Strange Nostalgia

I was riding the bus today, as I do every day, but I found that the closer my departure becomes, the attention I pay to my surroundings. I looked out the back of the bus as it drove up the hill to the Max Planck Institute for Biophysics Chemistry and I was awed by the view. Soft greens and blues layered over one another in the form of the rolling hills that characterize the German countryside. Buildings with red roofs rise and fall with the tide of the land, fading into the greenery as the eye travels away from the center of the city. The sky is overcast, the ground still wet from the rain I slept through this morning, yet I cannot find it in me to think the gray sky depressing. It is the Göttingen I know.

The weather has rocked between chilly days at 12 degrees (Celsius) and burned my skin when it suddenly rocketed into the 20s. Sunny days can turn to violent downpours in the space of a minute, and return to idyllic perfect in the same only 20 minutes later. People travel with umbrellas hidden in backpacks and purses, and when the first drops begin to fall they bloom, like so many flowers in a field. Red, blue, rainbow, zebra print, the whole gamut. It's a funny sight to see. Unless, of course, you're the new comer who has not yet adjusted to the weather patterns and though your now soaked coat would be enough.

I once said that I thought my trip to Europe would consist of evenings spent in small cafes over warm beverages and intellectual conversations about culture and the world. It struck me today that I'd had that experience, though it did not manifest itself in quite as romantic a vision as that in which I had framed it. My cafe was a bakery called Brot und Brotchen which had a glorious sale on fresh baked goods that I could buy with carton of chocolate milk on the way to work. Berliners, butter croissants, rosin schnecken and fresh rolls, all of them cheaply available and magically delicious. My intellectual conversations took place in the office while my officemates and I exchanged opinions about religion, racial tensions, education, continuing education, history and the job market.

The sun is out now, shining on the trees just beyond the window, bringing out the first tinges of yellow that hint at the fall season to come. I could call this bitterweet and talk about the positives and negatives, but instead I will be grateful for the summer I've had and endeavor to make them more glorious from here on out.