Greetings from Germany!

[I wrote this post yesterday morning when I was on the train from Amsterdam, Netherlands to Rheine, Germany and am just now with reliable internet to share with you now.  Hope your week starts off well!]

My love affair with Europe began the moment I got on the plane to head to Florence, Italy in the spring of 2007.  I was about to begin my study abroad semester and had never traveled out of the country, nonetheless for such an extended period of time.  I didn’t have any close friends going to Florence with me and I had no idea what to expect, yet, as soon as the flight attendant on Air France came by with the drink cart and I realized that wine was free in-flight, and I, as a 20 year old was eligible to drink on this international flight – I was sold!

Underage drinking aside, those 6 months in Florence and the opportunities I had to explore other bits of Italy and Europe throughout that time planted a seed in me and I’ve been hooked on Europe ever since.

This week I’m back in Europe, in northern Germany for a work trip and a few personal days where I will south and return to a city I became quite familiar with a couple years ago, Munich.  I will hopefully share some of my culinary adventures of the trip here, but I also want to link over to a post I wrote years ago on a blog I used to author anonymously called “Figuring It Out.”  I wrote in this blog throughout my senior year of college and my first days of being in the “real world.” 

Although I still haven’t “figured it out” I have evolved in my blogging to publishing under my fully disclosed identity. I love this old blog though because it was such an exciting and dynamic time in my life.  I also wrote very honestly on this blog – something that I think the anonymity allowed me to do.   As I’ve recently written, I try my best to keep this space positive and uplifting, which sometimes means that I am not being fully honest in my writing as to the insecurities, fears, and anxieties I may be going through at a particular point in time.

Anyways, that is neither here nor there as I’m currently on a train, riding through small towns and the countryside of northern Germany.  Greenery, people on bicycles, solar panels on rooftops, and all-around quaint-ness surrounds me.  The foggy morning is starting to burn off and the sun is peaking its rays out.  I’ve got fresh apples to munch on and my all-time favorite artist’s new album pumping into my body through my white iPod ear buds.  I’m so happy to be here and so happy to work for an international company that provides me opportunities such as this to travel and work internationally.  It is truly a passion of mine that I only see continuing to grow and be harvested throughout the years.