Getting Adjusted

The hardest thing about being in a foreign country is making friends. Oh, it's also hard when you don't speak the language. This causes a lot of stress and anxiety within me, because I am a social person who loves to connect with new people. Not speaking German has presented many challenges thus far, however it has also motivated me to learn as quickly as I can. In my job in the theater I have to speak german all day, and this is very strenuous. Having said that, each day is exciting and I'm learning so much and that means the world to me.

I have to say the best thing so far about moving to Magdeburg has been living with my mitbewohnerin Katya. I just got home and was so excited to put my key in the door because I knew Katya would be there. We clicked from day one and it's nice knowing that I have someone to come home to talk to. It makes this whole experience less lonely and the fact that we are already like sisters is amazing. We just booked a trip to go to England together and I am very much looking forward to creating many new memories which include her.

Making friends is something we learn about from the age of 4. We think it gets easier with time, but there is no avoiding the social awkwardness that one naturally experiences when meeting people for the first time. We are always a little self conscious, apologetic, and uncomfortable. However, this was not the case with Katya at all, and for that I am eternally grateful.

Tonight I made it a priority to connect with my work colleagues on a social level. I went out for dinner at an incredible tapas restaurant (http://www.bernerundbrown.de/)  with two other singers and then we all went to the movies. We spoke mostly deutschlish and that was extremely entertaining. I feel it is important to get along with those you work with on a social level as well as professional level. I am also a firm believer that it's important to have boundaries and that is something I am very mindful of. The last thing I want is to feel awkward in my place of work.

So far I have met some really interesting people in Magdeburg. Katya is a student so I have been to many student gatherings and this has been a gift because I am meeting new young people all the time. Magdeburg is a relatively small city compared to Toronto and that has been a little difficult for me. I mean I'm a big city girl who loves eating out, seeing art and exhibits. I am used to going to my favourite coffee shop and reading the news paper on a Saturday morning. I like going to art house cinema, and live music and I know exactly where to go in Toronto. I am looking forward in discovering what Magdeburg has to offer in terms of art and culture. I should also say that I am fortunate to be living very close to Berlin and Leipzig, so weekend trips should not prove to be a problem. I have realized that it is up to you to make this happen and that sometimes you need to do these things alone. It all traces back to the fact that you are in control of the decisions you make and I don't want to wait around for someone to take my hand and show me what the world has to offer.

In general I think I am adjusting pretty quickly. I also want to say that today I signed a new opera contract that provided me with a pay raise and more benefits. I have only been here for a month, so this is a huge success for me and I've already celebrated by going out for dinner and a movie and now I'm sipping on sekt. Life is good. Tomorrow I start rehearsals for Hello Dolly. I am very much looking forward to this.

As I sit here, listening to Radiohead I am reminded that I made the choice to be here and every cell in my body tingles knowing that one day I will look back at all of this and say " I didn't settle for boring. I dared to be different." I do miss my friends and family enormously, and sometimes I think that I have abandoned them. I live with this fear every day because in Toronto I had such a sustainable and beautiful life. But I know I can always go back, and they can visit, and for that I will keep on trekking and see where this road takes me.

I leave now, but before going I can help but think of the poem by Robert Frost called The Road Not Taken. So cliché, I know, but we all know clichés are such for a reason.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

-Robert Frost