I really miss home

[BNeg01]

I'm in Germany for work, and will be for the next year. I'm American. I'm pretty much used to the loneliness and moving around, but at least I had my parents and siblings growing up. I always felt like an alien, even before I was diagnosed. Now I am literally considered an alien.

 

[Richelle-H]

I know what it is like to be away from where you feel most comfortable. I never was away as long as a year, but I spent almost three months in Amsterdam when I was 28 and then an entire summer in Montreal working on the Olympics when I was 30. In between those was another summer spent in Hamburg NY. All of those jobs were work related and I know the stress a long job away can have. During the Montreal job my private space at home was violated by a break-in/burglary. I could do nothing about it and remember walking for hours in the streets of Montreal, trying to stop feelings which threatened to send me into meltdown.

In every Instance, I found someplace where I felt safe and could relax. It was a bistro in Amsterdam along with, surprisingly, the open-air airport cafe where I was working. Then there was a small bookstore in Hamburg and a just opened restaurant in a just opened hotel where I was almost always the only customer when I dined there before and during the Olympics.

This all occurred well over a decade before I received a diagnosis. I guess I just bulldozed my way through life without actually caring about what others thought of me. I do not consider myself the least bit misanthropic in saying that but merely someone with a self-modulating filter through which I observe reality. After all, reality only exists in the mind, where the barrage of information is interpreted, sorted, and stored.

Look at this as an opportunity to expand your reality. Allow yourself to explore while you are still young and have not been too put upon by life (I was an absolute mess at your age). If you find it within yourself to relax and explore, you just might find there is interesting life going on around you.

May your new employment bring you only pleasant experiences.

Welcome to the Forum!

 

[Mary Terry]

We have some friends on a river cruise in Germany right now. One of these days, I want to spend Christmas in Germany because it's where many of the American Christmas traditions began.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

You're not the only person who feels like an "observing alien". Pretty much a state of mind for me. Welcome to the club.

 

[Tom]

It's a great opportunity to travel and see many sights and experience new things. I was estatic when I got orders for Germany (military). I saw my first castle only a few hours after arriving. Make the most of it!

 

[Aspychata]

I liked being abroad. However, hilariously, l had people screaming at me in Finland. I guess l was the exact opposite of Finns. People thought l might be a gypsy due to my hair and skin tone. Kinda of funny.

Enjoy Germany, you will meet nice people if you get out and sightsee. I made many short-term friends and enjoyed Europe.

 

[Nick12]

HERE IS A JOKE JUST TAP YOUR SHOES TOGERR AND SAY I WISH I WAS AT HOME I WISH I WAS AT HOME I WISH I WAS AT HOME