Spring, is that you?

                 "It'll get better next week." That's what my host father told me the night I first arrived at my new home. The memory still fresh in my head. That was the by far the coldest night of my life. Where -16 degrees of biting wind and light snow punctured me to my core and robbed me of all warmth. Don't get me wrong, I was all hyped up about winter and snow for the first few days. For the first few days at least. I rolled around in snow, had snowballfights and swallowed some of it just to see how it feels to have it melt in your mouth. But the cold doesn't let up. No, it's not some toy that you can pull out of a toychest whenever you want. I wish it was though. It's an everpresent thing.

   For those of you who have never braced the chill of winter before, here's a little head's up. The first time I stepped out into the cold, it was a magical experience for me. Having grown up in a tropical country where the coldest thing you'll ever feel is ice on your palms, having 2 degrees outdoors and misty breathes was magical. Well, magical for about 2 minutes at least. After that initial joyous moment, I shivered my ass back inside. Humidity is also a big issue here. It's only been 3 weeks, and I swear the back of my palms feel like beef jerky right now.

   Don't laugh at how much of a little bitch I am, but having grown up in a constant 30 degrees environment you'd feel the same too. But I think I'm managing well, I haven't bitched about it yet to anyone in person, so you know this blog gets all my hate. Thankfully, my host father's words finally came true this morning. It's shocking how fast the weather can go from total shit to perfect here in Europe. Just a few days ago, I was biking my way home in a shower of freezing cold water and today I wake up to this little beauty here:

Hallelujah!

                                                 
      The transition from winter to spring feels so novel to me. It kinda feels like one of those cartoons we used to watch where the main character frolicks around flowers and chirping birds. It also feels like one of those deep poems like Robert Frost wrote about. To finally have 15 solid degrees is relief enough for me, but let's hope spring doesn't turn its back on us. Well that's enough sitting around indoors for today, better savour this day while I still can!

Shock me.

   They say the secret to a long and fulfilling life is to immerse one self into novelty. Novelty being the face of everything new, new things, new experiences, new people and all in all, a new life. Supposedly your life will reach new heights and your perspectives completely mold into something else, and you'll turn out to be an entirely changed person. But what they don't tell you in the preview is the shock. That shock you get when everything around you loses its warm sense of familiarity and comfort.

   To describe my experiences so far as a culture shock would be a sad, misleading statement. Saying its' "culture shock" would imply that I am only shocked by the different culture. When actually, the culture is what shocks me the least. I could deal with culture. The culture part is easy. It's all the other factors that are shocking me right now. I'm like this little baby bird having to leave the comfort of his nest for the very first time. Oh, my comfy, warm, familiar nest.

   Over here, I'm like a huge deformed alien baby. Everyone talks to me funny. Everyone looks at me funny (especially strangers). Everyone treats me funny. And the fact that I can't communicate well with others is just more icing on my chocolate cake of shame. Right now, sign language is probably my most versatile tool for talking to others. It's an awkward situation all in all, having being thrown into the deep end.

   But the peculiar bit is, I haven't a clue if all this is good or bad. I mean yes, I have to adapt and change according to all these new circumstances and conditions presented to me. But on the flipside, I have a clean slate now. I have this chance to start anew. And let's be honest here, you almost never get to reinvent yourself in a familiar and comfortable setting. You'll almost always just crawl back into your sweet little shell when things get tough.

   Two weeks in, I'm afraid it's much too early to say anything credible yet. All I know is, they never tell you all this when you sign up.