So Many Things to Be Grateful For

Today was more of the same in the office. I really enjoy my 2 hour lunch break! It gives me enough time to make myself some food, take a quick power nap, and head back to the office.

I had a wonderful chat with one of my co-workers before I left the office early (there was nothing for me to do, whatttt!?). It was during this conversation that I realized where some of my difficulties with the German language skills lie. 

Yes, part of it is vocabulary that has been lost during the time I have not been using my German, but the other part is something my co-worker, a native English-speaker, pointed out: the Schwabisch accent! Four of my co-workers have an accent that causes their German to be different than what I am used to, on top of the fact that I have not spoken the language in a while. I noticed that today when I was speaking with the newest full-time member of the RIO team, who speaks the "high German" I learned in school, that it was easier for me to catch on to what he was saying. This conversation with my co-worker was a good one to have - basically she told me not to give up and that things would get easier, which is nice to hear.

Since I got out of the office early and the weather was sunny, blue-skied, and warm, I decided to do something outside. A bike ride was in order - the maiden voyage of my new bike!

I decided to ride on some trails around the university. There were plenty of people enjoying the day, just as I was. People of all ages were practicing on the numerous soccer fields available, a small family rode their bikes, there was a really sweet older couple riding on their motor scooters, and so many others.

                             

 

 The beautiful view I had from the trails.

 

Everything was going great. I was taking some beautiful pictures and enjoying the day when I heard a loud pop; about halfway through my route, my tire popped on me! Despite this inconvenient incident, I remained in good spirits because the rest of my day had gone so well. I walked my bike back to the storage shed and plan to talk to my Hausmeister.

I decided to go grocery shopping again after my ride. The grocery stores, or most stores for that matter, are not open on Sundays, so I wanted to be prepared and not scrambling tomorrow! I got the ingredients to make some of the no-bake cookies that my roommate Amy and I enjoyed so many times the last time I was in Reutlingen. I ended up using this recipe for Preachers Cookies.

I generally go to AllRecipes.com for my recipes. You can change the serving size of the recipe you are making and the site will convert measurements of ingredients to the metric system. This latter part is vital in Germany, as all measuring utensils here are in metric units (units that almost every other country uses except for the US!). The cookies turned out great!

Before I ate my cookies, though, I had a light dinner. I decided to chop up some tomatoes, cucumbers, and mozzarella balls to make a salad. I bought some salad dressing at the store today to compliment my salad and also sprinkled some basil on top. Yum!

Other than that, I have been relaxing and enjoying the night with a nice glass of white Schwabisch wine, while keeping up with Facebook, Twitter, and the like. Well, kind of relaxing. A suddenly-missing bug (it was there one minute, gone the next, and has to still be in my room somewhere...) has me on the edge of the seat, while another is buzzing sporadically around my head. German windows need screens!

This down time tonight has given me time to reflect on the last few days. Despite the problems that I have encountered, I have so much to be grateful for. Lesson learned? Not everything is in my control; if something goes wrong, there is always a solution, whether I see it right away or not. By the time I come home, I will have so many great memories that will outshine any of the bad ones that I might have.