Bayern & JACK JOHNSON!

In order to ensure that I had enough time to do everything this morning, I got up at 4:45 and showered, packed some snacks, packed my bags and headed out for Uniplatz right around 7. Heidi was waiting and of course Maressa showed up right after the bus had arrived. We were all exhausted and hadn’t gotten much sleep, but were so excited since today had finally come and we were going to see Jack in concert! Not tomorrow or in a week, but today! We bought our tickets at the train station, grabbed some coffee/a latte macchiato and waited for our train to Mannheim. From there we were off to Augsburg. We played a few games of Speed Scrabble, took some pictures and then Maressa and I crashed. When we got to Augsburg we had to get on another train that would take us to Aichach where Heidi’s family lives.

Mama was waiting for us as we got off the train and was just so cute. The way she said “Heidi!” was adorable and she always had a smile on her face and the sound of laughter in her voice. When we got home she prepared an amazing German breakfast for us that consisted of fruit, an assortment of broetchen, cheeses, meats, juices and more. I just love that about Germans!!! Breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day here and when it’s prepared by a German it’s even better. She even had these cute little mini broetchen things and since they were mini, they were of course my favorite. At one point, Mama got out her atlas to see where North Carolina is. I love that they’re so curious and like to look things up like that! It was the same with the people I stayed with in the East. Then again, I guess I would do that too if I wanted to see exactly where someone I met was from, but I still think it’s sweet nonetheless. After we stuffed ourselves beyond belief and talked to Johanna’s sister Sabrina and her friend, we went upstairs to take a little nap. We didn’t end up sleeping, but instead layed there and talked for a few minutes. I got ready for the day since I didn’t have time to straighten my hair before we left and then Johanna got back from her doctor’s appointment. Heidi and I talked to her outside for a bit while Maressa took a nap and when we came inside Mama and Papa were eating potato salad and of course we had to try it even though we were still full. It was so good! Since we were going to walk around Aichach, Heidi woke Maressa up. When Maressa came downstairs they gave her some potato salad and she thought that was the reason we woke her up!

Shortly after we took off on our walk and Johanna showed us the women’s prison that is literally right around the corner from their house. We ended up seeing Sabrina and her friend at a café and then we all got eis together. It was really hot and it tasted SO good! Mama had made us lasagna and we ate that when we got back, even though I was still stuffed from breakfast. That lasagna was amazing though. It was different than normal, but something about it was so good! After printing out my ticket and getting all of our stuff together, we headed out for Jack! I slept some of the way, but when we got close, there were signs on the interstate saying where we needed to exit for ‘Jack Johnson’ and parking directions. So cool!!! After parking we hopped on a bus with a ton of other crazed fans and then walked to where the concert was. I had a feeling that it’d be outside and it was indeed just as I had pictured it! We found a good place to sit and hung out for awhile. Heidi’s host sister from the north, Katrin, was there with her boyfriend so they met up with us too. The opening band was G Love and Special Sauce and we really enjoyed them. I had tried to find some of their music online, but didn’t see anything I liked, so I was pleasantly surprised when they came on. A lot of their songs are funny and have great beats. Johanna and I had fun laughing and watching the people. Heidi did her little car dance for us and it was just hilarious. Good thing I got it on video!!

We moved to another place and then found out that we could go up by the stage. We got our arms stamped and that allowed us to return whenever we wanted. People who didn’t have their arms stamped couldn’t go in after the concert had started!! How cool!!! We were really close and could see Jack really well. He played almost all of our favorite songs and it was amazing. However, a HUGE storm came through and we got completely drenched. Jack didn’t even hesitate and he kept on playing through the rain, thunder and lightning. They did make him take a 20 minute break, but he came back out and finished the concert!! We left right before it was over since it was still pouring and we wanted to make sure we could get on a bus back to our parking garage. It would have been a good idea to remember which stop we had gotten on at because we had no idea where we needed to go. Luckily, we guessed correctly and talked to the right person who suggested where we should get off. We ran through a parking lot, climbed up a little hill and finally made it to Johanna’s car. We were so wet and it was just gross. It was totally worth though and we had SO much fun! My only real complaint was that Jack didn’t really talk much throughout the concert. I was hoping he’d explain a little about the meaning of each song, but he didn’t even do that once. He said danke/dankeschoen a few times and said a few other little things in English, but other than that, he just played. That was of course was great, but I wanted to know more about the songs!!

When we got home we immediately put on dry clothes and had some hot fruit tea with honey and fresh lemon juice. Mama said that would help us not get sick. Then she brought out these pizza bread things and they were AMAZING. Wow. And then she had salad too. She thought we could each eat 2.5 of the pizza breads, but there was no way! We were stuffed and each tried to eat two. All I can say is: that woman can cook!!!