The past few days, I have visited and said goodbye to some friends and families. Met some people for lunch or dinner dates and enjoyed American cuisine before off to the land of Wurst. Don't get me wrong, I am sure I will like German food (more than I liked Korean food, aka. vegetables and kimchi), but I will miss some good ol' fashioned American eats. And that's fine.
I worked at the daycare at Boone Meadow three days last week to raise a little extra spending money and had a good time. The teachers and some of the staff wished me luck on my adventure. One of them demanded I bring them back some chocolate......we'll see.
But today was probably my busiest day. I woke up and went to Pleasant View to visit my friend and mentor, Mrs. Hampton, and some other teachers I had gotten to know during my time student teaching. It was nice to catch up and to see a few former students and update my old "coworkers" what my very near future held. Then I met up with my brother for a farewell lunch--Long John Silver's. I knew there would be NOTHING like it in Germany, so I had to go there. It was a lovely lunch getting to sit down and chit-chat with my brother before leaving.
Then the packing adventure with my mom...
After looking up on Air Berlin's website the dimensions of carry-on baggage, it became clear that people in Germany must travel light. Because let me tell you, the carry-on restrictions are crazy. My backpack BARELY (and I mean barely) fits. I also had to do a lot of conversions. I have a hard enough time visually rendering a 3-dimensional object in inches. Air Berlin wanted me to do it in centimeters. No.
Then we knew the one checked bag that I get has to be under 23 kg (50 lbs). So the challenge was on! I had to decide what I needed to take and what I would just have to buy when I land. My mom and I weighed out pros and cons and different options and we jammed that sucker full. This list is what we managed to fit in there and be about 5 pounds under our limit:
1 winter jacket
1 winter hat
1 pair of winter gloves
1 pair of PJ pants
2 pairs of shoes
2 pairs of khaki pants
3 pairs of jeans
2 khaki shorts
9 t-shirts
A lot of underwear and socks
6 sweaters/thermals
5 Polos
1 light jacket
1 sweatshirt
Toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, and shampoo
I might have forgotten a couple of things. But yeah, it was pretty impressive.
I leave tomorrow (today, I guess) at about 1 PM. I will go to NYC. Then to Berlin. And finally Munich. From Munich I will probably take a train to Ulm. The parents could not get off work to come get me at the airport, so their neighbor will be picking me up. I can only assume he will speak English. The mom even said that they might not be home when we get to the house, so the neighbor will have a key to let me in. Which, I think, would be a funny way to start.
Also, I have been so overwhelmed with the support and generosity of people in my life. I am truly blessed to have them there. They have made this process so much more easy. Many have eased my mind, reassuring me that Germany is an awesome place and that I will love it. People have been encouraging of my decision to go see the world now, while I can. So thank you to those people--you know who you are.
Anywho, I am going to try to sleep. Not sure how much sleep I will get, though. Thanks for reading! Now, your quote:
"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowline, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain
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