A strange thing is happening (or happened? I'm having a hard time with tenses today because everything is RIGHT NOW). I suppose it was a gradual process but it hit me out of the blue. There I was, going along in my little bubble, when suddenly things around me started to make sense. People were talking and I was understanding. The TVs in the U Bahn didn't just have pretty pictures, they had words. Words that I could read. Someone asked me a question on the street and I replied. I asked for English menus in a restaurant and they gave them to everyone else, not me. I laughed at a joke. The bubble has burst. No longer can I wander without taking in the headlines, the loud speaker announcements, the conversations of strangers. When my friends are talking I know what they're talking about (take note friends!). I never realized how much I was missing (and I can't wait until I look back at now and say the same thing). I'm going to call this living and not just surviving.