The Social Porcupine

Practicing splits When I first left Stuttgart , I was very nervous for many reasons. What if my next au pair family didn't work out? What if I didn't like my new class as much as I loved my old classes? Would I be able to find friends and a church so easily again? Would I even enjoy the rest of my time?  These are such silly worries, I know. But looking back, I realize I was more stressed than I let myself acknowledge. And my health was not good at all. I've never had a problem finding things to do and people to do them with. And yet the first two months in Germany really upturned my confidence for a time.  That was good, by the way. It's wonderful learning and growing, especially once the pain is gone.  I didn't even fully realize how poor my health had become until I saw this picture taken with my new German classmates. I had become very quiet and reserved, with little motivation to share with others. I told myself it was because I felt so much peace. Which wa...

I've always wanted to go to college.  And to be honest, I'm not really sure why I didn't. For a while, I was very determined. And then for a time, I thought maybe it was wrong for girls to attend college, though I only thought that for a few months.  I think, mostly, I just decided college wasn't for me, and that I could be successful without it and the burden of debt that comes along with it, and that I could learn on my own as I've always done and loved to do best, anyway.  All that being said, one of the craziest reasons I was excited about being an Au Pair is that they paid for classes.  Now, money was never a problem for me. And the course I would have here would be such a small thing, a couple days a week at the most, and only fifty euros a month paid. But, even so, I was excited. And my classes turned out to be very fun.  The first course was on Monday nights. Sometimes it was a bit of a cold, dark ride on the bike, and a few times it...