Back to Germany

On 31 July I was informed that my expatriate contract in Shanghai would not be extended. I moved immediately to a service apartment for a month and then moved back to Germany finally, while my second daughter still needed to stay and to finish the high school in Shanghai. There are lot of moving, packing, un-packing, finding apartments, finding a job back to Germany. But we made it. The transition phase is now ended, fortunately. Good news is that our cat survived all the stress and settled down again in the new apartment in Shanghai with my second daughter and my wife.

While I am now in Germany, I really appreciate the life here. Compare to Shanghai Germany is clean, quiet and peaceful. People are more reliable, predictable and polite. No one would take your right in the public traffic away. I also registered my car within only 20 minutes almost without waiting time. There is no need to rush, at all. No internet censure. You can sit nicely in your garden under the sun, drinking your bear, talk about any topic you like, without thinking about your work, your internal and external competition, your boss, your colleagues, your expatriate contract extension.

During the transition period, I focused on two things daily: practising guitar and jogging. Those two activities kept my soul and body fit and centred. I also visualised my long term goals regularly, that way every thing I experienced became a special meaning. Or I assigned unconsciously a special meaning to every thing I experienced. And I learned that my family really care me. They are my core team.

Life is full of surprises. Life is full of challenges. I believe that challenges are sent to people who can handle them in order to grow spiritually. This is the positive intention of any difficult event.