Could we do it? Would we want to?

I met with a faculty member last week to talk about my research and while we were talking, she mentioned that a prominent institute in Berlin does a lot of work in my field and that they offer postdocs, from 1-3 years. My first thought was that we'd never do that. In a million years, I couldn't imagine uprooting us AGAIN, to move overseas. When I told John about it, that seemed to be his thought as well. But then the idea started worming its way around in our heads, and settled in for a stay. We talked about it some more the next day. Could we do it? Could we live in Berlin? John would be able to get a job there, relatively easily. There's the language barrier, of course, but that's not insurmountable. So maybe we could do it. Would we want to? We're pretty far away from our families and friends now-- Berlin, clearly, would be an even greater distance. Would we be able to live an ocean away from everything we know and love? The scaredy-cat side of me wants to hide under the covers, just thinking about it. But the other side of me-- the side that decided to go to graduate school so far away in the first place-- knows that it would be the chance of a lifetime. And it would open up doors to a really good job once we came back. And, hey, it would be a limited engagement-- only 1-3 years. Could we do it? Would we want to?