To me, October has always been a month of transition. The sun sets earlier, the weather becomes cool and crisp, and the drawn-out languid grasp of summer gets shaken off. In Germany, this effect only seems to have magnified.
I knew the change in climate would be more noticeable in Germany, since Orlando does a great job at maintaining it’s swampy climate year-round. Having been born and raised in Florida, it was my first time seeing a drastic transition in the landscape. Within a span of three days, the green foliage blushed red and orange tones. It was quite nice to see, but on the inside I couldn’t help but dread that it was only an omen of cold weather. Within another three days the leaves had fallen, and most of what was left were a few stubborn brown leaves.
It was on the 29th of October that the second transition hit me unexpectedly. Because of daylight savings, the sun officially set at 5:09 pm. Still holding the expectation of semi-long post summer days, it was a true surprise to have it be dark as night by 6:00pm. I was also surprised to find out that Americans weren’t the only ones that had the bad habit of practicing daylight savings.
On October 30th I had my first birthday away from home. I feel blessed to say that I celebrated with a wonderful group of new people I met in my time abroad. Ironically, it also signaled no transition, since the drinking age in Germany is eighteen. For the first time the weather had dipped below freezing, and the next morning the grass was peppered with morning frost.
Even things outside of nature are beginning to pick up. The friendly beginning-of-semester lecture pace is no longer there. I’m beginning to get interviews for internship positions. The deadline for my semester paper is approaching quickly. I even had my first dream in German (a sign of progression in language skills). I can only hope that most changes coming at this rapid pace are positive, and that November welcomes me with even better developments.
