Whenever I move from one country to another, I experience this series of emotions in stages:
1. Honeymoon Stage - Excitement about literally everything
2. Rejection Stage - Getting annoyed with people and their behavior
3. Adjustment
Even when I move from abroad back home, I go through these stages.
After leaving New York I arrived in my German home town rather sad. It felt like I had been ripped out of home. But then again, I was in my home town, where I spent most of my life. These mixed emotions quickly transformed into my honeymoon feelings the next day. Everything seemed marvellous - everything is peaceful and quiet, the air smells fresh of rain, everything is green, the produce at the supermarkets are heavenly cheap, people are so friendly (who would have ever thought I would ever say that about Germans?), and oh, the bread, the BREAD! How I have missed the bread.
Especially after living years in New York City, I now appreciate even more, how affordable a good life in Germany is. You will not live with roommates after the age of 40, health insurance is just a given, fresh produce has a high quality standard, people are smiling back at you on the street and saying hello, and you can actually hear the birds because they are not drowned by noise.
All in all, I love being back home with my family. I used to see them once per year on Christmas. And it's just, well, home :)
Coding wise I feel like I would have preferred to spend at least 1-2 years longer in New York. The energy, the connections I've formed, the fast moving job market, the millions of tech meetups, are just irreplaceable. As a budding engineer it is so important to stay motivated and encouraged. My bootcamp provided the perfect habitat - this buzzing energy at campus, the classmates, the instructors, just the campus itself. I keep reminding myself not to brood over all that I have "lost" and rather focus on what great things I can do, even if I am by myself. It is a hundred times harder if the environment is not fostering my goals, and it means that I have to keep fighting harder.
I was lucky enough to be part of the bootcamp community in New York and will carry with me the excitement of learning new things, the courage to tackle new technology and just say YES. Yes to bugs, yes to hours of console logging, yes to frustration, yes to being stuck, yes to not knowing. And this means yes to debugging, yes to hours of detective work, yes to will shaping, yes to slow progression, yes to learning. Lifelong!
Skyline
My village's skyline with Manhattan skyline are like day and night. But both are boasting with their beauty.
German Craft
Any German who has lived abroad has gone through this: "What's this dry/bland/soggy/horrible piece of *** they call 'bread'?!" For the record, Americans call 'bread' what we in German usually refer to as "Toast". It's a sad world...
Home, Peaceful Home
When you spend years in a big city like New York and go back to your village that has 6,000 inhabitants, some things are really striking: the green, the peacefulness, the air, ... I've never been a nature fan, but now I appreciate my home's rural traits so much more.
Small Joys of Everyday Life
The joy of vegetables, greens, herbs from the garden. I am lucky to have two eager parents who love to work in our garden: tomatoes, eggplants, mint, basil, cilantro, salad greens, ... you name it! We are happy to report that we harvested our first potato! It is just one inch tall, but it is a start... And then the joy of walking through the super market aisles and meeting well known familiar brands. The small joys of everyday life.
