My last Germany post

Well this is my last post about Germany. A little bitter sweet but I will start out by saying I am happy to be home but there are things and people I miss about/in Germany. (Side note sorry this took so long to write. I wanted to think about my time in Germany and reflect. Plus I got really busy with work and time got away and now with school I have been overwhelmed. So I finally got time to write this!)

On Sunday I was all packed and ready! Since I had trouble closing my bank account I had to go back early Monday morning to get my money. There wasn't a whole lot in my account so it wasn't worth paying to transfer it to my american account. But enough to still want to get it out.

After hitting the bank I walked back to the house and dragged our suitcases down the stairs, loaded the car and said our goodbyes.

The trip to Frankfurt was pretty uneventful and we made it to the hotel easy enough. The hotel was really weird and you had to give the desk your keys every time you left. They didn't even ask for the name of the room before giving us our keys back. The room also smelled moldy and funky.

Needless to say we didn't go explore a whole lot. We did go have lunch with Linda and Myriam before they left to go back to Saarbrücken. After they left Heather and I went back to our room and watch some american tv shows so that the time would go by a little faster. We did leave again for supper and to see where we would have to go in the morning but that was it.

The next morning we got up so early it was ridiculous. Getting to the airport was a breeze, it was after we got off the train in the airport we were lost. That airport was so huge that we got lost. After about 10 to 15 minutes of searching we finally found where we were supposed to go.

I checked in for my flight and checked my extra luggage. The lady at the counter said that I couldn't pay for my bags there and that I had to go to a different counter to pay. We made it to that counter but then they said "oh, the rules just changed."  I was on a united flight operated by Lufthansa so there was some complications going back and forth. Finally they decided just to give me the extra bag for $70 which is what I paid to get my bag there so I was okay with that. Then they told me they wouldn't take my debit card so I had to borrow Heather's credit card. Thanks again Heather!

I said my goodbyes to Heather and go through security. There was a ton of people but the line moved along pretty fast. The next section I had to go through was Passport control. As it turns out I didn't register right and had been illegal for the last 3 months. So I got taken to the security office to fill out some paperwork.  The officer said that I could have stayed illegal for 5 months and then went to the office and been okay but since I never went it was bad.

They told me I could pay a 200 Euro fine and leave the country and come back and I shouldn't have any problems, or I could just leave and not pay but then I would have problems if I ever decided to come back into the country...or probably any European country. I didn't have the cash on me so they escorted me to an ATM but the two they took me to were out of order. Then they finally took me out through security to the ATM out there and then escorted me back! I felt kind of special walking with cops through security like I was someone special.

After that fiasco I made it to my gate with probably 10 minutes or so to spare before they started boarding. So it was a good thing I got up early and got to the airport more than two hours before my flight. Otherwise it would have been a lot more stressful.

The flight to London was uneventful. When I arrived, just two days after the 2012 London Olympics were over, I navigated my way to my next gate. Of course I couldn't go right there. My ticket didn't say where to go and when I got to the screens in the terminal I found out that my gate wouldn't be revealed until 10 minutes before boarding started. There were other screens that told you how far it was to each set of gates. Some took over a half an hour to get to because you have to go out of security and then back through security.

Luckily my gate was only yep you guessed it 10 minutes away. As I arrived at my gate they were checking our tickets. Since my day started out of course it would stay bad. They checked my ticket and said "oh please step over here to my co-worker and he will ask you some questions." I though oh man it is because I had trouble in Germany huh.

Well they just asked me if I had any weapon shaped items in my bags. I said no but then started to think, "okay now what could they be thinking would look like a weapon?" After like two questions I got sent to another employee. She printed off my tickets, this was the third time they had been printed since I started, and I was finally allowed to board.

The flight to San Francisco was pretty cool. Literally and figuratively. The plane was so cold I had to wear their complimentary blanket the whole time. I was on a plane that had a tv screen in front of every seat so I could choose which movie I wanted to watch. There was a huge selection and I watched probably 3 movies or so but didn't sleep much.

As we got close to San Fran. I started to freak out thinking "okay now what will go wrong here since so much has already gone wrong." Well we landed and I got to go through customs and it was okay. The line for non-citizens was huge and I was so happy I didn't have to sit in that line. When it was my turn, on the plane we filled out customs slips, the officer asked "What do you mean license plates?" I had to explain that there is a web site that you can get European license plates and so I had one that had my name on it. He then continued to ask "What are you going to do with it?" I was like seriously??? "It is a souvenir", I responded.

I got waived through customs and then thought oh crap I forgot to put some stuff on my slip! When they check my luggage they are going to find this stuff and ask why I didn't write it down. (It was nothing huge or expensive) Right luggage, what a mess. There were rows and rows of luggage just sitting there and then only four belts so they were packed as well. There was a luggage jam so the belts were stopped. I thought, "Oh great here is my bad luck again." Well my luggage was the next ones out of the chute so that was lucky!

Since I had a connecting flight I was allowed to check my luggage directly and go back through security. This was normal security not like a special terminal to terminal security so I had to wait in this huge line.  I made it though and was finally able to call and text people. I figured out that my gate had also changed but no one had bothered to tell me. So that was fun, luckily it was just right across the isle.

Finally I made it through my last leg of my trip. I had a huge welcoming party at the airport which I was grateful for but probably didn't show it because I had been up for probably 22 hours at that point. My brothers wanted to go out to supper and hang out. By the time I finally got into bed I had been up for 26 hours.

The next day, Wednesday, I got a text from my boss saying that he had scheduled me to work the next day! Really fast and I didn't think I would be up for it. I surprisingly had no jet lag. I was up at about 6am and finished unpacking and then went to bed early but I didn't take any naps and got to do/go anywhere I wanted. It was fun to drive my car again! I missed it.

I am glad to be back. I missed my family and friends but I am already missing my Germany friends! I want to say thank you again to my friends in Germany! You guys made my trip really memorable.