Posts Tagged ‘Skype’

After two months of living in LA I don’t really feel like I moved to the other end of the world. Sure, I do live in a foreign country with a foreign language and have to go through many (good and bad) changes. But I don’t really feel like I totally abonded my family and friends. And luckily I haven’t really been homesick at all so far. But there is still a thing that makes it kind of hard for Flo and me right now. Since we moved to our new apartment we do not have an Internet access. We both luckily can use the Internet at work to stay in contact with our family and friends but still it is hard to not be able to talk to your loved ones for three weeks.

We luckily will get Internet on Monday and I really can’t wait to talk to my parents, to watch my little niece have breakfast on Skype and to chat with all our friends. This experience of living without Internet in a foreign country kind of gave me the impression of how it must have been like to emigrate years ago. I am so unbelievably happy for having the opportunity to call my parents daily, to stay in contact with friends via chat and E-Mail daily and through that still be close to everyone. I really don’t know if I would have taken that step without the Internet or without being that Internet-savvy person that I am.

We might enjoy our last free weekend without long phone calls and chat sessions a bit, but I really look forward to being back online and connected!

To all our family members and friends reading this: We miss you!

Yesterday I cried for the first time in this whole emigration process. I had to say Goodbye to one of my lovely girlfriends and it nearly broke my heart. I actually hold back the tears till I was out of the door. I didn’t want to cry in front of her, because crying makes Goodbyes so much harder. The worst thing is seeing how your actions hurt your friends and family.

On Sunday I had to say Goodbye to my brother, who is working in Hamburg this week. That was actually really easy, because my brother said that this Goodbye is not for long and that he isn’t afraid of not seeing me, because there are phones, Skype and we actually are only a 12 hour flight away. After that I hoped that most of my friends will be easy like that, but yesterday proofed me wrong. Even when you know that this Goodbye is not for long and that you won’t lose people for good, it just hurts!

After yesterday I am a bit scared of all the Goodbyes lying ahead of us. Today I will have to say Farewell to three of my girlfriends, on Friday we will meet Flo’s best friend and on Saturday I have to part from my grandma, my sister-in-law and my niece and nephew. I don’t know how many tears I will shed in the next days, but perhaps losing them now is not the worst thing. Because dealing with all this parting pain now might make the next weeks easier.

But still, for everyone who will have to part from loved ones soon: Do cry! It actually helps!

Sometimes I am so afraid that I am gonna miss out on everything important that will happen to my loved ones in the future! Weddings, children, new boy- or girlfriends, new jobs, new flats, new houses, new cars and so much more. That thought sometimes nearly kills me. And in all those moments I am so thankful for the generation I grew up in, the job I am working in and about the web 2.0.

E-Mail, Facebook, Skype – all of those things make it so much easier for me to leave and for me to keep up with everyone I love! I kind of realized it when I called my ex colleague to congratulate her to her birthday and she told me that she got married today. She waited for her boyfriend to ask her for ages and when he finally popped the question they decided to get married alone and not tell anyone before the big day. When I finally got her on the phone today I asked her, if she will post her new status on Facebook and she was like “yes, I already did”. And guess what: I missed out on that, because I wasn’t on Facebook at that moment, but in the kitchen baking cupcakes.

Sometimes it scares me how far our lives are becoming online. But for me as a future american resident, this is kind of the best devolopment ever! If only it weren’t for the time difference. But I will learn how to cope with that, too!

PS: 2011 = 20 + 11 = 31