An Opportune Moment

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  • Berlins and Outs

    To Make “Local” Friends or “Expat” Friends, That is the Question

    November 13, 2018

    People tend to want to make local friends when they live abroad. Spending time only with people you could have met at home creates this bizarre sense of failure. I remember it from when I studied abroad in Barcelona – I hung out mostly with the other Americans in my program, but it was a point of pride for me when I spent Halloween teaching a couple of Catalan women how to play Kings. That was my go-to I-hung-out-with-the-locals anecdote. It was a fun evening and it makes a pretty good soundbite. But “I want to hang out with locals” is kind of an odd, potentially tokenizing way to look…

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    Emma 4 Comments

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    Spring in Berlin: A Video and A Love Letter

    June 12, 2018

    Thoughts on One Month of Living Abroad

    May 1, 2018

    Have Fun and Be Safe

    March 20, 2020
  • Berlins and Outs,  Close to Home

    Visiting Home in New England and Returning Home to Berlin

    October 23, 2018

    Two weeks ago we were in the United States. It was our first trip home since moving to Berlin 6 months ago. And, surprising no one, I fretted over it quite a bit. My concerns included but were not limited to the following questions: Would it feel weird to be home? Would New England even still feel like home? Would I be sad to come back to Berlin? So as not to bury the lead, the answers to those questions are: A little Yes and no Nah Oh, you’re still reading? I suppose I can go into more detail. JK, you knew I was going to write about my feelings…

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    Emma 1 Comment

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    Righteous Fury: Thoughts on Politics and Religion

    October 30, 2018

    Residence Permit Problems

    May 15, 2018

    Berlin, Revisited

    September 18, 2018
  • Berlins and Outs,  Feeeeelings

    Keine Familie ist illegal

    July 3, 2018

    People from the US are allowed into the Schengen Zone (of which Germany is a part) for 90 days at a time. If you want to stay longer, you need a visa or a residence permit. June 25th was my 90th day in Germany, and, on June 28th, I got a residence permit that allows me to live here through March 2019. So, technically, on June 26th and June 27th, you could have called me an “illegal immigrant.” I mention this because immigration is complicated, and it’s a helluva lot more complicated for people who don’t look like me and/or don’t have the money I have. I mention this because…

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    Emma 3 Comments

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    4 Ways We’re Learning German

    June 5, 2018

    A Cove of One’s Own

    June 25, 2021

    You Moved to Berlin for a Job, Right? How’s it Going?

    October 20, 2019
  • Berlins and Outs,  Feeeeelings,  Meta-Blogging

    Everything is Different Now

    April 22, 2018

    There are no screens in our windows now, so in the mornings we lean out and people watch while we drink our coffee. E imagines what it would be like to be a field mouse living on the supermarket’s green roof – he wants to make a video game about it. I mostly ogle other people’s dogs as they walk down the street. We watch the trains going in and out of Ostkreuz station. And if we look left we can see the TV Tower, but only when we’re leaning out the window. Hi. Hello. Welcome back. Everything is different now. E got a job as an educational video game…

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    Emma 7 Comments

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    4 Ways We’re Learning German

    June 5, 2018

    Residence Permit Problems

    May 15, 2018

    The Egg Cups of Berlin

    June 19, 2018
  • Close to Home

    Wild Raspberry

    November 23, 2016

    E and I are at his parents’ house in New Hampshire for Thanksgiving, and while it’s not too cold yet, there are a few inches of snow on the ground already. One of my favorite things to do when we visit E’s family is to wander the garden and interact with the plants whether I’m touching, smelling, tasting, or photographing them. I took this photo of a raspberry bush at their old house (which is about 15 minutes down the road from the new one), and recently made it my computer background. Every time E sees it he comments on how delicious the raspberry looks. The landscape is a little…

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    Emma No Comments

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    Tea Tuesday: Home From Hawai’i

    March 26, 2013

    Echinacea Tea and the Bradford, VT Film Slam

    October 15, 2013

    Righteous Fury: Thoughts on Politics and Religion

    October 30, 2018
  • Close to Home

    I’m From Boston

    November 8, 2016

    I remember the first time someone introduced me as “from Boston.” It was the summer before E and I started our senior year at Tufts. We took a road trip down to Asheville, North Carolina to visit his sister, Far, and while hiking we struck up a conversation with some people on the trail. They asked where we were from and Far ended up answering, “they’re from Boston.” I made a note of it because it was also the first time we were introduced as a unit. I’m from Rhode Island and E is from New Hampshire, but we are from Boston. Our relationship is from Tufts University on the…

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    Emma No Comments

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    Echinacea Tea and the Bradford, VT Film Slam

    October 15, 2013

    I’m a New Englander, btdubs

    May 24, 2012

    I’m So Glad 2014 is Over

    January 5, 2015
  • Looking for America

    Vacation / All I Ever Wanted

    November 7, 2016

    You should probably listen to this song while you read this post. And no, don’t worry, it’s not The Go Go’s. In September, E and I took a vacation to Utah. As it turned out, I hadn’t taken a vacation in a long time, and I really, really needed one. Yes, I’ve traveled a lot, but until recently I hadn’t done the sort of work that necessitates vacationing. I interned and worked part-time positions with clear end-dates. Taking a year-long fellowship felt like a big commitment. In February, I started a new job — full-time, permanent — with more responsibility, challenges, and stress. And then I proceeded to work 9-5,…

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    Emma 5 Comments

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    First Flush Tea

    September 17, 2013

    Iced Tea, Sweet Tea, and That Elusive American Tea Culture

    July 30, 2013

    Charleston Tea Plantation!!! (The Most Exciting Tea Tuesday Yet)

    August 27, 2013
  • Hawaiian Summer Camp

    Guest Post: Haleakalā Crater

    October 22, 2013

    Emma is still in India, but before she left, she asked her boyfriend if he would write a guest post for her. I said that I’d be happy to. I’ve been holding down the fort while Emma has been gone, getting to spend some quality time with the cat, so I’ve had plenty free time to work on said guest post. You may remember my last contribution to An Opportune Moment, where I shared my experiences flying for the first time. This time, I’m covering another aspect of Emma and my time on Maui – Haleakalā Crater. And because I had my camera out the whole time we were there,…

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    Emma 4 Comments

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    Today I’m giving the people what they want…

    February 15, 2013

    Hiking in Haleakala National Park

    April 5, 2013

    Weekly Travel Inspiration: Adventures in Travel Vlogging!

    May 5, 2013
  • Looking for America

    Yankee Elitism and Southern Hospitality

    September 27, 2013

    I’ve been writing a lot lately about stereotypes, misconceptions, and open-minded travel (see: Understanding Istanbul and An Opportune Moment is Going to India). Learning from travel rather than confirming our own previously held beliefs is important to me, and it’s a topic that will continue to appear regularly on this blog. A few weeks ago I wrote about Charleston Tea Plantation and my first visit to South Carolina. This week, I’m writing about the other new-to-me state I saw on that road trip: Georgia. But first, some context: I was born and raised in New England and I’ve spent almost my entire life here. I’m incredibly liberal (I’m actually from…

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    Emma 6 Comments

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    Vacation / All I Ever Wanted

    November 7, 2016

    Charleston Tea Plantation!!! (The Most Exciting Tea Tuesday Yet)

    August 27, 2013

    First Flush Tea

    September 17, 2013
  • Link Round-Ups,  Travel Inspiration

    Travel Linkspiration: August 2013

    September 2, 2013

    This has not been a traveling summer. Other than quick visits to my mom’s house in Rhode Island, and E’s folks’ house in New Hampshire, I’ve just been at home in Revere. It looks like September is going to be more of the same, but, October? Oh man, is October going to be different! I’ll be visiting a new-to-me continent (number 5), and a country I’ve been hoping to visit ever since I represented it at my high school’s Model UN. I’m currently making visa preparations and reading about the food and, in particular, the tea! So, stay tuned for that announcement, and, in the meantime, check out what you…

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    Emma 4 Comments

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    Travel Linkspiration July 2013

    August 2, 2013

    Linkspiration: March 2020

    March 31, 2020

    Linkspiration: April 2020

    May 7, 2020
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