Rathausplatz

inally feeling like we are making some progress where we live! This week we not only signed up for our German classes (twice a week starting in two weeks; sadly only qualified for beginners level) but I finally found a way to meet more people: meetup groups online. I'm not sure what I was waiting for on either front, but I feel like a great weight has finally lifted. Yes, we will one day be able to effectively communicate fluently in German. And yes, we will have friends other than all the ones we left behind in California. 

These two advances kind of came together this Friday after our placement test and subsequent enrollment at the Inlingua offices. As we walked home, we came upon a wonderful festival filling the entire main street just a few blocks down from our apartment. Stumbling across something wonderful going on is something we've come to discover is not all that unusual and one of the things we absolutely love about living here. After seeing all the wonderful food and drink options, we swore to return the following day to enjoy all this fest had to offer. 

In a very serendipitous turn of events, I went home to find my first Wiesbaden meetup event invite: the following evening at the Wilhelmstrassen Fest. It ended up that we saw very little of the fest, but the people we met were nothing short of amazing: people who were raised in multiple countries; people here for more than a decade or only a few months; people from as far away as Australia and people who were back in their homeland of Germany after many years away. We were involved in engaging conversations with the group until the fest was literally shutting down at 1am. We even met two different people who had worked for companies based out of the town we left in the Bay Area. Sometimes it really does feel like it's a small world after all. 

One of my oldest and dearest friends recently had to reminded me how strong of a person I am. I often feel uncourageous in our new life - be it staying in rather than being brave and exploring on my own, or not asking the questions I'd like know the answer to because the words in German fail me - and I'm the first to kick myself for saying or doing something wrong. I know we've got a long way to go before we're really, truly settled in the way we'd like, but I feel like this week was a step in the direction of a very happy life here in Germany.

*Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische