#lifechange — Public Fediverse posts

5 years ago tomorrow I would be getting on a plane at 2 am. It was a decision that would change my life and my person forever. Five years ago I moved from Colorado, USA to Germany on my Birthday. I have tattoos, piercings, I've been a head chef, my personality is changed, I learned a new language, I have a wife. The person that got on that plane died in a lot of ways. I feel 18 hours of air travel can do that to a person.

I have scared a great deal of my old friends with the changes. Germany's idea of freedom is very different to the USA. The USA has a habit of imposing it's freedom on others, including it's own citizens. I feel it's one of the stronger portions of dox culture. I'm now tempered with German privacy and the idea that my life and needs end at your nose. That plus the rudimentary German shortness and efficiency has had many people interpret me as a bitch or a Zicke depending on the language. I don't really mind, many people have said they prefer the new me.... dramatically.

My American Fire has been tempered by German Cold.

Integration has led to a great deal in my temperament and politics but also to grow closer to my wife, Tally. We are somehow getting close to the longest relationship I've ever had. I've never met a better match. Not like a matching left hand, more like a perfect fitting glove.

Estrogen, living abroad and searching for citizenship, age, time, and experience have seasoned me into something that is very clearly an evolution of what I was but I am changed. I don't mourn that change. I like me much more now. I don't even mourn the loss of my English abilities for new German faculties. It's a lot to take in what 5 years can change and I thought, as a trans woman, I would be much more used to massive five year changes .... aber naja.

Setting that first foot on Frankfurt Flughafen was the first step into a new life. One small step for women, one giant leap for lesbian-kind.

The two pictures are some of my favorites. The first is me at my last job in the US, the second on the right is from my wedding day two months ago.

#lifechange #immigrantlife #lgbtjoy