Frankfurt

So much is going on right now. The pages of notes I have for entries continue to pile up and hopefully I will get to them in the near future. However, the big news is that I’ve reached the final round of interviews for a translation/editing position in Frankfurt. I leave Albania tomorrow and will spend a few days there for an on-site interview.

This is all pretty unexpected. On one hand, I’m so excited and hopeful; making plans about what my potential future could be like. On the other, I’m terrified to get my hopes up too high and want to be realistic about things. I’m walking a line straight through the middle. At the very least, I’ll see a new city and get valuable interview practice (not to mention having a great visit while I’m there, too). If that’s the very least I walk away with from all of this, I will still be happy. There is time to make other plans and arrangements if it doesn’t work and I am feeling positive.

It will also be a good trial run. Aside from my trip to the US in October, I haven’t spent any time in the West the last two years. The way things are done in the East, and especially in developing countries, is incredibly different. I don’t worry so much about potential culture shock, but I do worry about my abilities to adapt and adjust back to Western life. I spent more time than I’d care to mention analyzing the Frankfurt city rail map and feeling confused and overwhelmed. Street names? Infrastructure? Things that run on somewhat of a set schedule? With set prices?

It’s keeping these things in mind that makes me think I’ll continue this blog for at least a few months after I go back to the West, if only to keep track of all the confusion in my head when I have to re-learn how I used to live.