It’s late at night and I’m sitting in front of my computer after having spent a wonderful day with my parents who are currently here to visit. Suddenly everything is so easy again. We don’t have to call early in the morning or late at night and we don’t have to calculate the exact time difference between Germany and New Zealand. We just talk and connect. And that feels wonderful.

Somehow time difference is one of the hardest things for me to cope with while being so far away from everyone. Or maybe not time difference itself but what it stands for? I never really get used to people eating breakfast when I am already tired and want to go to bed. I am not in my chattiest mode then either. And in the mornings I usually like to start the day slowly, fully wake up, have some coffee and then eventually be ready for the world. If I however want to talk to friends or family on the other half of the world, I have to just get over my waking up process and make some calls because they are going to go to bed soon.

All in all, not that hard, sure. But it’s just hard enough so that keeping in touch is often just a wee bit unconvenient. Calling later or tomorrow sounds like a good option only that later is no good because they are in bed then and tomorrow is no different from today. It somehow makes it very clear to me that the world I live in at the moment is a long way from the one I used to live in. And that’s with internet, email and cheap international phone rates. But still, a long way.