I really hope that some of this blog makes sense. And its quite long. Enjoy!
I was officially approved to leave Friday on Monday at about 5:30 pm. I booked my flights and started the process of packing!!
My flight left at about 9:30pm US time on Friday and was to arrive in London at about 9:45am. And I was to have a 10:50 flight to Frankfurt to arrive at 1:35pm Germany time.
My first flight ended up being 7 and a half hours, getting into London around 10:15am. The flight was good, despite some awkward moments with the guy I was sitting next to, including him being right handed and me being left handed and having to eat "dinner" (it was like 11pm) without hitting each other. I thought the food was very good though and if it wasn't good then I had left over Chipotle that I brought in my carry on. I also thought it was a good idea to drink out of my water bottle at about 2am which then proceeded to fountain out of the mouth piece all over me and the poor woman who I was standing by. She did have a very lovely British accent though.
My ticket to Germany said you needed to board by 10:30am. And when I say we got in at 10:15, I was walking (running) off the plane then, at a satellite terminal, where we then had to bus over to the airport. Little did I know that this wasn't like BWI, or any other US airport that I have been to where you get off the plane and can either change planes or go down to baggage. You had to go through security again! So if you had filled up your water before boarding your first flight you then had to dump it into a trash can. Luckily there was a fast track lane through the little customs. So I at least got to skip one line. When I got up to the customs lady she scanned my ticket and I told her I may have missed my flight (because at this point it was 10:35am) she said I didn't miss it, but she did not tell me that it was delayed, so I was still in a state of panic as I was rushing up the escalator, to wait in the 15 min security line.
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| Waiting for the bus to the airport |
I have never traveled internationally by myself before, so I was kinda freaking out this whole time worried about missing my flight and having to reschedule on my own. But I ended up getting through security and saw the departure board and saw
that my flight was delayed until 12. Thank God! Because I would have never made it if it was on time. Now I had a little bit of time to
chill out because at this point it was almost 11am. The airport ended up
having 45 min of free Wifi, so I was able to sit at the gate and get on
Facebook and text my parents to let them know I made it to London, even
though it was 5am US time. I also emailed Gary and Helena to let them
know that my flight was delayed.
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| Flying into London |
The flight from London to Frankfurt was only about an hour and 30 minutes long. I had the window seat again. After not sleeping more than 30 minutes on my "overnight" flight, and adrenaline getting me through the airport, I was quite exhausted when I sat down. I ended up sleeping about an hour on this flight. There was a lady that was sitting on the isle (the middle was empty!) who was quite the character. She was on her way home from Australia, and had spent about 4 weeks there and was on her 30th hour of travel. Initially she started talking to me in German and when I didn't respond she realized that I was American and started talking to me in English. One of the things I've realized so far is almost everyone speaks English here, and if they don't, there is likely someone in the room who does and can translate. And the kids speak German and English so last resort I can get Carmen to translate for me. For instance, she ordered me a Jelly Dodger today at the market. :)
Helena picked me up at the airport. I made it through customs and unfortunately, the guy stamped my passport over top of the only other stamp in that book. (I just renewed my passport last may). It was very frustrating. Hopefully they can stamp in a different place when I go up to England with the family in less than two weeks. (11 hours in the car with 4 kids is going to be an adventure in itself)
It was about an hour and a half drive to Mosbach from Frankfurt. When we got to the city we went over to the place I am staying to get a key. (I will post photos once I get everything organized and set up). Then we went over and I met the kids. They are quite precious. I ate my leftover Chipotle for dinner and then I went over an Gary helped me bring my 150 lbs of luggage up to my room. I did a little unpacking, went back over to the Witherall house, got some bedding and then passed out for the night, (at about 9pm). I was very determined to make it to 9 without a nap. I ended up sleeping pretty well. Considering it was 3pm US time when I went to bed I woke up on the hour to the church bells the first three hours and then slept from 12am-8:30am.
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| These are the steps up to the Witherall house. |
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| Church (It was all in German, but luckily one of the OM workers provides translation) |
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| This is the church building |
This morning we went to church and I met a bunch of people that work with OM over here, and of course I don't remember any of their names. After lunch we went to the little restaurant that I live above for lunch. Today is actually their last day open, because they sold the building and are moving. But we think the new owners are going to turn it into a little coffee shop. So that should be fun! After lunch I took like a 2.5 hour nap then I went and walked down the street to try and find an ATM, but after about 30 min and some painful window shopping I went back to the family's home and then we all went to explore the little festival that was happening outside together. Usually all of the shops are closed on Sundays but they weren't today for the festival so we were able to go in some shops and the kids got their faces painted. We went back to the house and made waffles for dinner, they were quite yummy. And I helped clean up while Gary and Helena put the kids to bed and I have been writing this mammoth of a blog ever since.
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| Carmen (7 years old on Tuesday) wanted her face painted like a clock, Juliette (3) got the same. |
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| This is the center of town! |
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| The marching band coming down the pedestrian zone that woke me up! | |
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| My view to the right |
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| The view to the left |
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| The view right out front of my apartment. |
Its been a crazy few days. Tomorrow I am going to the language school to meet with the teacher and get my books for the first Module. I have been teaching myself German through the Duolingo app on my phone but so far I haven't learned anything that has been helpful.
I need to start working on my personal statement and my grad school applications in these next few days. Hopefully I can get everything done this week and then I won't have to worry about them anymore, but we will see how that goes between jet lag and adjusting to living in a new Country.
