Monday was a nice, laid-back day. The weather was really nice, and we finally got to wear shorts again! Yay! Erin and I biked into town to get ice cream and do some shopping. That's something that I'll miss in Park City. You can't just hop on your bike to visit friends, go shopping, swimming, to get ice cream or anything. :(
Erin and I got some really good ice cream, then headed to the dollar (or technically euro) store. Erin wanted to buy some of those hipster sunglasses, of which I had recently bought a pair. They're even bigger on her face than they are on mine! ;)
We also went to some other stores and bought some chocolate to take home with us. I also ended up buying shoes, which was not part of the plan. They're really cute sandals, and I didn't have any sandals, so I went ahead and bought them.
I was planning on hanging out with Lisa at some point, but we changed our minds. We'd already said goodbye, cried and all that stuff, and I didn't really want to repeat that. Lisa agreed and thought it would just make it harder if we hung out, so we ended up not doing anything. Instead, my family and I went mini-golfing. It's a tradition by now, and we go every year to the same place. I wore my new sandals. :) It was a lot of fun, even though I wasn't very good. Actually, that's why it's fun! We all stink and laugh at ourselves. No one takes it very seriously, so we all have a good time. :) (Unlike the couple a few holes behind us, who at one point yelled at each other for not counting the strokes properly. Oh, and the woman had pink hair...)
History was made that day. For one thing, I lost. I've never won before, but I've also never lost. There's a first time for everything! At the end of the course, I kind of stopped caring because I was hot, so I just whacked the ball to see what happened. ;) In addition to that astonishing first, my grandma won! Usually my grandpa always wins, or my dad when he come along. But this year my grandma won, beating my grandpa by one point.
On Tuesday Erin and I went swimming. It was a lot of fun, and the cold outdoor pool felt great because it was so hot. Afterwards we went to McDonalds, which is diagonally across the street from the pool. We took a chocolate muffin to go and ate it by the zipline hidden in the trees lining the bike path.
We came home to see most of our things packed, which was kind of a shock. It made the fact that we're leaving the next day feel a lot realer. Packing was obviously unpleasant. I wrote a card to my grandparents thanking them for letting me stay with them and for being so supportive, and Erin and I made a small present by drawing my grandparents and us kind of cartoony on cardboard and then glued them to a piece of paper. The evening was spent enjoying the card and presents, taking pictures, playing Rummycube, and measuring each other. It turns out that I grew two centimeters during my time in Germany. I am now taller than my grandma and almost as tall as my mom. I'm telling you, it's all in the neck. My giraffe neck. ;)
The next morning we woke up at 6 a.m. Twas not fun. We shoveled food inside ourselves even though we weren't really hungry, and before I knew it we were in the car, headed for the airport.
Saying goodbye to my grandparents was tough, but I didn't cry, which I was very proud of. I always cry, but I managed to pull myself together.
The first flight, which was nine hours long, was okay. There weren't individual TV screens, which I wasn't expecting (they're usually just on the SLC-Atlanta flight, for some reason), just the medium-sized ones situated every couple of rows. The movies weren't spectacular, but they were entertainment and helped past the time. I read a lot and got halfway through my book, Mind Games by Kiersten White. It's unlike any book I've ever read before. Since I don't know how it ends, I don't know if I should recommend to you guys or not, but it's definitely something else as far as books go!
We then had a four-hour layover in Atlanta. Ugh. Four hours! What the heck are you supposed to do in four hours? The worst part was there was another flight to Salt Lake City a half hour after we made it through customs in Atlanta, but it was already boarding and our luggage would never have made it.
Our lovely four hours were spent mostly in the food court in the international terminal, playing travel-sized board games and, obviously, eating. There was also a lot of hanging around at the gate. At one point, our utter exhaustion turned into slaphappiness, and Erin and I got a little crazy. We laughed a lot and were telling and acting out funny stories that happened to us. At one point Erin ran into a woman. Oops.
The second flight, once we finally got on, was terrible. HORRIBLE. There were no individual TVs! What is this?! I had really been depending on those for entertainment. But of course we got stuck on an old plane. :/
While we had been waiting at the gate, we saw a huge storm brewing outside, complete with thunder and lightning. It was a little concerning, but it looked like it was passing by the airport, so we were hoping for the best.
The best did not happen.
 |
| The view of the storm out the window of our plane |
It started to rain while we were on the plane, and no planes were allowed to take off. We waited for about a half hour, and then we were given the option of getting off the plane, since it's some sort of federal law that you can't hold passengers on the plane for too long. This was not a good sign.
Two hours later....
That's right, two hours. TWO HOURS! Two freaking hours! Once the runways had been reopened, the planes scheduled to take off were really backed up. We finally started to move around the corner to the runway, and as I looked behind me, I counted at least twelve other planes behind us. Poor them. Poor us.
After a total of about two and a half hours of delay, we finally took off. It turns out that I didn't need to worry too much about entertainment because I slept most of the time. I usually can't sleep on planes because I'm a stomach sleeper, so that shows you how tired I was.
My mom's friend Lee picked us up at the airport. My dad, unfortunately, is on a business trip, so I'll have to wait a few more days to see him. :(
We got home between 9:30 and 10. That's six in the morning Germany time. I was exhausted and rejoiced at seeing my bed again. :)
Because of the jetlag and time change, I woke up at about 5:30. 6 am to about 10 am was spent reorganizing my room. I had tons of clothes to put away (and lots more in the wash), and then decided I had to get rid of the clothes I don't really wear anymore first. Then I wanted to put pictures from Germany on my bulletin board, but first I had to take everything off and sort which ones to keep on the bulletin board, which ones to put in my keep-forever box and which ones to recycle. I wanted to put decor and objects from Germany on my shelves, but first had to find new homes for the old decor. And so on and so forth. There was also the stuff that had been put on my desk since I left, like a WATS medal, an AG magazine, birthday cards, etc. I'm still not done.
At 10:30 I had an orthodontist appointment to... wait for it... get my braces off! Yay! I hated the grinding when they were getting the cement off and almost choking while getting a mold of my teeth done, but I'm glad to have them off. They feel really slimy, but I'm getting used to it.
 |
| Before |
 |
| After! |
We then stopped by the library to get some books. I had volunteered at the library in the spring for NJHS, and I talked with the guy in charge of the volunteers to see if I could volunteer over the summer. I thought it would be a good idea to get a head start on community service this year.
Later in the afternoon I went to my good friend Pauline's house. She has a friend named Auria visiting from Virginia. She's really nice and funny, and hanging out with her didn't feel awkward at all. It felt like we've already known each other for a while. We hung out at Pauline's house for a while, and then went ice skating. Auria has been ice skating for ten years. Pauline and I felt like bumbling klutzes next to her, but it was still a lot of fun. We had the rink almost entirely to ourselves, as there were anywhere from two to five other people there. We messed around, chatted, and played soccer/hockey with a quarter, which was hilariously fun.
After ice skating we went back to Pauline's house and hung out in the front yard. The weather was really nice, and we had a lot of fun ripsticking, scootering, and playing frisbee. We expertly displayed our skills in frisbee by repeatedly throwing the frisbee into trees, the neighbor's driveways, and the neighbor's trees.
When it was time to go home, Pauline, Auria, her sister and her mom came along to meet my mom and see another Park City house. So my mom gave a tour, and then the kids hung out in my room and I showed them German stuff.
And now I'm exhausted. Jetlag is not fun. When I get the time, I'll post a reflection of my German Journey, but now I just want to go to bed. ;)
German word of the day: Zuhause. Pronounced tsoo-HOW-zuh. It means 'home.'
The Sunflower Project: Unfortunately, I didn't get to see my sunflowers bloom. The cold weather we had for so long wasn't great for them, and I think I transferred them from the pots to the earth a little late. I will have to pass on sunflower duty to my cousin when they come to Germany next week. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment