Tag: Mikeala Sparks

By msparks714

6 Jan 2017•

It’s 5am and I hear something. It’s soft and in the distance but with the winter fully encompassing this city, it’s dark and I can’t see it. Exactly seven months ago today, I was laying here, on the same couch–just awoken by a different part of nature. It was the summer and the sun beamed into the window and the soft clanging of tracks of the Sbahn were so exciting I couldn’t sleep. Today, the excitement is different and reflective, it’s like the seasons are on my side in terms of emotions because as I get up and walk to the window, I open it to a field of white snow and the light pattering of fresh flakes hitting the ground. I’ve come full circle on this part of my life. It’s the sixth of January 2017 and this is the last day of the segment of my time here. It is also the first day of the new piece of my life and I couldn’t feel more complete. ...continue reading "zu Mitnehmen"

By msparks714

I close my eyes and breathe in deeper than I think I ever have before. It doesn't really matter though because the deepest black I've ever experienced is fully engulfing me. I can feel the rush of the wind coming from the left side of me, off of the glacier, full force nipping at my nose. It doesn't matter though, this is the purest air I think my lungs have ever had. My ears cry out to be next...it's a creek maybe; waterfall? I can hear the water rushing through the forest. As for my physical body I'm standing, five layers of gear deep, in the middle of a ice covered field. After I let the senses take everything in, I tilt my head back and open my eyes. I'm speechless, I don't know how to share everything I experienced. The Stars. They were brighter than I think I've ever seen or that I'll ever see again. It was as if someone had turned on a switch and every constellation had just gotten new bulbs so they were brighter than ever, closer together than I'd ever seen...Am I actually just in a simulation, when do I wake up? ...continue reading "64º North"

By msparks714

“What language are they speaking?” I could hear over my shoulder…wait what language are they asking that question in? Turkish, right, that’s where we are. It all just seemed too natural. “Englisch.” I heard the other man reply.

“Möchten Sie auch ein Tee?”
Ja, gerne. Dankeschön. ...continue reading "وَعَلَيْكُمُ السَّلَامُ"

By msparks714

I am certain that some of you may be wondering what the name actual stands for. For starters, my good friend Merriam Webster tells us that “Expat” is a noun and short for Expatriate. Expatriate then is “a person who lives outside their native country.” So I think that explains the logic behind why I myself, at this very moment, am an expatriate.

Every day though, my situation becomes a little more complex. For instance, when people look at me, I am the epitome of what a “typical German person” is. (We’ll talk more later about why that actually doesn’t exist.) Nonetheless, the people at stores speak to me in German, I’ve never had a problem at the airport, and until I open my mouth and start to speak–I could pretty well pass for a young German student just riding my bike to school everyday. That, my friends, is what sometimes makes things difficult. ...continue reading "Call Me the Internal Expat"

By msparks714

There wasn’t a standing ovation, but everyone kept clapping. And clapping….and clapping. I sat there is awe and I was really brought into the story. I was amazed and yet as I looked onto that stage I could see that, though there was a continual applause, there was something being hidden. Neither me nor anyone in the audience could do anything but clap, we couldn’t fix it, we couldn’t even imagine it, all we could do is sit there and clap. But the reality is, it’s not our reality. We are so detached from the performance and so what would it really be like to stand on the stage and accept a fifteen minute applause when you knew that no-one in the entire audience understood you. ...continue reading "Untethered and Privileged"