Hi R,
It's been a cold windy weather, yes, it's winter time.
I spent my two weeks off in Bavaria, playing with the snow. Apparently we have more snow this year than we had last year, well at least it's enough to build my first snowman. I had my first time skiing in the Alps which was remarkable, everything was just worth seeing although I had to survive the -17 degrees while trying to just slide forward with my ski boots on and without the guidance from experienced skier. To sum up, here my advice for you: if you plan to do so, make sure that you do it with the people you are comfortable with; your best friend or maybe, your significant other. They will look after you, no matter what.
And the new year started off in Vienna.
I've been away from home for almost 1,5 year and last year was the year of surviving for me. Surviving from anything that could happen to me, as a student living abroad. I learned to let go when some sad news brought me down, I learned that "normal" was just the word to describe what is socially or culturally accepted, there are always many ways of doing things. I redefined many things, I changed.
Last year was also the year of wandering. I traveled a lot, crossed off the bucket list, one by one. I spent 10 days in Scandinavia, the place that I had been dreaming of. I made it to Fjord and I cried. I spent the summer by going to lower Bavaria, Prague, Saxony, and Netherlands. I also managed to arrange a little reunion with my old classmates in Stuttgart and I did a little Eastern Europe trip to close off the year. I did many trip because that's how I find my happiness, that's what keeps me sane.
I marked the year by getting the job that forced me to leave Munich. It was the time when I realized that I just had a new place to call home, that is Munich. This turned out to be one of the hardest moments during my time here, to start my new life again in the new city. I got more demanding and greater responsibilities. I made decision to stay in and focus on the renewables field which has been my interest since I started off my career as environmental consultant 2,5 year ago.
I met many people, made new friends, fell in love. I started to create emotional attachment with this country while of course, missing my home country.
So many good news came to my ears, I was of course, happy. It's just that I'm not expressive enough to really let how I feel out, that's why I have this blog, I'm more into writing.
Jani, what I've learned from my skiing lesson is making turns. I don't want to just rely on the slopes to keep myself moving, no fun with that. Making turns lets you explore the new adventure, well, if you are adventurous enough. It absolutely needs efforts, to put a bit of your weight on one side but not give too many pressure on it. It is just a feeling for some people, in which direction they want to go, in what speed. Keep in mind that the bigger the turns, the bigger the efforts.
You will fail, but there you will learn that the most important thing of skiing is just the same with the life: stance and balance. You will start with low speed and at some point, when you have that consistent feeling, you can increase the speed.
Make turns, Rinjani.
As long as you feel you can handle it.
Love,
F.
