It Comes in Threes
Germany - Year 2, Month 7 They say homesickness comes in waves of threes. After three weeks on a tour bus cavorting through Europe at age 16, you start to miss home despite the amazing old buildings and beautiful people surrounding you. Three months into your exchange year, you wonder if you can really hold out for another seven months with a family that works so differently from your own and wonder just how much extra Spätzle weight will fit into your favorite bell-bottomed chinos. Today, day three of being cooped up in the house with a cold, I realize that year three is quickly approaching. That's a whole other ball game than weeks or months. That's way past crushes on your Spanish tour bus driver (who may have been gay) and longing for automatic cars and good Tex-Mex food. Strange thoughts are entering my head these days - I complain about taxes, chat on the phone with my mother-in-law, wonder about the future of my career and whether it will ever fulfill me. I see pe