Culture Shock

I spent a final week in America soaking up all my favorite coffee shops - the photos above represent just four of the seven mandatory locations. Part of my cultural heritage as a PNW hipster is that I love good coffee, and I love spending time with people in coffee shops. It was my norm living in Portland, but I adjusted quickly when I moved to a tiny German town with no Longbottom, Insomnia, Bipartisan, Case Study, Black Rock, Ava's, or Dutch Bros. 

I'm really grateful for the time I spent with people in each of those coffee shops or various other places because I've been deeply shaped by some wonderful people who still call the Pacific Northwest home. Yet those people all sent me out as a missionary, so I headed across an ocean last Sunday to make my way back to Kandern for two weeks. 

Unfortunately, this trip was solo, and after my friends helped me get to the airport and check in, I was on my own with my mobility aids and medications until Carol picked me up in Frankfurt Monday afternoon. I managed alright, and this round my wheelchair was undamaged and my $400 replacement cushion never left my sight so I wouldn't have a repeat trauma of my arrival in Minneapolis. However, I can't account for everything, and both my checked bags were left behind in Minneapolis this direction. I got a text message yesterday that they should arrive today - hopefully at the correct address in Kandern rather than the Frankfurt or Portland addresses they had to have on record...

Arriving back in Germany was a breath of fresh air as I was back in my host country that I've called home for five years. This past visit to America was refreshing in so many ways to understand the language everywhere I went, but it was overwhelming in others to not know how to navigate that country as easily in a wheelchair.

Back in Germany for these two weeks, I'm staying with friends who've graciously allowed me to crash on their couch and repack all my goods to take the necessary stuff to New Zealand. Yesterday, I had the joy of seeing my previous students process into the auditorium with their flags which was a wonderful treat. I confused a lot of staff and students though who briefly thought I might be here for the whole year. I've got two weeks in my little Kandern before heading off to my new adventure to Middle Earth and beyond, but I hope that I'll be able to use this pause in Germany to help my body recover a little and get some good walks in.