Little Victories!

I decided that I needed to take life here in little victories while I was overcoming homesickness. Well, it is working like a gem! Tuesday I took the boys to Kindergarten with Koko and remembered the way perfectly. Then, I picked them up that afternoon and everything went smoothly getting there and back. I had no problem remembering where to go, and the bike functioned fine… I pulled the chariot carriage with the boys inside for the first time, and didn’t knock it once… Yep, it was those little victories that made up the highlights of my day. Haha! They might seem small (and they are), but they made all the difference to my mental health/attitude.

Wednesday, it was the same thing. I realized how grateful I am that I haven’t biffed it on the bike yet – haha! I could have fallen a zillion times on the ice, but I haven’t. Now, you can say that this was pure luck or chance that I have stayed upright, and you’re probably half correct. However, I seriously believe that Heavenly Father knows what to give me in challenges, and knows that getting scrapped up on my bike in the first few days would have shot my moral. It also would have made me deathly afraid to get back on in the ice and snow, and I have to do that a LOT with my job here. You would see the divine hand in place too if you lived here and saw the sidewalks – haha!

Sidenote: The problem with snow here is that it is kind of rare, and thus some issues arise when it happens. People and businesses don’t know that they need to shovel their walks, so they just walk and ride on them, patting the snow down, and helping the ice to form. It’s an issue on back-roads as well.

Going back to the previous thought, I think Heavenly Father also knew to give me some issues to deal with in the beginning. For example, when I got lost on Monday on the U-bahn (that seems like forever ago!) it was really frustrating and emotional for me. However, because that happened I now pay more attention to where I am while riding, and listen more to the directions given to me. I also seem to be better with my deductive reasoning in figuring out for myself how to get to places when given a map and a name. I feel more confident that if that happened again, I could figure it out… and I think I needed that confidence early on. Again, you can call it chance, but I say nein! Haha…

Other victories: I started using Rosetta Stone more, and today I was able to repeat back from memory a list of verbs and words for tenses to a friend here. I rode the metro/u-bahn without getting lost, and found myself around after getting off without getting lost. I also looked really cute today – haha!

Tomorrow I’m heading out to the downtown city of Bonn where my new friend, Mike, is going to show me around. He came over this evening and had dinner here (he’s really close with the family) and we visited for a few hours – It’s nice to have a friend figure here! He is quite possibly returning to Denmark (where he’s from – he served his mission here) in a few weeks, but it’ll be nice while it lasts. Maybe I can talk him into hangin’ in there for a bit, but with finances it might not be possible. Anyway, he seems great and I’m happy to have a friend here for the time being. I’m sure I’ll meet others throughout my time here!

*muah*

Song of the Day: I found this new artist that I love and adore – Thank you, Turell! Haha… His name is Mads Langer, and he’s from Denmark originally, but now resides in London, I believe. Anyway, he entire CD is fabulous… The way Turell put it was, you don’t have to skip any songs, which I think is true. It’s just a great vibe – chill and yet, original. I really like him! So, here’s Mads Langer’s song, Fact-Fiction. Enjoy!