Unexpected. That’s the word that comes to mind as I reflect back over our last 6 months here in Tübingen. Now, to me it seems like just yesterday when I was reflecting on our 3-month mark, and now another 3 months have flown past.

So, why do I describe this past period as “unexpected”? Consider,

• Tübingen, while relatively small,  has turned out to have a lot of interesting things to offer. There are opportunities to see interesting movies, hear interesting music, and attend interesting (and tasty!) festivals.
• Some of the German food here has turned out be tastier than we thought (for example, the Maultaschen that I’ve already talked about, and the local version of “Mac and Cheese” that I really need to blog about next week.
• Several serendipitous photography opportunities coming my way. I had the exhibition that opened back in January, of course, and I’ve also been hired a few times over the past 6 months to take photos. Exciting opportunities that presented themselves to me, rather than my seeking them out. Fun!
• And last but not least, has been my experience with learning German. 6 months ago I decided that I needed to take a German class to get a good basic “grounding” in German. I didn’t know for how long I would take the classes, but I figured a month or so of an intensive course would probably give me a good starting point, and then I’d decide where to go from there. But probably I wouldn’t take any more courses.But flash forward 6 months … and I’m still taking the courses. The owners of the school, the class teachers, and the people in my class have all made it so enjoyable that I have kept going, long after I thought I would stop. I mean, the class meets for 3 hours every day, Monday to Friday, with additional hours spent studying and doing homework at night and on weekends.  Who would have thought I would find that fun? 😉

Now, I used to joke that I was learning German so that I could understand the original German lyrics to the song 99 Luftballoons in German, without having to read the English translation. That’s a German song written and sung by the German singer Nena. Back in October when I wrote a post about that song, after 5 weeks in the German class, I could already more or less understand most of the first verse. Today, when I looked at it again, I discovered that I can mostly understand it. Progress indeed … although maybe not that unexpected, after almost 6 months of German language course, eh?

What was unexpected that our teacher today in class used another song by Nena that tied in with the grammar point we were learning. Here’s a link to the song, called Irgendwie, Irgendwo, Irgendwann. The song title translates to “Somehow, Somewhere, Sometime.”

Which seems fitting in some ways for a post that reflects back on living for 6 months in a new place. After all, sometimes you go somewhere new,  when you initially have no idea of what you’ll be doing. But, when life opens up a world of unexpected opportunities, you find it all has a way of working itself out … somehow.

Here’s looking forward to seeing what the next 6 months has in store.