This afternoon a crowd of my in-laws converged on our house for the traditional German Sunday afternoon Kaffee & Kuchen. This doesn’t happen very often, maybe once a year, as they all live over an hour away. Anyone with in-laws will sympathize with the latent stress involved in being so outnumbered in one’s one home, and yet, for the first time in the twelve years I have lived here, I didn’t stress at all: I just enjoyed it.

In just a few weeks, we’re embarking on a new adventure and heading back to North America – specifically, to Canada. It’s an exciting time for us as we transition away from this culture and look forward to a new culture. I am consumed with moving activities: organizing, canceling, planning, informing, and of course, packing. And wondering. What will I miss? What am I looking forward to? When will the cultural honeymoon end, and what will drive me crazy in my new home? It’s so much fun to think about these things, so exciting to begin a new adventure, and honestly, after 12 years here, it is also great to be heading back to my own culture, albeit north of the border.

A quick rundown of things I suspect I will miss from Germany:

• Food
• Beer and wine
• Public transport
• Soccer euphoria
• Building standards

And what do I look forward to in my new host culture?

• Something resembling my home culture!
• Convenience
• Friendliness
• Space
• Wide open space
• Water
• Good music

I’m sure these lists will both get longer as I figure out life as a multi-culti family in another setting and very close to my home culture (and my family! yeah!)

I look forward to sharing our journey as a “German” family abroad!

Check our Jane’s previous post on relocating back to Germany from the USA.