where did the month go?

So the month of June has basically vanished into thin air. What does that mean? It means that I have exactly 3 weeks left here in Germany...

School has been absorbing my time like a fresh sponge, and the rest of my time has gone into getting whatever I can out of Germany and the people I have become so close to. In the past 2 weeks my small 5 student class and I have been working up a storm trying to get everything done for the Absoventen Katalog (Alumni Catalog), a catalog of all the graduating students' final projects. All I can say is that I haven't been much more stressed than I was over those couple flashing weeks. Spending the time with my friends here is really becoming a huge priority now that my slavery to the professors of the catalog course has been broken.

As of now there is only 4 days until my birthday is here. 21... it doesn't mean squat over here in Europe and on top of that, neither does the 4th or July so I can basically kiss the anticipation of seeing the blazing grand finally of the midnight fireworks show goodbye this weekend. Dang, what a bummer...

The realization of my time here getting shorter and shorter sparks up the feeling of being a little lost. Kind of strange considering I have found out more about myself in the past year than the whole span of time from my first day of high school through the end of my sophomore year of college. The feeling of being lost is that of me knowing even though I am going to feel great seeing all the old parts of life rush back to me all at once, I will still miss everything about this place, this time, the people, the experiences and all the rest. Its as though I have gained some place here in Germany, a place that allows me to live happily from day to day. Don't get me wrong, I think I am well due to see all of the things I left behind: my friends, my family, driving! Ha ha!! But all in all there is going to be a piece of me that stays here, planted at the station waiting for the next train to take me on a new adventure into unknown territory, or sitting at the lake watching all the people fly by on bike or grilling or walking around and drinking beer in public! Its all here to stay and the next time I will meet up with all of these great things will most likely be on a short vacation as a tourist... its really a funny thing to think about.

The month of July is going to seem like it were pressed, strained and bottled into the containment of a week, I have no doubt in that. I will have to sip and enjoy every precious second of it.