Culture Shock

It's officially been 3 months now and I'm feeling the lows of culture shock. I knew this would happen eventually. Plus as I counted, I knew that it would be while Ben would be crazy busy studying for State Exams. I'm not unhappy, that's for certain. It's just that the novelty of being in Germany has worn off. I'm a little more concerned about making deep friendships and being able to communicate with locals independently. I've been relying heavily on Ben for helping me book necessary appointments for my residence permit and other, what I would call ordinary, things. It bothered me at the beginning that I had to be so dependent, but now it's really starting to bother me. I guess it never occurred to me how independent I like to be until I couldn't be as independent anymore.

Culture shock isn't really new to me but I suppose every time is slightly different and the low points hit at different times too. I've been feeling a little less motivated to socialize, haven't been sleeping as soundly and definitely not as patient. (Although that may have to do with the not sleeping as well). To be honest, I tried googling to learn more about culture shock. I remember learning about it a bit at Concordia before I went to China, but I thought that maybe I'd find some other ways to deal with it. Well...surprisingly I didn't come across much. As my mother says, there's not a fix for everything.

I know it's important to keep a schedule, exercise, and eat well, etc. I gave myself more time to focus on relaxing activities such as listening to music and yoga. I was really craving listening to The Sound of Music soundtrack for some reason, so that was on repeat for a while. I haven't gone through a Sound of Music music binge for a really long time, so listening to some of my favorites--I Have Confidence and My Favorite Things--got me pretty excited. (and singing along) Also made me think that I maybe I should make a list of my favorite things about Germany.

My Favorite German Things

1. Ben
2. The pretzels
3. The scenery
4. Learning a new language
5. The old fashioned buildings-- being able to describe everything as "quaint"
6. Being able to travel by train and public transport
7. Rübensaft (beet syrup) --brings me to my next favorite...
8. Having PB and Rübensaft on bread/toast/rolls
9. Meeting people from around the world
10. Being able to travel to other cities and countries relatively cheaply and conveniently
    

    

    Those two wires above the toaster--used for toasting
    rolls. How genius was that? ;-)
11. Being able to actually use an umbrella because it's not too windy (Fargo/Moorhead) and also because we have to walk a little bit 
12. Chocolate
13. Toasters with the cool rack on top 
14. Carrying a backpack around everywhere even when you're not in school is completely acceptable.
15. Having a SIM card without a phone contract
16. Getting to laugh about our President with foreigners
17. German windows

    

    Turn the handle to the side and it
    opens sideways. Turn the handle
    up and it tilts with just the top
    open.

18. Cheap beer and wine
19. Tennis shoes are the preferred type of shoe
20. Cake forks and mini spoons

Yes, some of these are silly and I'm sure I could come up with more, but just writing this helped to put things in perspective. It's still an amazing adventure, even with its ups and downs. I'm looking forward to the next time I get to brainstorm all of my favorite things. :-)