This is the end...

My time in Berlin is coming to a close. I am drawing closer to the 50 week mark and my Wednesday morning flight is sooner and sooner. Bank account closed, couch sold, and appointment to un-register with the city made for Monday. School already seems like a life time ago and Lydia is long gone. My remaining friends are setting off for summer vacations or planning their own homeward treks. I've taken everything but my calendar and stick-on poppies off my walls. It is the end, this will even be my last blog post.

Or is it? Last week, my Uncle Michael called me for the last time on my Berlin phone. I repeated this sentiment to him. He thinks it is just the beginning. That I am changed in ways I cannot hope to understand right now and this is the beginning of my post-Berlin existence. I know I am changed. But as the changing has happened here, I'll only be able to appreciate that change when I return to my former comfort zone.

And as sad as I am to leave my life here, it feels right. I am ready to go home again. Back to sunshine and warm sun on your skin. Back to fog and orange trees. Back to family and friends. Back home. It may just have been two weeks short of a year, but it feels like I set out a lifetime ago.

Wrapping Up

My 50 weeks in Berlin is beginning to draw to a close, classes have come to an end, almost all my grades are in order, and friends are rapidly leaving. I have a powerful urge to take everything off my walls, clean out my closet, and pack my bags. But, I still have about two weeks and such preemptive measures could induce some sadness. So, I am holding off on the walls but beginning to think what I really need to bring back. The list seems to be much smaller than I had thought, I think I may even end up bringing back less than I initially had. This appeals to me, I wish I could just return with a carry on of books.

The wrapping up really began this week. I finished my last week of German university. With bells, I might add. I've gotten three of my grades back so far- good news there. But yesterday was my dear friend Lydia's last day in Berlin. Lydia that I have seen almost everyday for nine months (but for a brief break in Winter). Lydia that has become one of my best friends, and Lydia that I have shared Berlin with. With her departure, I can't help but be sad. So much of Berlin is marked by the experiences I have shared with her here and the places we have discovered together; I can imagine it without her friendship, but I don't want to. It;s fitting they call for rain this weekend.

So for now, it is back to oatmeal for me and I am left with the thought that in two weeks I'll be packing my bags and saying goodbye to Berlin, for at least a while.