Can't believe it, I just have a few days left and there is still
so much I haven't done on this tiny island! I am definitely not ready
to leave yet. Yesterday I said my first definite goodbye to two dear
friends and it felt horrible! Both bid me farewell with a confident
"You will be back soon!", but who really knows?! So far I
told everyone to have an open ear and eye for any job vacancies but
the unemployment rate here is above 30% at the moment. Still I don't
want to give up hope that I will make it back here next year. Sooner
rather than later, otherwise the German way of life catches up on me
and I wont be brave enough to take the leap...
Why do I want to be
here? Guess when I try to explain it, it won't become clear but I
will try.
I met fantastic people who welcomed me into their life
without hesitation. Pretty much everyone on the street is friendly
and helpful and always in for some small talk or at least a smile
(that reminded me a lot of New Zealand!). You get used to the "Hi
Baby"-talk and even those guys drop their act when you don't
react to the flirting (OK, sometimes there were quite open offers too
but a friendly decline is all you need). Even the vendors or souvenir
sellers are the most friendly people. When you say no you get a "Have
a nice day" in return and quite often I ended up chatting with
the guys before they went their way. Everyone knows everyone which
can be a bitch sometimes but so far it has been an advantage most of
the time. My friends range from a street-kitchen chef to a high level
diplomat with pretty much everything in between and one of them
definitely knows the person you are looking for. People are relaxed
and are hardly stressed out by anything. Guess you can't be miserable
in this kind of climate and with those views. Sure, punctuality would
be nice but I guess that ship has sailed. With all that friendliness
around you would think the people have to be pure gold in the service
industry but something seems to happen as soon as wages are
involved... It's quite horrible actually... I was already thinking of
setting up a hospitality and service training school! People mumble
and don't even try to speak up even after you asked them three times
already to please repeat what they just said. Fast moving is out of
the question (especially for women) and sometimes your plate or glass
is taken from you, even you are not done with it... And it can take
ages till you finally get your order and then it might not be
complete... From that point of view, it should be easy for me to get
a job in the service sector ;) The main reason and now probably most
of you think I had too much sun is my martial arts class. I just
simply love it and them! My Sensei is just great and the guys in the
class are amazing. They took me in right away and it was never an
issue that I was the only girl and the first new student for a very
long time. Everyone of them was happy to teach me. Guess the fact
that I asked stupid questions and my total lack of limb-coordination
raised the fun level a lot, so that helped ;) I am totally hooked and
the effect it has on me is what I heard meditation is supposed to do.
Tonight is my last class and the thought of bidding them all farewell
scares the shit out of me. Sure, there are good classes in Germany
too, but I believe a group like that and a charismatic teacher like
Gregory are hard to find. Plus the fact that it's not just Karate or
Kung Fu but a mix of pretty much everything that comes in handy in a
possible fight. I suspect there is another reason, but I can't wrap my finger around it, don't know if I make sense right now...
So I am not sure if you can understand my wish
for staying here longer or if you think 'Yeah, she has that everytime
she is abroad and still comes back'. Maybe I have, but maybe I should
stay at some point...
