Musings

Now that my newbie phase has waned away, I often recollect all the aspects that demanded getting used to over the past few months. The very first thing that bothered me was the absolute silence around. Having grown up in a house overlooking the local railway station, constant noise has been an integral and inseparable part of my life. Somehow over the years I started associating the lack of sound with discomfort. And suddenly I was in a place where I could hear the whoosh of the Volkswagens with my windows shut! In the first week post arrival, since my body was getting adapted to the coldest weather it has ever witnessed (combined with a different microbial environment), I was down with a sore throat and bad cough. So whenever I had to cough it felt like a percussion act gone awry and worse still when those coughs wanted to exit in the middle of the night, it  felt like I was waking up the entire apartment! Hunger pangs felt like audible conversations with my stomach. Not o...

Momentary glances, lingering stares, beards, mustaches tattoos, painted lips, now familiar strangers, everywhere!

I woke up the next day to the sunlight streaming through the windows; the wispy thin curtains not withholding much. Little did I know then about the blinds outside the window (and it took me a good one week to figure that out). I tossed on the bed, taking a moment to register where I was. I could see my suitcases lying half open across the room. Just the thought of unpacking seemed exhausting. I got up and went over to the window to see the view. There was a school right opposite, one of those old buildings with a clock tower and attic. I could see some kids on the street making their way to the school. I opened the window and felt the chilly breeze on my face (and another month by the time I learnt to keep the windows half open, in the typical German style). I closed it to get back to the warmth of my heater. I rummaged through my bags for my toothbrush and unpacked some essentials for the time being. I clicked some pictures​ of the house and started to get ready for my f...