It's our six month anniversary!!!! Yes, since we moved to Lohr!!!!! A rollercoaster ride it has been, and now I am laughing cause I no longer feel dizzy.... We have settled, and how can I say that??? For one, tears no longer come to my eyes thinking of my home country and second, in the past one month my fights with hubby have reduced considerably !! lol!!!!!!!!! see, we are a happy couple again...:-) This move has been the most challenging phase of my life, bigger than going to University, marriage, having kids, making a home.....
What has this move taught me????
- That I am capable of anything !! It is no joke moving to a foreign land and above all hearing a strange language being spoken. After six months, and no proper language classes(for me), my vocabulary is good and I have found a way of communicating to people!! Deutsch is a strange language. Every noun is masculine, feminine or neutral. For now I do not care to remember if the tree is masculine, the bench feminine or the cloud neutral. I am least concerned if the verb comes before or after the subject.I put the words I know together with a little bit of english and voila.....there, I have my sentence! For example..I met this sweet old lady at the grocery store who wanted to know what we were doing during Easter holidays. I told her we would be going to Rothenburg ob der tauber. She immediately asked whether we would use the train!! I told her, Nein, Auto(No, the car). She was getting pretty excited about me speaking a few words and most of all understanding her... Next question was whether I was driving??? I dramatically told her...Mein Mann(My Man)...By now she was hugging me with excitement and I could feel the blood rush to my face at this achievement!!! :D
- A deeper appreciation of seasons especially spring and summer!!! Back home we have the sun shining, the green grass and flowers blooming the whole year through. Never, ever have I seen a tree sans leaves maybe for a dead tree. Winter can be depressing. Not that I don't like the snow, but sheets of white for prolonged periods without any colour...hmmm... My cousin Conrad was so right about me liking winter wonderland for a short time,you are so right dear...The kids and I appreciate and wonder at every new leaf and bud shooting out. I don't think we would have developed this appreciation if we were back home.
- Thankfulness to all the people in my home country who had made life easier for me. I am talking about the drivers, maids, gardeners, the milkman and all the grocery/medicine guys who deliver goods home. Now when I scrub windows or brush the floor,I remember the times back home when I would be sitting with a book in hand and teacup in another, sipping hot tea while Pallavi would do all the above chores..Yes Sheryl, I love housework, but will never say no to a helping hand so that I can have some extra free time. As I carry the groceries home, day in and day out, I remember the delivery guys who would either carry our goods to the car or better still, deliver them home too. Such is the luxury I enjoyed back home and now when I think of it, we did live life Queen size....This move has made me say THANK YOU to all.
- I have developed a liking for baking! Back home we were regular customers of Sweet Chariot( a bakery which sells awesome cakes). Birthdays, Anniversaries, unexpected guests....always saw us bringing in cakes from Sweet Chariot. Germans bake a lot at home, and I have been inspired to bake. Over these months, I have improved well and by the time I return, I can say one thing..Sweet Chariot, you are gonna have competition :D
I still do miss my family, friends, home, my job, the familiar surroundings, Indian food, An English mass....... If somebody were to ask me, do you want to return, the answer would be "Yes"...I do not know why, but yes it is...Hopefully six months down the line, I will be able to give a different answer. For now, I am in the mood for celebration, to celebrate this milestone that we have achieved as a family!!!!!
Made the families favourite cake, Black Forest. We do deserve a treat!!!
Nice one May and wish u all a very happy anniversary!
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary!!!!
ReplyDeleteYummy cake!!
I love #1 - the conversation with the lady. SO nice!! That's a great milestone. I also want some of that cake. Please.
ReplyDeleteAh, Black Forest cake! YummY!
ReplyDeleteNice one May n the cake too is Yummy!!
ReplyDeleteWOW May! Congrats on surviving, I am sure u are not going to want to leave when it is time to go!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I have learnt as much as u, from our move to Suisse. But for me, the best part has been the travelling :)
BTW Great choice of cake for the occasion... just in case u didn't know read this... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Forest_Cake
I really love black forest cake! Yours looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteLearning a new language the way you are learning is the 'sink or swim'....and it sounds like you are swimming nicely!!
It's not easy being an expat. We learn hard lessons sometimes but even if we dont know it at that moment..it makes us stronger and more well rounded. I miss "home". I miss my family,friends,food..everything..but I know I wont be going back so it has forced me to put down roots where Im at and learn to bloom once again:)
ReplyDeletecongrats to you! I know how hard it can be and how amazing it is when you start to embrace your new life more:)
Bavarian, Black Forest.
ReplyDeleteA fitting cake for your 6 month anniversary in Bavaria. :)
Good to know that things are slowly improving. Its the language and not being able to speak or understand it that is frightening and in a way paralysing because you don't feel able to interact with anyone.
Can completely understand how you felt when speaking those few words to the older lady.
Hugs (from someone else who has been there and survived) :)
Thank you all so much!!!
ReplyDelete@Sheryl:I too love the travelling, blogging, the ensemble.....if I added all of these, my posting would run into pages!!!
@Sonya: I didn't know you weren't returning. I cannot imagine not going back, it would be difficult for me to root myself!!!
May, pls share the recipe of this cake...I must try it!!! Looks yummy!
ReplyDeleteThese reflections are on every migrant/overseas traveller's lips for years May! Mohua n you have posed the Qs we yearn to change for the better.
ReplyDeleteBeing wired at a young age to learn more than one language makes it easier to learn n adapt though I must say I’m unsuccessful with changing my accent. your translation story is cute reminding me of maddalle n mohan rickshaw wala in kottara X, feeling accepted with my little attempt to speak tulu; they were not happy with kannada. The joy on their faces accepting me in return was rewarding. I hope someday my kids learn another language!
The contrasting seasonal pictures of Germany are beautiful May!! Monsoons is something we were grown to accept in India from kindy, days inspite of the muck it created because if the farmers had the friendly rain we wouldn’t starve. Here there’s lot of whinging if it rains more than two days to mutate cells in the sun. We can afford it as grains r imported, farmers committing suicide or changing to city jobs and we have public health system to deal with cancer.
May dearie the milkman, maid, driver don’t have the gadget required to view your Thanks to them. From these reflections May, we won’t deduct or threaten to deduct pay from the maid if she wears off the broom cause if our vacuum cleaner or steam mop fails we can’t complain but buy another or spend to repair it and so what’s a broom?
The term ‘dignity of labour’ present abroad is unknown in India. Carpenters, masons, electricians et al have cars and houses as their basic wage and hourly rate is more than the material cost. Eg. I’ll pay more than thrice the price of the fan or aircon as labour charges to an electrician. In India it’s not so. Why? Because these labourers don’t and won’t ask for more out of their ignorance of self worth because they will never go abroad. While the educated (college n uni goers) know their worth having access to international info on their counterpart’s life style, the technicians and labourers will never get this info that their labour is much more than the worth of the materials they worth with. Someone has to offer them the fruit of knowledge coz I don’t think the educated or returned expats will offer them this knowledge as we save heaps to reap out of their ignorance.
The book ‘Secret’ says that though the universe has sufficient resources for all, (Gandhi too said it) you can wish for more or most, as there are millions of people, ignorant & innocent, content with what they have. There’s a scene in ‘Secret’ of a man washing piles of clothes for a living meaning his share of having his full rightful share like others is lost to him for the benefit of the educated. Who will break the cycle of labour for the dhobi wala?? While we get annual increments and better paid jobs he is stuck where he balances his life on the chakra of hard labour.
Not is 1000 years, right Mohua….or till somebody makes documentaries of life of labourers abroad and share with labourers in India. When they earn well, they’ll live well, respect themselves and their surroundings??
Being about 3,ooo miles away from home on me own, this entry was for sure felt, especially as I arrived in Greece with a vocabulary of about three words.
ReplyDeleteFor me six years did pass and every day it is getting better, even though current times are not the best.
A wonderful Monday for you all.