Affirmation

The stars’ message finally broke through. Instead of my wishing upon them, it was them that were offering their best hopes for me on my excursion. Getting off at the train stations and placing my feet on the grounds of Köln for the first time just felt so right. I had bought a pair of boots specifically for the trip. My words to Dr. Kleine were: “My boots don’t resist the ground. They are very smooth.” He knew I wasn’t talking about the boots.

Somehow I didn’t feel as if I was in a different country. We were in Osnabrück for a majority of the time, and we visited Köln, Dresden, and Berlin. But my favorite place was Weimar. The beautiful old-fashioned town was adorned with statues of Goethe, Schiller, Bach and Shakespeare. Even the air had a scent of sophistication. I fancy myself Romantic (I should’ve been born in the 19^th century), which is why, perhaps, I was so drawn to here. My feelings about Germany so far can be summed up in Goethe’s own words: “Hier bin ich Mensch. Hier darf ich’s sein.” Here, I am   man. Here, I am allowed to be.