JANUARY…
January started off very slow. The days were still short and dark and rainy and earlier or later you’ll just run out of things to do inside the house. But after the first two weeks the sky started to clear up and the sun showed her warming face a little bit more every day. Spring was right around the corner! I felt more energetic and started going to the gym again (let me tell you it was a hard after nearly 5 weeks not being there) which felt great! I even beat my best running time and ran 10 minutes longer than before!
Being grateful...
This month was also a month of being thankful for me. I spent so much time with my friends here, had so many good talks with Ellie-May and loads of happy moments coming in like waves on a shore. Those are the moments you’ll remember when you are back home. All the shared laughters, the happy hugs, the little things.
With Laura leaving soon I am more aware than ever before HOW LUCKY I was finding such a good friend! I feel like everything lead me to her, if I didn’t change my host family I would have never met herin the first place! We already made plans to visit each other when we’re back home – of course with Dorkas and Johanna! Together we’re like the Cheetah Girls but better! 😉
The relationship you develop with the people you meet here is really one of a kind. You know nothing about their normal lives apart from the things they tell you but it still feels like you knew them for forever. Sometimes they really are the only people you can be yourself around (ideally your host family is as well! Mine is, but not all of my friends are!). But at some point you all have to go back to your normal lives and they will be miles away. Maybe even in another country or on another continent. It feels like loosing a best friend, even though your best friend might be waiting at home for you.
Perhaps even more important is the connection you built with your host family and/or child: The thought of having to leave my family and to give Ellie-May to a new au pair drives me crazy! She is my little sister – only she obviously isn’t…
Luckily I still have four months to go but I am already in denial! 😀
