Today I am throwing it back to happier times, because some people really believe that times back then (be it the summer or last year or a decade ago) were so much happier than they were now. This image was taken in late August at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. What a short but extremely long 4 1/2 months it’s been…Read More »
Its’ the last day of the year 2016 and you know what that means: Time for the Year in Review!
This year has been certainly one of a kind (well, aren’t they all, the years?!). It seems that the continuous line of change, which has been a very strong part of my life since 2014 perhaps, is slowly but surely progressing. Change – in every way possible – I feel that is the code word of 2016, if any. Read More »
A couple of weeks ago I re-introduced the mantras and mottos of Michael Bearden. I liked his words so much, that I went back to his Instagram page and zapped off everything that I found worthy of re-quoting. Read More »
Not being home for ten months straight can be a pretty weird feeling. You’d think after 6 years of living an expat life, I’d be used to the feeling of being away. The truth is – you never get used it. And no matter for how long you’re gone, home will always be home.
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Writing this last post in a series of four seems harder than usual. Even though I know I could go on and on every single month for the duration of a year or two, it won’t happen. I will continue to count my gratitudes every single day but I don’t think posting Read More »
What was a pre-cursor for last week continued this week: All of a sudden the clock raced forward and to what a wild extent! But there were many amazing moments to celebrate and I am so grateful to have made it through every single one of them. Read More »
It’s important to remind oneself of certain milestones. To stop and be still for a moment, cherishing everything that has been accomplished up until this moment.
Today marks the day I entered New York six years ago. On March 15th of 2010, I decided to put my previous life and expectations on hold and to enter a new dream. Read More »
My month of gratitude continues and with it some new things to be grateful for every day.
What was particularly hard this past week was not so much the feeling of gratitude but the lack of time. All of a sudden I was surrounded by dates, birthdays and get-togethers almost every day of the week once Tuesday came around. Sitting back and reflecting on how hectic the past 7 days wereRead More »
Sometimes it’s a challenge to not fall back into a rut. I’m trying so hard to not give in to the post-travel-blues and to acknowledge my day-to-day-life again. But on some days reality can become a bit depressing. I’ve therefore created cheerfulness in my life this month.Read More »
This week has been a hard one for me. I’m sure others have been feeling it, too, or at least felt out of sync. While it’s been my toughest week of the year , I am also reminded that there are so many beautiful things going on. It’s been the first week of November, and it has literally flown by. I had the chance to go see a long, Italian play at the Met Opera, so far my second time at this fine establishment. It was a true eye gem to look at and I was happy to have spent a great birthday with a person, who truly deserved this special gift of cultural epitome. Isn’t it satisfying to appreciate New York’s obvious treasures together instead of all by oneself?
It always baffles me how different time is perceived when on travels and when at home. Read More »
I’ve been back in New York for one week. A week can be a long or a short time, depending on how much occurs in that time frame. To me, it’s flown by compared to the three weeks I had before this. And it has also rather felt like a vacation than returning back to “home” or whatever you want to call a place you have lived in for the past three years.
A week is certainly long enough to go through a variety of stages: The honeymoon phase, during which everyone and everything around you seems absurdly sweet but you respect the differences and have enough distance to clearly see how unimportant it can all be in the grand scheme of things. The angry phase, during which arrogant salespeople might piss you off or the people on the streets who hatefully glare after you because you feel absolutely great and they absolutely do not. And then the acceptance phase, during which New York sorta turns into what it was before your departure: One of the biggest opportunities in the world, not without the necessary pitfalls that reveal themselves to you.
So that’s basically how long (or short) a week can be. Since I am currently not working full-time, I’ve had more time than ever to become acquainted with countless sides of the Big Apple once again. Just like in the summer of 2010, I’ve found that there are tons and tons of stuff to do that are simply for free.
Walking the Manhattan Bridge and crossing the Hudson River, for example. Or taking in the shouting vendors in Chinatown on a Friday morning. Not to forget discovering Brooklyn all over again. Greenpoint can be so peaceful on an average noon compared to the thriving masses of a Midtown weekday. Almost forgotten were the notorious side sweepers and how people have to park in second row on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in my neighborhood.
It’s the small things that make a city out (and perhaps life in general). Running down the freshly renovated boardwalk of Coney Island at the end of April – with no one really standing in your way and no one bothering you like they would two months later during yet another crazy hot summer. I might even get the chance to check out the wild Bronx Zoo on a free Wednesday, come time, future and opportunity.
The people who live here, they just fascinate me. All the hard struggles they’ve had to go through and still burden themselves with every day. The resiliency of a single person to all of the stressors of daily life – I’ve come to see this all over again in the city of cities. Why become a cab driver in a foreign country when you have a Ph.D. in your homeland? Why wait tables here when you’ve earned your Master’s degree in Switzerland and want to make it in film? Is life in New York really worth it – giving up the “good” life you had before to move to a city that won’t appreciate you or rather your skill set the way it should?
After three weeks of being away, I’ve come to realize a couple of things. I’ve realized that, in this humongously wide world, one person can have more than one home. The home where you grew up at, where your family still resides, where your friends still might be, and where food tastes the way you are used to. And then the home you’ve chosen to be, the home where life happens, where excitement is evoked and where another friend circle has been built.
What is reality? Could it be you realizing that you have better friends abroad than where you are right now? Ouch! Cold, shallow America, with its people who like to talk to you but never call you back! Or perhaps realizing that the rent is 3 times as much as anywhere else and that, after three years, you still don’t get what you pay for? Maybe.
Realizing that with the lingering hope of a better home somewhere else, each and every place visited becomes boring after a short time.
Like my Australian roommate pointed out: Life is pretty unexciting anywhere outside of the States. I’m taking it a step further: Life is unexciting anywhere outside if New York! The curse of the city is not its rudeness, or inequality, or Karma. The curse of the city is that you cannot live a satisfying life outside of it. The feeling of becoming bored constantly. It can kill you. Or annoy you. Or make you realize that you are addicted to the rush, dirt, hustle and bustle, and the wonderful miracles that happen each and every day. So for all of the sad thoughts I’ve sometimes had on life in an 8-million-citizen madhouse, I’ve also come to think about all of the great things that have happened. Being the main shooter at a UFC event on the Thursday I came back, for example. Or being able to see the skyline almost every day, if I wanted to. Not to forget the interaction with real New Yorkers and their hard-bred opinions. The opportunities in a city so big – they are simply endless.
This is reality. This is currently life.
German-American Abroad 