Onward

Well, it's hard to believe it but 2007 is on it's way out. After all of the planning, researching, moving, cursing, good-byes, hellos, laughs, and tears, we have survived our first 6 months in Berlin.

Our friends who moved overseas before us warned that it would take 6 months to begin to acclimate to a new culture. Perhaps, it speaks to the strength of our induction training courses that we have yet to be shocked by living in a foreign culture. That's not to say that it has been easy but it hasn't been hard either. So, I'm curious about what's around the next corner. What does 2008 have in store for us? What will our first full year in a foreign country be like? I don't have a crystal ball but I do have alot of hope.

I have hope that we will continue to discover things within ourselves that we never thought we had. I have hope that the summer will be a real summer packed with hot weather, sunny days, and long, lingering nights. (No mosquitos though, the national bird of Germany). I have hope that the German language will not, will not, will not get the best of us. That we'll look back and think--Oh, that silly language? I never doubted we'd catch on. I have hope we will eat strange food and exotic drink and discover that we like it, we really like it. I have hope that our small circle of friends will grow into a huge foster family and that our discomfort zones will shrink. I have hope that our little family will continue to grow closer in 2008 to the point that we will one day look back on this experience with tears.....of joy and nostalgia of what was.