Living in Mannheim has been one hell of an experience. I have learned so much about different cultures (emphasis on the Polish here), and most of all about myself.
A very weird thing happened. The study abroad director from my school in Philadelphia came to visit in Mannheim. She looked at me and said, "Geets, you still have your watch on Philly time, and its been almost 3 months since you are here, you gotta let go you know." That just made me realize how right she was. I have always considered myself to be very independent, but may be I am not really, and that is why I never felt at home in Mannheim. India is home, Philly is home, but Mannheim never became home.
I have met some of the most amazing people here though. My room mate is just too nice to me. I am not as clean as her, I like to play Indian music loud and I am sure I can be annoying at times, but she still loves me :). My flat mates are a mix of people: Polish, French, Dutch, Canadian and American. I have found friends in them and people I can talk to.
Hafenstrasse (the student dorm I live in) is filled with exchange students. And 99% of them just love their time in Germany. Part of it is because they travel to some place or the other every weekend. I on the other hand, can not do that. Money is a constraint so I have not seen much of Europe so far. Whatever I have seen tells me how beautiful the continent is, its a traveler's heaven, but can I see myself live here and make a living. I guess not. Life is very different. Work culture and wages are different. Its just not where I can be forever, even though I would love to see the greens of Ireland, the lights of Paris, you know what in Amsterdam, and just live each moment.
Coming back to the people that I have met here:
I love them because most of them are very hospitable and invite me to all their food parties even though I have never really cooked for them. I have been to numerous parties with all kinds of food: German, French, Spanish, Polish and much more, and just loved the fact how they all feed you and enjoy to cook. I am not much of a cook, so I really depend on these people for food, and they don't mind doing that for me. I know there are some people that I met I would always like to be in touch with. Asia for always asking me to believe in love, Aga for taking care of me, Marie-Claire for being a buddy, Maciek for his jokes, Anne for being the amazing French girl and so many more people.
Frankly speaking I dont know how much I will miss the place or whether I will miss it at all. I will probably not miss the lonely days or long sleepless nights (thanks to the weird bed), but I will miss the learning process. We learn from everything, and I have learned a lot here. A lot about even my friends back in Philly. Weirdly, I know how much they mean to me, or how much I mean to them. I know now Pooja and me would always be the bestest of friends, I know Ankit would always care even if I dont listen to him, I know Ali will always be an ass (I mean his usual self.. mean but nice at times), I know Aditi would always wanna know whether I am ok, and I know most of all I have a home away from home.
