It’s Friday. And I have 5 minutes. So I’m playing with Lisa-Jo and company today and joining the awesome group that makes up the 5-Minute-Friday community.

Here’s the gig, straight from Lisa Jo’s blog:

Now, set your timer, clear your head, for five minutes of free writing without worrying about getting it right.

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.

2. Link back here and invite others to join in. 

3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community…

And so, without further ado, I give you my five minutes on the word

Again.

Amazing the people whose faces I get to know after living here only 7 months. Like the bus driver lady who drives 307. The Unkrainian couple from my German class. I see them walk down the street several times a week. Today I saw them. Again. We recognize each other and smile and nod. And, every time, my heart jumps a bit because, well, the fact is I live in a foreign country and I know people who live here.

We’ve become familiar faces on routine routes. The butcher lady who probably cringes inside when she watches me enter that always-open glass door of hers. I wonder if she dreads my pointing and grunting and asking for things I really dont want. Again.

And the lady at the bakery. She’s always on alert, I think, when my face enters the picture. Here’s the hard-to-understand-lady with the nervous laugh and the always smile. Again. Then I order my croissant and my cappuccino, and she’s always so nice.

I like that I’m living here long enough to have agains. It makes me feel like I really live here. Helps me soak up the whole of the adventure I’m living. So when I get home, I will always have these memories.

And 5 minutes is up. But I want to end how I started.

Again.