Saturday, December 8, 2018

Life and Games

Day two in Deutschland has been dominated by an odd thought- I've felt as though I'm living out a RPG experience.

For the unfamiliar, RPGs typically start with your character having very little. As the game progresses,you build knowledge and gains skills necessary to win. You level up when you reach certain thresholds, making you more powerful. I played a lot of Dragon Warrior and the subsequent Dragon Quest games, and it's always the same premise.

Today, I've felt like I'm at level 0. We have very little- no car or phones, with few options in walking distance for food or entertainment. We're in an unfamiliar place, and must walk around to learn the map. Our only network access is via tablet, which (I'm finding) makes it harder to do many things (like blog*). We're quite restricted. Like a RPG, we have to explore the map and learn the ropes necessary to get by. Walking to the grocery store and mall felt like our first steps to familiarity. We're not at level 1 yet, but we soon will be.

Like a RPG, there are characters around to help, and they're all willing to lend a hand. Everyone here has played this game before - they're still playing- and they know what it's like to be at the start.

Of course, life isn't modelled on RPGs - it's the other way around. But the similarity stuck with me today and provided an odd degree of amusement. Need to level up soon.

*I'm learning to HATE autocorrect.

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