Within 15 minutes, I had spoken and exchanged smiles with half of the department. This subtle feat was perhaps the "X-factor" that made the summer so special. I had become a part of the community, not just at work, but also in the village. At the end of three months, I could recognize a friend in the Fußgängerzone or even Kirti, one of "those kids" always to be found at the soccer-cage.
It was a bittersweet moment to leave the Insitut for the last time. My colleagues gave me a special towel with Saarlandish dialect written on it (I will no longer trockne mich ab, sondern druggele mich ab) and an 1. FC Saarbrücken scarf (Auf geht's FC, Schwarz-Blau ale!). I will really miss those guys.
My last few days in Deutschland were spent blissfully on the Bodensee. Julius and I went on a 110 km bike tour from Friedrichshafen through Lindau (Bavaria), Bregens (Austria), and Romanshal (Switzerland), taking the ferry across the lake from Konstanz back home. I highly recommend anyone going on a bike-tour to take an in-shape buddy along - riding in the slip-stream is so refreshing! We stopped along the way for some swimming and getting lost.
It will take a while before I can decipher what this summer in Germany meant for me. I already know it has spurred on new hobbies (jogging, reading, casual drinking), introduced new career possibilities, and shown that while Germany is a country where I feel at home, I am capable of feeling home-sickness for the USA. The feeling of immense personal growth contradicts the feeling that time flew too fast.
So now I sit in Frankfurt, with a tear in my eye and a smile on my face, ready for an American reunification. Who knows what the future will bring - the way ahead is unknown, but ripe for discovery. One thing, however, is for sure:
I'll be back.
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