Birthday Post!

Though things have returned to their usual glum, I felt the need to “write out loud” that I had a pretty darn good birthday week (already two weeks ago!). My actual birthday was pretty relaxed, so I didn’t feel the pressure I often do to have a party or do anything crazy. Instead, I just got a couple one-on-one meals with people and went to a weekly social event for German learners I’ve been attending called a Stammtisch, which wasn’t centered around me. Basically, just what I wanted. Then, on Friday, since the pressure was off after my birthday, I hosted a potluck in my apartment for other Fulbright students. Originally, I planned on six people plus, perhaps, a couple others. To my surprise, a total of fifteen people showed up. It was a wonderful surprise. Since no one had actually attempted such a Fulbright meet-up so far this year, I was able to meet a number of new people and they one another. At both the Stammtisch and my potluck there were impromptu Happy Birthday songs, probably the largest group to sing my happy birthday since my Little Mermaid Themed fifth birthday party.

See, I can "cook'!

To think that all the friends I have here now I’ve made in just a few months is really encouraging, and I’m rather proud of myself for not entering the library in September and shutting the door behind me until June. At least socially, living in Berlin has really come into its own now.

Most of the potluck group, so many people that they gave up on the table and just sat on the floor!

A yearly habit I’ve developed, since reaching an age when I’m not longer excited to get older, has been to reflect on how far I’ve come since my last birthday. So far, it hasn’t let me down as a source of comfort that my time is spent well. So, since my birthday last year, I’ve prepared and taught four undergraduate classes as an adjunct professor, have substantially improved my German, and received a prestigious Fulbright grant to come here to one of the top universities in Germany on an all-expenses-paid research trip to study just what I want. I can live with that. :)