with another person -- except maybe eatting the last piece of chocolate!

Anna's taking me out to dinner tonight at an Italian restaurant (my birthday tradition is always Italian food) called Vapiano. I'll be sure to tell you how it was!

Anyway, from Frankfurt on my birthday, I remain yours,

~Mags

PS: This song is my theme song. :D









No comments:

Post a Comment

Greetings from the Magpie! Feel free to leave a comment -- ask a question, leave a note -- but I reserve the right to delete untoward messages.