October...

I have officially reached the one month mark. One month away from home. One month in Germany. One month of awkward acquaintances and foreignness. One month without doing any actual work. One month of exploring. One month of tasting and testing.
One month away from my friends and family.
With each month, though, I have promised myself to do a little better, to be a little bolder, to try a little harder to get to where I want to be. The famous expression repeated one-hundred fold daily is once again relevant: Rome was not built in a day. I'm not trying to build and empire here, don't get me wrong, but I'm trying to build a life...or something like that.
A year is a long time but is simultaneously only an instant. It's my instant, though. I get to be selfish---I'm here for me. I chose to come, and if you're all lucky, I'll choose to come home when I'm ready. I have three day weekends every week (at least) and I'm planning some trips for the next couple of months. I have Paris, Madrid and London on the table. I'm gonna spend my money--probably all of it--and I'm gonna enjoy it. Thanks to my fantastic apartment deal, and a new roommate, my rent will be only 208/month including utilities and internet. Not bad, hey? That means extra travel/whatever money. Hello boots and trips.
How is the new roommate situation? Fantastic. She's 20 and for all practical purposes, German. She was born in Yugoslavia, but has been here since she was two. We both share the fact that where we call "home"--the place where our families are--is not here. She is attending school in the next town, and knows only a few people in the area. Tonight we're going to a wine festival together. Life is good.
Fall is here, too. The leaves are changing, and I'm working on developing gills to make it through all the rain we are getting. The sun always seems to pop out for a little, though, and lights everything up.
I'll post again soon.
There ought to be more pictures, then, with all the festivals coming up.

xoxo
Sara