{"id":801,"date":"2022-03-18T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-18T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/?p=801"},"modified":"2022-07-13T16:34:50","modified_gmt":"2022-07-13T14:34:50","slug":"the-simple-life-in-the-countryside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/2022\/03\/18\/the-simple-life-in-the-countryside\/","title":{"rendered":"The simple life in the countryside"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Cornelia Reiher<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few weeks ago, I went to a rural place in Germany\u2019s north for a holiday. In this area, the internet connection is still very bad and since I was looking for some peace it appeared to be the perfect place to spend some time enjoying the silence. I wanted to experience the simple rural life by taking long walks without meeting anyone, sitting in front of a wood-burning fireplace, waking up to the sound of the birds and ignoring my phone, emails and social media for a few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A beautiful and very remote place in Germany\u2019s northeast.<\/strong><\/em>
Copyright \u00a9 Cornelia Reiher 2022<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

However, a terrible storm raged over Germany and in addition to the bad internet connection, there was a power outage, leaving us with no other heating than the fireplace and without light and hot water. Although I found this romantic at first, I was soon longing for hot coffee, a warm shower and a warm meal and bedroom. Everywhere in the area, electricity went off and only one person in the small hamlet owned a gas oven where he made coffee and then visited every house to share it with his neighbors. We also borrowed candles from our hosts and we got quite inventive in warming ready-made soup on our fireplace and even managed to boil water (it took 15 minutes!) for coffee and the eggs we received from our hosts who raise chickens. Electricity and warm water were finally back after two days and I have never enjoyed a hot shower more in my entire life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n