Blueberry Jam and Watch Batteries

Sometimes it's easy to get trapped in by the four walls of our comfort zone. But life is richer when we do the hard thing and step outside of that box. Granted, the constant stepping out of one's comfort zone can become wearying, especially when one lives outside of one's home country.

I have fond memories of making jam with my mom. I've heard people talk about how easy it is to use the jelly-making sugars here. So one day last week, while roaming the aisle of the grocery store, I was brave. I bought "Gelier Zucker" (or something like that - I think it literally means "gel sugar"). After some time consulting my favorite online German-English dictionary (dict.leo.org), I soon had a jar of blueberry jam. (Yes, it only made one jar, but that was part of what convinced me - if it didn't turn out, there would only be a small amount of blueberries wasted.) It's fun to have a jar of homemade goodness. And to know that I could understand enough of the directions (with the help of aforementioned online dictionary) to successfully make jam. Granted, it was pretty simple - I only had to stir the fruit and sugar together for one minute.

Then, last Friday, around 3:30pm, I looked at my watch and it read 12:00. After a nanosecond of confusion, I realized that my watch battery must have died. But have no fear! This is not the first time my watch battery has died in Germany. But this time, I KNEW what to do. No moments of panicking and feeling overwhelmed. :) So, after meeting up with some of my English Camp staff friends (from previous years who had returned this summer) at the EisCafe (yum, ice cream!), I walked over to the store-where-I-could-get-my-watch-battery-replaced. Five minutes and five Euros later, I again had a functioning watch. Smile. Success.

Don't get me wrong - I still have my moments of feeling like a kindergartner or inept. For example, I just went to the grocery store. I was slow bagging my groceries, which meant the man behind me had to wait. And then as he walked by me in the parking lot, he said something that I didn't understand. I felt like he must have been insulting me or making fun of me, but I kept on walking and tried to brush it off.

But overall, I have noticed since returning from the US, I feel much more settled here. More settled into marriage. More settled into OUR home. More at ease with life overall. And that is a good thing.