Way back in early June, I had a conversation with a friend about my sleep habits. “How did you sleep last night?” She asked. “Oh, fine,” I replied. “I got up to pee about five times—” “Oh no,” she looked concerned and I had to laugh. Getting up to pee five times in the night doesn’t sound like a ‘fine’ night’s sleep, does it? But that was my baseline in May and June of this year. It was a fine night’s sleep because, even though I got up almost half a dozen times, I was able to fall back asleep easily afterwards. With the days so long in late Spring,…
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Traveling During the Pandemic
Back in October, I started working on a blog post. I was writing about the accidental Icelandic layover I had in early September on my way to visit the US. I was excited about that post, really grounding it in the sensory experience of being there, and I hope that when you read it, you’ll feel like you’re with me. But the next day, when I continued working on that draft, I decided it was irresponsible to share travel content without first providing some context about how I came to the decision to travel during the pandemic. 400+ angry words about the pandemic later, I decided this ought to be…
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Do other people’s life decisions ever make you question your own?
A blogger I’ve followed for years (and met once in person) just announced that she and her husband are moving back to the US after two years in Italy. They moved to Europe with their dog and young daughter just six months before E and I moved abroad. When we announced our move on facebook, she commented, “Welcome to the fun side of the pond!” It was just one small comment, but I did feel welcomed — to the Americans abroad club by someone who had gone before me. Earlier this year, a college friend who moved to Berlin a couple months before us left for a job in Toronto.…
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You Moved to Berlin for a Job, Right? How’s it Going?
We moved to Berlin for a job. You may be wondering, dear reader, how the job is going, Well, yesterday was my last day. "What?!" I hear you ask in dismay and confusion. But, fear not! We're not leaving Berlin. And I didn't even leave the job because I didn't like it. But, I am starting a new job on Monday.
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How to Write a Book and Celebrate Your Accomplishments
I recently finished the third draft of my manuscript. (Pro-tip: when you’re writing a book, you’ll feel much fancier if you call it a manuscript.) My manuscript is 87,000 words long and some of those words are even good! Two years ago, after I typed “the end” on my first draft, I stood up from my desk, went into the bedroom, and sobbed. I couldn’t believe I had actually done it and I felt overwhelmed with emotion. I’m a crier (the working title of my book is Crying in Public), so this wasn’t an unusual reaction for me. But it felt like an appropriate way to respond to such a…
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We owe one another our attention
Today is the eight year anniversary of my dad’s death. I’m happy(?) to report: it doesn’t hurt the way it used to. The last couple years, I’ve been struck less by how much I miss him and more by how much he has missed. I notice big things he missed, like my wedding, and smaller things, like books he would have enjoyed. Since his death, I’ve traveled on five continents, my brother and I both moved abroad (in opposite directions), and my mother retired. I also spent several years in Boston working at the Museum of Science, and my dad would have thought that was the absolute coolest job. I…
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This is a post about Paris and the things fire takes from us
I wrote most of this post last week, and our news cycle moves so fast that it almost doesn’t feel relevant to post it this week. It feels wrong to keep talking about Notre-Dame when more than 320 people were killed on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka. Tragedies, great and small ones, happen every day. Miracles, great and small ones, do too. I’m sharing this not because I think it’s the most important topic to talk about at the moment. But because I want it to be okay for us to pause and acknowledge the things we’re thinking about even if they aren’t the day’s most pressing issues. Paris was…
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Righteous Fury: Thoughts on Politics and Religion
I joined a church in Berlin. I’ve only been three times, but my most recent visit disappointed me. In particular, the sermon, which is usually my favorite part of church, disappointed me. I like sermons because I’ve always found the way preachers contextualize the Bible more interesting than the Bible itself. Growing up my priest was very conversational. She preached without notes and didn’t stand behind a pulpit. She was a good storyteller and shared anecdotes from her life that illustrated the same themes and morals as the week’s readings. A conservative friend of mine came to church with me once and told me afterwards that my priest was not…
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Let’s talk about depression and bicycles
I was biking home from the doctor’s office yesterday when I heard church bells loud and clear in an otherwise secular neighborhood full of restaurants and bars. I turned a corner and saw the church. It was a cathedral with a small courtyard containing a statue and two tall stone bell towers. As I pedaled past, I saw a child, no more than six, back to the street, staring up at the church, entranced. The adult standing beside them waited nonchalantly, eyes on the cell phone in their hands. I continued down the street and a small dog with auburn and white fur and a curled tail turned from the storefront…
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Keine Familie ist illegal
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…
