While standing in the snow today, overlooking the small town of Pottenstein, unable to feel my toes snuggled in my boots under two (count em, two!) pairs of socks, I started to reflect on the vast difference of Hawaii and German living.
Now, we moved, (quite willingly), to Germany nearly 3 months ago. We left blue skies, warmth and sunshine for gray clouds, coldness and a flaming object in the sky that only reveals itself on special occasions. (I think it’s the same sun, but I can’t be certain).
We welcomed this change, this opportunity to travel Europe, learn Deutsch and lose ourselves in the culture that is German. And we are learning, quickly, that Hawaii is far behind us.
We went from ocean to snow, sake to beer, poke to pork, aloha shirts to drendels, Hawaii-time (anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours past the mentioned time) to German-time (on time. not a minute before, not a minute after … on time.)
The relaxed, casual setting of Hawaii is replaced with the precise, practical notion of Germany. Things make sense here and it’s refreshing. Things ceased to make sense in Hawaii, and it was refreshing.
In the 3 to 4 years Jeremy and I lived in Hawaii, respectively, our bodies, minds and souls acclimated to the weather, the lifestyle and the aloha spirit. In the 3 months of living in Germany our minds and souls have acclimated to the lifestyle, the “prost” of friendship and the adventures to come. Our bodies have yet to catch up…
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