Ascencia Fike

On keeping your identity while living abroad

The first time I got off the train from Vienna to Salzburg, I think it was 7 in the evening, I was with two of my classmates. Then we met three others who were waiting for us at the station. We had to quarantine for 5 days and get tested after, because COVID was still there (I hope it all ends soon). Thanks to our other classmates, we were able to get some groceries from the supermarket at the train station.

I was hungry and exhausted, so seeing all these food made me happy. I got some bread, fruits, vegetables, yogurt. Then I went to the checkout.

I’ve learned German in high school for a year, continued learning it on and off through my college years using Duolingo, and lately, for a few months before going here, I used the DW course.

But when I got to the checkout, I couldn’t seem to form sentences in German.

It’s boring until you can break the rules

When I was a kid, my mom encouraged me to enroll in everything that I showed even slight interest in. I’ve joined ballet classes, art classes, computer classes, to name a few.

I was also told to enroll in an English course. Most of my friends went to this one place, because first, it’s the nearest from school, and second, it’s pretty affordable with decent quality teacher and curriculum.

I joined the free trial class one day. It was not fun. We were told to repeat one sentence over and over again. I don’t remember exactly what and how now, because it’s a blur for me. But my parents remembered this vividly, because they told me I told them at that time that I didn’t want to join the course.

So I didn’t.

How was my 2020? What will I do in 2021?

(See my reflection/resolution posts from previous years here: 2018 and 2019).

As we all know, 2020 has not been what we expected at the beginning of it. So many firsts for the modern civilization that we live in.

So many losses, too.

I’m one of the lucky ones, since I didn’t lose anyone from my close circles and family members. I also have been working remotely even before the pandemic, so my life hasn’t really changed except that I couldn’t work at cafes.