The world becomes my oyster....
The trip to Germany continued/concluded in this way: After getting assurances from KLM that my bag would come some time before I left ... or at least sometime before I turn 30... they provided me with a) a small cosmetic bag with: an XXL T-shirt, a razor and shaving cream, laundry detergent in a bottle the size of my pinky, deoderant in a bottle the size of my pinky, a little mini-tooth brush (no paste), and b) a voucher for 25 Euro off my next KLM flight in this calendar year. So. That was good. And helpful. Obviously, whoever packs the little emergency bags was not American. No offense Europeans, but an American would have put in more deoderant, some shampoo, and I'm guessing some sort of sedative or headache medicine. And 25 Euro to spend on KLM in the next year? Let me just say "woo. hoo." Can't wait to get my 25 Euros worth of travelin' in! (We ended up having to drive two hours back to Berlin to get my bag, and then two hours back home again... so my 25 Euro voucher wouldn't have even really covered the gas cost of that trip ... had we not obtained our gas for very very cheap in Poland!!) The rest of my trip was WONDERFUL!! I hated to leave, and still am quite sad about being back, actually. I woke up this morning (almost a week later) and honestly felt as homesick for Torgelow, Germany as I had for Wisconsin the first few weeks I lived in Germany (in 2001). It's a strange sensation -- to be homesick for a place that is not your home. Anyway.
I spent the week with my relatives: Christa (Dad's cousin's daughter's daughter -- I usually just call her Christa... or Mutti occasionally, when it just seems easier... don't worry Mom, I know she's not really my mother!), her two boys: Thomas and Matthias, Christa's boyfriend: Herbert, Christa's sister: Cordula ("Mutti Zwei"), her husband: Manfred, their daughter: Anke, and their dog: Goldi. Also visited were: Tante Ka(with an umlaut)te -- pronounced like Katie, sort of (cousin to my father) and her husband: Karl Wilhelm; Herbert's parents: whose names I never did learn -- we all just call them "Oma and Opa", and numerous other friends, relations, and people I just met!
Thomas and Matthias deserve their own paragraph because they are AWESOME! They are my "brothers" and they are twins! They are 28 years old, and about the nicest two boys I have ever met. If I could find an American guy as wonderful as them and not related to me... well... it would rock. Anyway. Matthias works for the German Army (as seen in photos previously posted), and Thomas works for a movie theater as a sort of machine technician. Thomas is also going to be a dad!! His girlfriend, Dani (also seen in pictures below), found out she was pregnant while I was there -- which I thought was awesome, of course! I'm going to have to find a way to get back there once the baby's born for SURE.
So I spent my week in Germany with the people listed above, and we did any number of great things. Of course, they don't seem great when you tell it. I described it to someone at school as: just hanging around home---in Germany. In other words, we did all the things I probably would have done at home: we went shopping, rode bikes, visited with relatives, went to the movies, drove around, looked at pictures, watched TV... the usual! It was perfect! I had the best time!! By the way, if you EVER have the oportunity to go to a movie theater in Germany --- oh MY god -- DO IT! It is the single coolest thing I have done in...a long while. Let me break it down for you right quick. Ok. First of all, there is a bar when you come in. So if you want to just hang out and talk with the people who work there (for example: Thomas!) you just have a seat and hang out. But when you go into the theater... the seats are set up basically like ours. But then there's this long ledge that runs the length of the row in front of you. On the ledge every two or three seats, is a keypad...and a menu! Seriously. You sit there, and you punch in what you'd like to drink (beer, wine, mixed drink, pop, water,... whatever.. popcorn, chips, nachos, more substantial food even, etc...) and then they bring it to you while you watch the movie. And I'm telling you -- it is the ONLY way to watch movies! I sat there with drink in hand and watched "Meet the Fockers" in German - withOUT subtitles! - and had the time of my life. (In German, the title is: Mein Braut, Ihre Vater, und ich... or something very like that.. translation: "My bride, her father and I".) I had such fun, in fact, I went back a couple days later with Matthias and saw "Hitch"! "Beautiful! Lovely! Wish you were here!" (spontaneous quotes come to mind from the movie "French Kiss"...don't ask me why, they just do!) I didn't get to see any soccer while there, which was sad. But Matthias gave me a scarf and hat from the Berlin EisBaers, which is a hockey team. And I bought a new Hansa jersey in Poland for very very cheap. I even bought one for the Boy. Although, he'll have a few years before he's big enough to wear it. I ALSO got a FC Koeln jersey and one of Matthias' own jerseys from Droegeheide... so that rocked. Everything rocked. I had an awesome time. I played with the new dog! I took lots of pictures! I baked cake! I ate cake! (LOTS of cake...) I rode a bike for, like, 10 km! I touched the Baltic Sea! I saw German movies and watched German TV! I went to Poland! I saw Matthias' apartment, and met Thomas' girlfriend! I worked in the garden! (yes, I said "worked"!) I ate different meats of various and unknown origins with hardly a gag! And finally... in the end... I got back on a plane for America without TOO many tears at the airport....
The sad journey home began at 2 in the morning. I didn't sleep the night before because I was under strict instructions from Matthias not to cry at the airport. Therefore, I did all my crying (I hoped) the night before. I wrote notes to Thomas and Dani, and Matthias and I fancied myself very eloquent and emotional.. The notes brought me to tears... But they were in my horrible German, so who really knows what I actually said! Anyway. At 2 AM we were up... by 3 AM we were on the road to Berlin. Matthias drove. I sat shotgun. Christa and Herbert slept in the backseat. It's kind of a blur, really, because I was trying to make small talk with Matthias without crying or getting sad. But I'm really really glad he was driving. It was nice to spend that time with him. We got my boarding pass, and then sat in a coffee shop until I had to board. Then there were hugs and kisses, and yes -- some tears. I remained fairly strong... Christa wept.. Herbert seemed allright... but even Matthias cried a little, I think... At least it was difficult for him NOT to cry, so that's almost the same thing. I tried to ignore the strange looks I got from the other passengers as I boarded the plane with tears occasionally sneaking out... But the best was when two German passengers next to me thought I was sleeping later in the flight. And they said to each other, in German: "Do you think she's ok?.. Yeah. Except she's wearing a Hansa jersey... Really? Do you think she's German?... If she is, she must be from the DDR -- no one else would wear Hansa..."
Hell yeah.
I spent the week with my relatives: Christa (Dad's cousin's daughter's daughter -- I usually just call her Christa... or Mutti occasionally, when it just seems easier... don't worry Mom, I know she's not really my mother!), her two boys: Thomas and Matthias, Christa's boyfriend: Herbert, Christa's sister: Cordula ("Mutti Zwei"), her husband: Manfred, their daughter: Anke, and their dog: Goldi. Also visited were: Tante Ka(with an umlaut)te -- pronounced like Katie, sort of (cousin to my father) and her husband: Karl Wilhelm; Herbert's parents: whose names I never did learn -- we all just call them "Oma and Opa", and numerous other friends, relations, and people I just met!
Thomas and Matthias deserve their own paragraph because they are AWESOME! They are my "brothers" and they are twins! They are 28 years old, and about the nicest two boys I have ever met. If I could find an American guy as wonderful as them and not related to me... well... it would rock. Anyway. Matthias works for the German Army (as seen in photos previously posted), and Thomas works for a movie theater as a sort of machine technician. Thomas is also going to be a dad!! His girlfriend, Dani (also seen in pictures below), found out she was pregnant while I was there -- which I thought was awesome, of course! I'm going to have to find a way to get back there once the baby's born for SURE.
So I spent my week in Germany with the people listed above, and we did any number of great things. Of course, they don't seem great when you tell it. I described it to someone at school as: just hanging around home---in Germany. In other words, we did all the things I probably would have done at home: we went shopping, rode bikes, visited with relatives, went to the movies, drove around, looked at pictures, watched TV... the usual! It was perfect! I had the best time!! By the way, if you EVER have the oportunity to go to a movie theater in Germany --- oh MY god -- DO IT! It is the single coolest thing I have done in...a long while. Let me break it down for you right quick. Ok. First of all, there is a bar when you come in. So if you want to just hang out and talk with the people who work there (for example: Thomas!) you just have a seat and hang out. But when you go into the theater... the seats are set up basically like ours. But then there's this long ledge that runs the length of the row in front of you. On the ledge every two or three seats, is a keypad...and a menu! Seriously. You sit there, and you punch in what you'd like to drink (beer, wine, mixed drink, pop, water,... whatever.. popcorn, chips, nachos, more substantial food even, etc...) and then they bring it to you while you watch the movie. And I'm telling you -- it is the ONLY way to watch movies! I sat there with drink in hand and watched "Meet the Fockers" in German - withOUT subtitles! - and had the time of my life. (In German, the title is: Mein Braut, Ihre Vater, und ich... or something very like that.. translation: "My bride, her father and I".) I had such fun, in fact, I went back a couple days later with Matthias and saw "Hitch"! "Beautiful! Lovely! Wish you were here!" (spontaneous quotes come to mind from the movie "French Kiss"...don't ask me why, they just do!) I didn't get to see any soccer while there, which was sad. But Matthias gave me a scarf and hat from the Berlin EisBaers, which is a hockey team. And I bought a new Hansa jersey in Poland for very very cheap. I even bought one for the Boy. Although, he'll have a few years before he's big enough to wear it. I ALSO got a FC Koeln jersey and one of Matthias' own jerseys from Droegeheide... so that rocked. Everything rocked. I had an awesome time. I played with the new dog! I took lots of pictures! I baked cake! I ate cake! (LOTS of cake...) I rode a bike for, like, 10 km! I touched the Baltic Sea! I saw German movies and watched German TV! I went to Poland! I saw Matthias' apartment, and met Thomas' girlfriend! I worked in the garden! (yes, I said "worked"!) I ate different meats of various and unknown origins with hardly a gag! And finally... in the end... I got back on a plane for America without TOO many tears at the airport....
The sad journey home began at 2 in the morning. I didn't sleep the night before because I was under strict instructions from Matthias not to cry at the airport. Therefore, I did all my crying (I hoped) the night before. I wrote notes to Thomas and Dani, and Matthias and I fancied myself very eloquent and emotional.. The notes brought me to tears... But they were in my horrible German, so who really knows what I actually said! Anyway. At 2 AM we were up... by 3 AM we were on the road to Berlin. Matthias drove. I sat shotgun. Christa and Herbert slept in the backseat. It's kind of a blur, really, because I was trying to make small talk with Matthias without crying or getting sad. But I'm really really glad he was driving. It was nice to spend that time with him. We got my boarding pass, and then sat in a coffee shop until I had to board. Then there were hugs and kisses, and yes -- some tears. I remained fairly strong... Christa wept.. Herbert seemed allright... but even Matthias cried a little, I think... At least it was difficult for him NOT to cry, so that's almost the same thing. I tried to ignore the strange looks I got from the other passengers as I boarded the plane with tears occasionally sneaking out... But the best was when two German passengers next to me thought I was sleeping later in the flight. And they said to each other, in German: "Do you think she's ok?.. Yeah. Except she's wearing a Hansa jersey... Really? Do you think she's German?... If she is, she must be from the DDR -- no one else would wear Hansa..."
Hell yeah.
posted by Martha @ 9:15 PM
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