Trysts with a Real Person: Fin.

It has so transpired that my time in Germany has finally run out. I am sitting at the gate, waiting to board my flight back, somewhat overwhelmed by the sudden increase in conversations that are completely understandable. I guess it's good preparation for the sensory overload I will encounter tomorrow morning, happily so. It felt pretty weird leaving Bremen this morning. One might think it had started to become a sort of "home" - associated with that feeling of comfort that you feel when you come back from a trip. Then again, it is nice to have multiple homes to come back to, spread out around the world (without even being a billionaire).

I would like to think that my first experience of leading a real life in Europe has been quite a success, the upcoming winter for which I will escape back to California notwithstanding. This has been a fast set of eleven weeks of having a work life and home life - a real life, essentially. For now, I must leave this short pretense and return to being a PhD student.

Part of what made this experience so special were my new found friends in Bremen. This marks the end of email conversations from work, walks after lunch, tea in the afternoon (outside when the weather permitted) and the periodic hangouts in the evening. Contrary what it sounds like, I actually managed to get a fair bit of work done in the midst of all that (at least enough to keep my managers happy). True work-life balance, some might say. It hasn't been easy with all the goodbyes this last week. It's always a little strange when you say bye and don't know when you will see someone next, if at all. I do hope that I will see these friendly faces soon! So long Bremen, and so long A, E, R, M and all the other wonderful people who made these trysts so joyful! 

Until the next time I return for a piece of this life...