Choices in Life III
My full-of-experiences 6-month stay in Hamburg is over. I ate Franzbroetchen in summer, I walked around the Alster in autumn, I went partying in St. Pauli, I ate pumpkin soups at the Bio-company, I found friends, I learned German, and left a part of myself in “the most beautiful city in the world”. Looking back at the first day when I arrived in Hamburg, it seems as if I were another person back then - one huge suitcase full of objects, most of them apparently useless and meaningless to have and carry around.
Before leaving Hamburg with feelings as random and mixed as the colour shades of a peacock’s tale, I take a look at the things I brought along 6 months ago. A good 30-40% of the latter lying stranded in one of my drawers - never touched, never used. It is like looking at a relationship after it’s over - in the beginning you do not know if it would work out, reality often does not meet the expectations, things are left unsaid and bother you at night. Such thoughts pass through my mind as I pack up the “left-overs” from my relationship with Hamburg - all the clothes I never wore, all the jewelry I never put on, all the books I never read, all the safety pins I never needed - things which once seemed important, now have lost their meaning.
50 kilograms of luggage later and I am on my way back to The Hague where my long-forgotten puzzle from Augsburg awaits my coming back. Deep in my wooden drawer, it has gradually become as meaningless as it were meaningful one year ago. I contemplate on what to put next to it now that I have a whole new set of useless objects from the past 6 months in Hamburg. Next time I leave home only with a backpack full of food and water, I figure, and my heart would be as light as a peacock feather!
If you are totally interested in the “puzzle story”, you can also read Choices in Life I and Choices in Life II :)
