(I wrote some of this on the plane. It’s kind of long. Actually really long! This blog will have a lot of details, so enjoy!)
I still can’t believe I’m actually studying abroad in Germany for a whole semester. It still doesn’t feel like reality. It only began to sink in when my parents and I were at the airport. Pretty much no tears until we were just sitting around before I went through security. Talking to my grandma on the phone started the whole crying spell and then everyone, even my dad, was crying. It was just so sad! Even though this is such an exciting experience, it was really hard to think about that at the time. All I could think about was how long it would be until I saw my parents again and how I couldn’t just go home for the weekend. I think that’s the thing that makes me the saddest. We delayed going through security as long as we could. I think I had a little less than an hour to sit at the gate (so nice!) I was still crying as I walked to my gate and one guy even told me it would be ok. Sweet, but didn’t really help! I just couldn’t stop crying! By boarding time I had pretty much wiped away all of my tears and was just ready to get to Atlanta. There was a screaming kid (the loudest I think I’ve EVER heard) so of course that made it exciting to get on the plane! His mom wasn’t much help in calming him down, but all she had to do was pick him up. Anyway. I was one of the last to board since I was seated in zone 8. I didn’t even know they had a zone 8! But I was in the 15th row so it was nice and close to the front (only 5 back from first class). I was hoping my row wouldn’t be next to the screaming child (turns out I was just a few rows back. lucky me!). I originally had a window seat but the woman sitting next to me asked if her husband and I could switch. He had an isle seat, so I agreed. I didn’t think I’d be sleeping much anyway since its such a short flight (and the kid!) It took us quite awhile to leave and of course I started thinking and crying again. For each tear I wiped away, about another three fell. It just wasn’t a happy time. I was sitting next to a man and his wife (Don & Susie) and they asked me where my final destination was and I told them that I would be flying to Heidelberg from Atlanta. We ended up talking the ENTIRE flight. It was so great. I usually don’t like to talk to people much on the plane, but talking to these people really helped take my mind off everything. We talked about all kinds of things like how Don went to Uganda with church once and how their daughter-in-law speaks seven languages. They were headed to a cruise around the Caribbean after going to Puerto Rico for a few days. Let’s hope for no hurricanes in the next week or so!
My layover in Atlanta was supposed to be three hours or something crazy like that, but it went by so fast! I got to talk to Rachel, Cindy, Erika and Jessica for awhile and it made the time fly by. I had a yummy lunch from Qdoba and loved taking my time walking to my gate. I have about the same layover time on my way home, so maybe it won’t be as bad as I thought! The coolest thing was that as soon as I walked into the international terminal, I felt like I was already in Europe. It seemed like every person I walked past spoke a different language and each time I tried to listen to see if they were speaking German. The way people dressed even looked European and I just loved that. It reminded me of the last time I was in Germany. Since I wanted to have some space and talk on my phone, I sat at a gate across from mine (going to Zurich). After a long time, two girls sat down across from me and guess what language were they speaking! GERMAN! They were talking too quitely for me to actually understand anything, but I could definitely make out some of the words. I moved over to my gate, but didn’t sit long before they said we’d be boarding soon. So exciting!! I was in zone 8 AGAIN, this time in the 18th row. While I walked to the plane everything began to feel more and more real. I still couldn’t believe I was actually getting ready to board an eight hour flight to Germany that wouldn’t be returning until December. The plane was pretty much full and again I had a window seat (thanks Dad!) The guy who sat down next to me talked on his cell phone for quite awhile so I decided to call mom and dad to tell them I was on the plane. As more people boarded, I heard more and more German. So for some reason I had to call Jessica to tell her that. It was more of a reality-check hearing everyone and thought she needed to know. Each passenger had a blanket, pillow, and little traveling bag on their seat. The bag had a toothbrush, lotion, eye mask, headphones and a few more things. So cool! Since I had been up since 6:30, I was pretty tired and tried to fall asleep before the plane took off. That was great until I woke up to the pilot saying we would be a little delayed because of a storm and that it could be up to a half an hour before take off. So I called mom and dad again to tell them and dad got to hear the pilot come on the loud speaker and say “the plane ahead of us is having some mechanical issues so if you see maintenance trucks driving past your window, they are for that plane and not ours.” That was nice and comforting. At least it wasn’t my plane! After I got off the phone with them, I called Brittanie! She was so surprised to hear from me. That was exciting! We were able to talk for quite awhile and I really enjoyed that. Then Jessica stopped by and was like “what are you doing talking on your phone!?” So we said goodbye for about the fifth time. We had to wait for the storm to pass and then we could leave. I called mom and dad one last time after they turned the engine back on (dad’s request) and then it was time to go!
The flight was really nice and the time went by really quickly. As soon as I could, I changed into some comfy clothes since I had a long time of sitting ahead of me. I didn't talk much to the guy next to me, but did find out that he was going to Croatia to visit family he had never met. Pretty cool if you ask me! They served us dinner [I chose pasta] and it was surprisinglz good. We also had bread, salad, a "triple chocolate brownie," and some crackers. Not too bad considering they hardly feed people on planes now. They only played one movie and I figured I might as well watch it since it would help pass the time. The movie was called 'Fracture' and was pretty good. I slept on and off for awhile and even used my eye mask. The flight seemed relatively quick and I was deplaning before I knew it!
When I got off the plane one of the first things I notcied was that there were people smoking in the airport! That's something I'll really have to adjust to. Yuck! I got my passport stamped and it was so quick! That was the first German I spoke and it was a simple "danke!" aka Thanks! Even though they really aren't, I think the German police who wear the green uniforms are scary! I didn't even have to go through customs, in fact, there wasn't even anyone there to look through my bags! I did get a little nervous when my bags were some of the last to come through at baggage claim. I brought extra clothes just in case my bags got lost, but was really hoping I wouldn't have to fall back on that. They finally came through and I was so excited. We were supposed to go to a meeting point, but I was really confused about how to get there and where that was. I got over my fear of the green uniform police because I asked for their help. Unfortunately, I asked in English, but was just too nervous to ask in German. It will come soon! After I walked through customs, I'm pretty sure I looked really lost and walked past a guy who did a double take when he looked at me. It turns out that it was Dr. Tracy (he's the director of the program.) We walked out to the huge bus where some of the other students were waiting and I saw Patrick (he also goes to Elon) and put my bags on the bus. We all walked back in the airport since there were a few students who hadn't arrived and sat in the food court and talked briefly. We are all so exhausted that English was mostly thrown around. There is one guy who pretty much only speaks German and is kind of cocky about it. Oh well! At least I can understand him! Come Sunday we will only be allowed to speak German so it won't even matter! After everyone arrived, we headed to Heidelberg which is about 45 minutes away from Frankfurt. It was just so neat to see everything again and I'm incredibly excited to be here!
I'll add the rest of the day a little later. It's hard to adjust to this German keyboard so if there are typos, it's because some of the keys are in different places! Later I'll tell about my new friends and where I'm living. I LOVE it!!
UPDATE! aka The rest of the day!
One of the coolest things about the program I am with is that they place everyone in different living locations, usually with other German students. None of the students in my program (American Junior Year/AJY) live with any Americans so it really forces us to speak German. I feel very lucky because I have been assigned to live in the Altstadt (right in the center of the city, where everything is). Some of the other students have to take a bus to get to the Altstadt because they live in the Nordstadt. I don’t think I would like that at all. Once we got to Heidelberg we split up into two groups: Altstadt and Nordstadt. Of the group that was with us at the time, there were six going to the Altstadt. Dr. Tracy drove a few students at a time to their dorms/apartments while the others (me and two Katies) hung out in a little garden area outside of a restaurant/salsa club called Havana. Did I mention there are FOUR Katies in the program? That won’t be confusing!
Since we arrived in Germany the weather had been pretty cloudy and we were hoping it wouldn’t rain while we waited for Dr. Tracy to come back. This time was really great because it allowed the three of us to talk and get to know each other. I found out that they’re both not really into drinking and getting drunk all the time, which was a MAJOR relief to hear. One of the girls, Katie Wachter, is also in a sorority back at home. I’m really excited because she and I will be living very close to one another and can meet up and walk together when we go places/come back late at night. Dr. Tracy took the other Katie to her apartment and then came back for Katie Wachter and I. We dropped Katie off at her apartment first. She has her own bathroom and mini kitchen. That’s really lucky! We both live in buildings called Europahaus. Hers is Europahaus II and I’m Europahaus III. It looks a little dark from the outside, but I really like where I live. I feel really safe here because you have to have a key to even get into the courtyard where all of the apartments are. None of my roommates were home when I moved in (I have three). I hoped they would be there when I came back later. We got to our rooms at around 1:30 and Katie and I decided we would meet back up at 4 after we unpacked and took a little nap. We were having a pizza party at 6 and we wanted to walk around a little and use the computers in the AJY center. The first thing I did in my room was put on the clean sheets and duvet provided by the program. I only unpacked a little bit because I was really tired. I slept until about 3:30 and then packed up my backpack and met Katie outside my building.
My room is really nice. For Elon people, I would say it is about the size of a room in Staley (maybe not as long) and I have it all to myself! My bed is really comfortable and there is even storage underneath. For my closet I have a Schrank which is like a wardrobe. It has shelves and places to hang my clothes (but I have to buy hangers!) I also have a desk with lots of drawers and a nice chair with wheels. Next to my bed is a really tall shelf where I will put the majority of my things. I will post pictures later once I’m all settled in.
The first thing I spent money on here was a Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino. I know Starbucks is expensive, but I was exhausted and really needed to get something to wake me up a little. I think the price is the same as it is in the USA, except its in Euros so it really is very expensive. It cost 4,40 which is a little more than $6! I won’t be getting Starbucks often, but it was a nice little familiar treat on the first day. Starbucks is actually right by the AJY center, which is really helpful in case I get lost.
Katie and I were some of the first people in the center and we were able to use one of the really nice computers. We have two keys to get into the center and can pretty much go anytime we want. The center is really large and even has a TV and a kitchen. Another plus about it is that I live really close. More and more people began showing up and I got to talk to another Katie and also Heather. Heather and I talked a little before we came and she is really nice. I have really good feelings about all of the friends I have already met. Surprisingly, there are a lot of guys in the program. Some of them are pretty cute and they are all really nice.
I was surprised to find out that the pizza we ate was from Pizza Hut! It was so good! It was different from American pizza because if you put a napkin on it you wouldn’t collect a lot of grease. Non-greasy pizza = so good!! They provided drinks for us as well and I had Apfel Schorle, which is carbonated apple juice. They like to put carbonation in a lot of drinks here (orange juice, too!) The Germans recycle everything and I had my first recycling experience of the trip after dinner. There is a different colored sack for different groups of trash (plastics, paper, etc.) It might take a little while, but I’ll get the hang of it soon. More students had arrived at this point and there were quite a few new faces. I’m just so excited to get to know everyone and make new friends.
Katie Wachter, Katie Gramlich, Heather and I decided we wanted to go on a little shopping adventure after dinner. Before we left, I picked up a few extra things they were offering: a rug for my room, an extra towel, a blanket, and an extra pillow. The pillow that came with my sheets and comforter was really pathetic so I definitely needed a new one! Katie Wolfe needed to find a converter so we stopped by Kaufhof which was open until 9. Kaufhof is a huge department store with just about anything you can think of. They had converters, but they were not the kind she needed. I feel like I bought a converter at a Kaufhof when I was here last time. We’ll just have to keep looking. Next we stopped at Pennymarkt, a place that has really cheap groceries and is open until 10. I bought a banana, a huge bottle of water, and body wash for only 2 Euros. I need to go back though because I accidentally bought Mineralwasser aka water with carbonation. I am not a fan of that! We had walked pretty far and were all really tired so we decided to stop our adventure after Pennymarkt. Katie Gramlich has to take a bus back to her apartment and Heather lives right next to the AJY center. We walked them back and also go to see Heather’s apartment. It was really nice and she shares it with one other girl. I’m so happy that I’ve already become friends with Heather because she is really nice. At dinner she told us we could call her Heidi because that’s what a lot of her German friends call her. She definitely will not replace Heidi Welborn who was part of the Hockenheim exchange group, but I think I will call her Heidi. On our walk back to our apartments, I saw a Dalmatian and I was so excited! I miss my Chippie! When I got back to my room I unpacked most of my things and read some of our Orientation booklet. I was so exhausted and went to bed around 9:30. I heard my roommates come back shortly after, but then they went out again. I have some interesting news about that and I’ll share tomorrow! Such an amazing first day!
