Jan

I had a beautiful night with my friend Jan, who I know from his stay with my family as a foreign exchange student through the acedemic year of 2007. He lives in Potsdam, and since I'd been in Berlin for close to two weeks, we were overdue to meet. I sat on the stoop of my apartment waiting. On time, he walked around the corner and took a seat next to me. It was surreal seeing him. He had grown into his features and had cut his long hair. We set out for some coffee to catch up. Afterward, we went to the grocery store and picked up some supplies for a pasta dinner. Conversation was natural. We had a lot to talk about. It was incredibly insightful to learn about each other's lives after and in relation to our time together in America. We shared openly our thoughts and opinions, both retrospectively and currently. We broke through and acknowleged social taboos which at one point we thought were important to keep intact. The night came to a close after some time and some wine were spent. We agreed to meet again later. 

My mother, father and sister were excited to hear about my meeting with Jan. We will always consider him a member of our family.