Nursing school and a visit back to my home country...
Earlier this week I completed my written exams for nursing school here in Germany. I still have practical exams and my oral exam, and then I will be done.
Just a quick rundown of how these exams work, because they are so different from the US. To complete nursing school in Germany, you have to pass all three of your written exams (2 hours each, all essay (mostly, some short response answers), your practical exams (4 hours interacting with your patient, documentation, planning and organizing), and oral exams (30 minutes prep on a example situation, 30 minutes answering any question relevant to the situation). I must pass all of them, and I will not know my results until after the last one is completed. This whole thing takes approximately 3 months (I will be complete with my oral exams in mid July). If I happen to not pass any part I have to repeat the entire 3rd year of school, and I get one more time to attempt taking these exams.
It's a lot, and so different and stressful. I have studied so much more than I thought possible, and I still couldn't remember all of it. I see how my age has affected my ability to remember, and the difficulties in studying and memorizing it all.
However the big push is now over. I have completed the written exams and I now have a month until my practical exams. So I thought, why not write a quick blog and let ya'll know how I'm doing across the pond.
Much better. I started studying early, so at the end my stress was ok. I was able to remain mostly calm, dealing with some fear and so on. I had some great classmates that I studied with regularly, and that helped motivate me a ton. Sven had to deal with me studying and being generally much more forgetful than normal, off and on…very stressed and easily irritable, and simply someone not having a lot of time for our relationship. I am sure we all know situations like that in our lives, when the stress of it all impacts those around us. I felt and feel that, and am happy that I am slowly moving in a direction, where the stress is reducing itself. Where the stress is more a question of everyday existence and not existential questions (what if I don't make it, what does that mean for my life in Germany, how can I get a residency permit if I don't pass, how do I get allowance to stay here? What will I do with myself? All of these questions regularly plaguing my mind).
Here I would like to openly acknowledge my partner, family and friends who helped to support me these past couple of years, especially this past year as everything has come to a head. I am very grateful for the love and support I received and will do my best in the time to come, to show that appreciation with words and actions.
So what else have I been up to? Honestly mostly studying and finishing Nursing school. I have done the occasional short kayak, bouldering and other sport-like things. I also visited Mallorca with Sven back at the end of February, where we generally went hiking, enjoyed the island and tried to relax and recover from normal life. So work, studying, and a little bit of adventure and travel.
Coming up is completing Nursing school (hopefully passing all of my remaining exams), and another reason for this post: visiting the US.
With the successful completion of Nursing school, I will be boarding a plane and coming to Oregon for the first 3 weeks of August. I would love to see you all, and hope we can figure some of that out. My main focus will be spending time with my mother, as her health is not what it used to be. So to my family who would like to visit, let's get together at my moms house and maybe do some canning or other such activities??
For anyone else who would like to see me, please reach out and let's make some plans together. I miss you all and am looking forward to my visit back to my home country. Much love from across the pond.