I still remember that day

As I marched towards my first lecture on the first day of my fourth semester, I was overcame with trepidation and I could feel beads of cold sweat breaking out, although the temperature hovered nowhere above 10°C. I especially dislike that particular subject that I was going to attend.

I was a few minutes early and the dreaded lecturer wasn’t there yet. Surprisingly the lecture hall was almost half full and there were a few familiar faces that shared the first semester with me and there were a handful of new faces as well. What was I expecting anyway? After a few exchange of greetings with some old acquaintances, I quickly grabbed my seat on the second row while mentally preparing myself for the dreadful hour ahead.

Not long after that the lecturer marched in, carrying a box full of lecture scripts for the semester and immediately distributing it to everyone. As I was still unsure about the learning material on hand and my German was still wasn’t that good yet, I turned over to the person sitting next to me to confirm with him about what the lecturer had just said.

He answered my question with a friendly tone, confirming me that I heard the lecturer correctly. As I thought that it might be a good idea to make some more German friends, I asked him his name.

It wasn’t until months later, you told me that you were taken by surprise that I asked you your name. I thought it was common courtesy to address someone with his/her name rather than just plain ‘Excuse me’. But apparently Germans have another way of thinking. Since that day, you started to notice me.

Months later, we started dating and up till now I still smiled at that memory of our encounter during that first day.

Who would have thought now that this is the fifth time I’m celebrating your birthday with you. Happy birthday, honey!