12/12 - The End

"And then it was done. Over with. Never to happen again."

- Lover Unbound

One year Würzburg is over. I'm back in Dortmund writing this. Still it feels unreal.

What did I learn? That it is okay to feel upset sometimes. That I am more confident than I thought. That not all people are supposed to stay in your life. That I am the one who has to be satisfied with what I do and say, not others. That I love my hometown more than I thought. That my writing, my photography and other things I do at work are not that bad. I learned to cheer for a local handball team and develop loyality for them. I learned to let go on things that make me feel unhappy.

And so much more.

I think I changed much during this year. I developed, became more confident. I can handle certain situations better than before, but I also became more cynical. 

This year away gave me many wonderful people I already miss. It gave me Pia, my Rock'n'Roll Queen and girl crush number one. It gave me Kristian, who is such a good friend (if only he would be able to finally handle the situation). It gave me Caro and Natalie, my sportsgirls and wolves. It gave me Annabell, my crazy and creative bunny friend. It gave me Susi, Caro and Felix, most amazing interns I worked with and such cool persons. It gave me Brigitte and Davide, sweetest couple and awesome friends. It gave me Anna, nature lover and advice machine. It gave me Meike, most fun person to ever work with. It gave me Lena, as bitter and cynical as me but also such a funny girl. It gave me Ralf, a colleague to have a good time with. It gave me my roommate Anna even more, sharing the times we never had together before. Most of all, it gave me Svenja, best friend and sister, my shelter in the roaring storm, my anchor in the raging sea. 

Now that this is over, I try to get back to normal life. I try to regain the things I neglected, especially sports and creativity, writing and photography. This year away also made me feel closer to my friends at home as I learned how much I miss them when they are not around.

Would I do this again? Probably yes. It feels good to be back at home though. But this year is a part of me now, this city is something I called home, these people are part of my life. I'm not going to let them go.

And when it comes to these friends I had to leave, there's just this one thing Brent Smith always says: It's never goodbye - it's just 'till next time.