Right now I am living in Germany. In Würzburg. You probably knew that. If not, now you do. At first, for a few weeks, everything was great. I was caught up in the newness and excitement of life in another country. Next, and fairly quickly, came a new, long-lasting phase. All I wanted was to go home. Everything was super difficult, confusing, and I had no friends. I missed people back home, and just wanted something familiar. You might say that I was bordering on miserable. Let’s just say that I wasn’t having a good time. But, you know, things change. Now I don’t want to leave. Going back has absolutely no appeal.

Why? There’s a lot of reasons. Here are five.

First off, I feel like in Germany, I have the chance to actually live. In America, I feel the pressure to work, work, work. I feel like everything I do needs to be beneficial to my future success. In the United States, I’m used to four things in my day. Eating, going to school, doing homework, and sleeping. Not a lot of time for me. Here in Germany, I am not busy every waking moment. I have the ability to hang out with friends a lot. I have time to travel. Being in Germany has given me the chance to LIVE. I’ve grown used to living a life where I am actually experiencing life as a human in the world. I don’t want to go back to the workaholic mindset that school has trained into me… I like living.

Secondly, I’ve met great people in Germany and made great friends. I don’t want to leave them. Just as it was hard for me to leave Albuquerque (approximately) a year ago, it will be hard for me to leave Würzburg in August. I know that in the modern age of technology, I can easily stay in touch with these friends. Unfortunately, to me, Skyping and texting just isn’t the same as being able to hang out with people face-to-face.

Third is the attitude of the German culture. For one, they are way more concerned with their health than Americans. People here are always outside. Almost everybody exercises in one form or another. If you’re sick at all, its expected that you don’t come to school. Additionally, I rather like how easy my health insurance is to use (and how it pays for practically everything). For two, the Germans are just more relaxed. For most of them, it’s not a big deal if you’re late. They are patient as I try to formulate what I want to say in German and just live in a way that isn’t so stressed out. Like I mentioned in my first point, Germans take time to live.

Fourth, part of the reason that I can live (as mentioned in point one) is that the cost of living here in Germany is lower. I pay about half as much for rent as I did in Albuquerque. Food is cheaper-so I buy more delicious food like smoked salmon. I don’t have to pay for gas for a car, which leads me to my fifth and final point.

Public transportation here is great. I can easily get everywhere in a timely manner without a car. Though I walk a lot because I live close to the city center, the public transportation is really easy to use when I go anywhere farther away. The efficiency and safety of the public transportation system here makes me want to not use a car when I get back to the United States. But then I think about it and realize just how difficult it would be for me not to have a car there.

This list is not exhaustive. It does not list every reason why I don’t want to leave Germany, but it lists the ones I can think of as I write this post. No, it’s not perfect here, but I do feel happier here. My ultimate goal in life is just to be happy, and I’m happier here, so why leave?