Things like this tend to happen to me rather often.
When it was time to choose foreign languages at school, I was ready to learn anything, but German. Not only did I not want to learn the language, but knew next to nothing about the country and had no desire to learn more. Today I live in Germany, speak (some) German and absolutely love this place.
When I turned 18 and it was time to choose my first car, I had only two criteria: not green and… guess what? Not German. What car do you think I finally got? Exactly. A green Opel!
I always consider myself to be a big city girl and on top of that in my childhood memories I absolutely dreaded the moment when grandparents took me to their garden, even if the only thing I had to do there was eating fresh fruits and berries.
Today I still live in a city (even though the total population is far below what I thought was acceptable), but start feeling better and better about gardens which I hated so much as a child. Judging by the history, I ought to own one someday 
Even though I say we live in the city, I have to admit it is more at the city limits. Stuttgart is officially finishing literally a couple of hundred meters away from our house. This week we went for a walk after a hard working day and I was really amazed how much I enjoyed something that would seem totally opposite to me just a couple of years ago,
The area is very green. Our neighbours are forests, fields and Schrebergärten.
Schrebergarten or Kleingarten (or simply “ogorod” in Russian) is something I thought was a pure Eastern European phenomenon. This proved to be wrong. Apparently fourteen countries in Europe have communities of “small gardens” with Germany leading the game with over one million of them.
Jogging or walking through Schrebergärten became one of our regular activities. During our last walk we were even dreaming how cool it would be to have one of those for ourselves.
In that moment I thought – isn’t it a perfect illustration to the saying “never say never”?! Think I might give this Schrebergarten thing a chance… 
And of course the full Schrebergarten gallery – aren’t they really sweet?!
Is this a familiar feeling to you? Did things happen to you, that you thought could never happen?
Ha, we sound totally the same! Right after high school I swore I would never live in a big city (I hated them!), but then a few years later I found myself living in San Francisco, then San Diego, the London, then Berlin…. apparently I like big cities quite a lot.
I also had NO desire to visit Germany, but then we found ourselves there housesitting for a bit, and then spent some time in Berlin, and I loved it. Berlin is now one of my favorite cities — go figure!
Christy @ Technosyncratic recently posted..Tulips and Windmills in Holland: A Photo Essay
I like these little gardens. You see them along the side of the train tracks a lot. I don’t think I would own one, but they are quite cool.
I have no clue if it is still on, but years ago there was a German sitcom based around several families that spent their weekends in one of these garden communities.
Andrew recently posted..Ups and Downs of Heidelberg
@Christy @ Technosyncratic: Hehe
I start becoming more cautious though and try not to say NO to anything without giving it a good thought. Guess we become wiser (or just more experienced) with age. But anyway very happy to hear I am not the only one 
@Andrew: Would love to see this sitcom! Do you remember the name by any chance? We used to have those in Russia on exactly the same topic and they were always one of the funniest. Would also be good for my German skills
I don’t remember. I’ll ask around the office with a description and see if I can find someone that remembers.
Andrew recently posted..Ups and Downs of Heidelberg
@Andrew: Thanks, Andrew!
Just found your blog! awesome
Thank you very much!
Pingback:Tools Today – Tool Blog» Blog ArchiveA little piece of paradise » Tools Today - Tool Blog