On self-discovery, and bodies of water

Because that's why you go abroad, right? To discover yourself in a way you can't at home.

I was thinking of this when I was in Hamburg last weekend and riding around the Elbe on a ferry, and again today when I made my usual visit to the Turkish Market in Kreuzberg. The market is along the Maybachufer, a branch of the Spree River here in Berlin. Part of my Friday afternoon ritual involves getting a coffee at a stand at the end of the long row of market stands, and drinking it as I look out on the river. There are lots of swans, and there's usually a family with small children standing next to me, leaning against the ledge and throwing bread down to them. The river reflects the sun and the clouds and the various colors of the leaves. It's one of my favorite parts of the city.

And today, I was standing against the ledge, enjoying the mild fall weather, and I thought to myself: wherever I end up, it's got to be a city with a river. I don't want to forgo moments like this.

So, there's one thing I feel sure about in an uncertain future. I have a ticket to fly out of Berlin next summer, and I'm not at all sure I want to leave. I'm applying to enter grad school next fall, and I'm not at all sure I want to go.

But I'm pretty sure that I want to be near a river, wherever life takes me.