Surviving Jasper

For the past 2 months, I have shared my tiny Manhattan studio with a crazy German named Jasper. Jasper is a smart, funny, laid back guy who is always up for a good time. He was the foreign exchange student my senior year in high school and somehow, some way I fell for his charm and we dated for about 9 months (go ahead and laugh, Alyssa - I know you want to). Even after we broke up, we remained good friends exchanging emails every week and the occasional visits across the pond. He was interning at the German consulate to the United Nations and hence became my roommate.

Although I was on a roller coaster of emotions while he was here (which I'm not really ready to talk about), there were many great moments. With Jasper, I attended church in Harlem, visited Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, walked the boardwalk and ate fried chicken at Coney Island, had brunch at 4:00 in the afternoon, attend a Broadway play, played basketball in Central Park on a random weeknight (he even ventured to the Bronx, but I was not that brave), attend my first "stummptist" which is basically a German party, met many new and interesting (and predominately foreign) people.....just to name a few. In a way, he helped me explore this wonderful city that I often take for granted.

Reflecting back on his stay, the best way for me to sum it up is that I survived. I survived his constant tardiness (I run 15 minutes ahead of schedule while he runs at least 30 minutes behind), I survived sharing a bathroom, I survived coming home to my flat being a wreck, I survived his loud music, I survived hearing German constantly, I survived our cultural differences (me from the Bible belt and him from post-Cold War Berlin), I survived our personality differences (me completely Type A and him completely Type B), and I even survived our differing views on politics and religion. With all this though, I did grow in many ways - I developed more patience, became more confident in my beliefs, learned that Trader Joe's is manageable, developed a deeper appreciation for my friends and family, and now have a amazing ability to quickly matched men's dress socks which all look the same.

I will miss Jasper, especially his uncanny ability to make me laugh and his laid back perspective on life when I am uptight. But overall, I'm relieved. Today was my first day without him. I had originally taken off work because he thought he was flying out today. In reality his flight was late last night. I have enjoyed this day so much. I slept in, had a great workout at the gym, cleaned my apt, went shopping, spent time at Barnes and Noble, read with a coffee, had a little dance party and took a nap. I'm looking forward to getting my life back in order - calling those many friends that I've neglected for the past 2 months, getting back in the swing of things at church, exploring the city with my NYC buddies, starting to read again, volunteering with Kate and Jennifer......basically just being me.

So I guess this post reflects my feelings right now - a messy mixture. Jasper is gone and I'm okay. And I guess the attitude I'm taking right now is that of my Nandy "Onward Ever!"