Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Summer Nights ♥


“All in all, it was a never-to-be-forgotten summer —
one of those summers which come seldom into any life,
but leave a rich heritage of beautiful memories in their going —
one of those summers which, in a fortunate combination of delightful weather,
delightful friends and delightful doing, come as near to perfection as anything can come in this world.”
L.M Montogmery, Anne of Green Gables

 Croatia

When I was a little girl I loved Anne of Green Gables.  Her adventures held just the right amount of excitement and romanticism to ignite the fantasies of someone who, even when I was very small, was always dreaming of far away places and "lakes of shining waters". I think so many children fall in love with Anne, and with Avonlea, because she seems to exist in a sort of fairy world of her own creation, a magical place that is accessible to anyone so long as they are able to see the beauty in the world around them.
And that is what makes Anne so special:
her ability to imagine the extraordinary into being, and to live life with a fiery,
red passion that never seems to wane.

Croatian Parrots are the best sort of parrots.

Unfortunately life can't always be as beautiful, or as fantastical of any of our wildest imaginings,
but every once in awhile moments come along that, while they may not make us perfectly happy,
do leave us with an incredible sense of fulfillment and joy. Moments that we lock away deep within our hearts, ready to be recalled at a moments notice whenever we need to be reminded of how wonderfully remarkable this world we live in truly is.


And this, to get to the point of this blog entry, is how I feel about my summer and
my time here in Munich. It hasn't always been perfect, or easy. There have been
moments where I've felt overwhelmingly homesick, frustrated, sad and frightened.
Moments where, even when I've been surrounded by hundreds of strangers,
or by the people that I love, I've still managed to feel incredibly alone.
But in retrospect these moments have been far and few in between:
just enough to remind me that the most important thing I can do is simply to love myself,
wherever or whomever I may be, because sometimes, on days that seem unbearably difficult,
my own is going to be the only voice that matters. And despite all of these imperfections, I've been gifted with the memory of a magical and inspiring year, one that will always stay with me.

Beer festivals all year 'round!

It's difficult to put into words, with only forty-five days left before I am sitting on a
plane bound for California, just what my year (and a bit more) in Germany has given me.
A better awareness and understanding of the world, the opportunity to see great and wonderful places, friendships built around a common and unique experience that have been so incredibly important,
and an all-consuming sort of love that makes anything seem possible. How exactly am I supposed to put a value on all of that? Or more importantly, move forward with my life,
knowing how much of the world there is to see and explore?

The best sugar cookies you'll ever try, brought to you by Karl and Franz.

It's a question I've been struggling with for quite some time. I don't think the answer will be an easy one:
how to fit in this passion for a different sort of experience into my life back home,
but I also am confident that I will somehow find a way to join these two pieces of myself together.
The girl I was before I came to Germany and the one who will now be returning are just going to have to find a way to co-habit, even if it now feels like there is a little less room to move around.
The most important thing is that, like Anne of Green Gables,
I never completely lose my passion for discovery and adventure.

 Munich in the summertime = happiness.

I can't say that I've been as faithful to this blog as I always meant to be, but I can say that it has done a tolerably good job of representing the most important aspects of my time here in Europe.
And while I can't go into extreme detail about my summer here in Germany,
for lack of an attention span on my part and on the part of anyone reading this,
I can say that it was extraordinary, in every sense of the word.
The best summer of my life,
and one I will never forget. 


Things to remember, in no particular order of occurrence or importance :)
1. The sparkling, brilliant blue waters of Croatia, and the terrace of the apartment
Tia and I stayed in overlooking the sea. Days spent lounging on the docks and
nights spent drinking wine and exploring the city.
2. Wine and beer festivals in Bavarian towns with Dirndls and Lederhosen.
3. My week (and a bit more) spent with my host family in Austria. Riding in tractors
with the boys and catching frogs, eating delicious Austrian food and looking out every
second from the top of a mountain top down onto rolling green hills dotted with houses and church towers, and across those hills, the imposing Alps rising up towards the heavens.
4. HikIng to an old monastery with my favorite group of women, getting positively tipsy, and then running all the way back down the mountain. And impromptu dips into icy cold rivers!
5. Weekly visits to the site of the famous Oktoberfest with Tia, watching as week after week
massive tents were raised towards the skies and decorated with garlands of greenery and ribbons.
Drinking beer underneath those mammoth structures and the stars, entirely alone in a place
 that will see millions of people walk by in the space of two weeks. 
6. Taking a hike up into the German Alps, high above the clouds. Meeting cows along the way
with massive bells attached to their necks and thinking how perfect life can feel sometimes. 
7. Days spent lounging by the Isar in the Englisher Garten. The joy of feeling the sun on my face
and the lazy conversations of the people beside me.
8. Watching the sun set from atop a bridge over the rail tracks leading into the city.
9. Feeling comfortable walking around all hours of the night in nothing but a light shirt and jeans.
Strolling by street musicians at midnight who play beneath the stars in the city center.
10. Balla Benni's Eis...and just ice cream in general. Some things never change.

So they can always find their way home :)

And as my world moves forward so too does the lives of my host family. Their new Au pair
arrived over the weekend. Her name is Lauren and she is very nice and is already building a good relationship with the boys. It will be incredibly hard to leave them, but not having to worry about whose hands they are in after mine makes it much easier.


Things to look forward to:
1. Oktoberfest take two!! T-minus three days. 
2. Lucern, Switzerland.
3. Italy with Tia!
4. Siobhan coming back to Munich for an entire month!! 
5. And lastly...in a little over a month I'll be holding the people in my arms who
mean the absolute world to me! I know a year can feel like an incredibly long time,
but it's almost over! I'm coming home meine familie! <3

A pretty impressive list for only forty-five days :)

XO
Sarah

 P.S. This song explains my life.