I'll be home for Christmas

Well, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas on das Blog! And to kick off the festivities, I thought a post of my favorite Christmas ever would be quite appropriate...  

See, when you tell people you're going abroad for a year, people get really concerned about the holidays. "But, you're coming home for Christmas, right?" most of them will ask.  And my answer is usually a very solid "No, it's too expensive and too far."  

Then last year, the stars aligned and I found myself with some extra money and ridiculously cheap flights. So, about 5 weeks before Christmas I booked my flight home for the holidays. But, in a stroke of genius, I decided wasn't just going to fly home, I would surprise my parents.

I was on high alert for the next 5 weeks, not posting anything about my impending trip home facebook, twitter or das Blog. I knew if anyone was impossible to surprise, it was my mom. She just seems to know things.  

The most difficult task was covering for the time that would be spent traveling. I would leave for the airport on Christmas Eve morning, arrive in Atlanta at Midnight on Christmas Day where I would be picked up by and spend the night with a friends in the area till my brother and AJ picked me up early Christmas morning on their way to Athens. So I needed a good cover story for the suspiciously long time I would not be available on Skype on Christmas.  

I told my parents that since Germans celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve, a teacher had invited me to her house, and since this teacher lived further away, I would just spend the night at her house before heading straight to Nürnberg for Christmas day with the other Fulbrighters. And with such a busy schedule, I surely wouldn't be able to talk until Christmas Day afternoon.  

With a little Christmas magic, Operation Holy Birth (what a clever code-name, I know) went off without a hitch. I made all my flights home (Frankfurt to Toronto to DC to Atlanta) and showed up to parents who had absolutely no idea what I'd been up to all month! I would try to describe the look on my parents face when I jumped out of the car, but luckily there is a video that captures the moment 10 times better than I could ever write it. 

This was, without a doubt, the best Christmas I've ever had. And I have a hard time imagining it ever being beaten as my favorite Christmas memory. 

That time it felt like Georgia in Germany

Let's start this one off with some new vocab: Altweibersommer. 

It means Indian Summer. Or for those of you who had a more politically correct upbringing, it's that time in the fall, after the weather has started cooling off, when it suddenly get's really warm again. 

 

For the past week (and it's predicted to continue for a few more days, at least!), we've been having unseasonally warm weather up in Dortmund. On top of that, the skies have been crystal clear without a cloud in sight. I can honestly stand outside in the warm September sun, close my eyes, and be transported to Georgia.

Cologne, Germany - September 2011

Fall is, without a doubt, my favorite season in Georgia. There is this sweet spot, starting as early as the end of September and going as late as the end of October, where it stops being 1000 degrees, the humidity decides to take a break, the leaves start changing, and the warmth of the sun is combined perfectly with the cool breeze of the changing seasons. If it were always October in Georgia, I would never miss the other seasons.

Piedmont Park, Atlanta, GA - October 2008

Athens, GA - October 2009

   

The season is also associated with a lot of great things which always make me look forward to it. The Oconee County Fall Festival (it is not officially fall until I've had some fall festival kettle corn), the endless Saturdays spent tailgating with friends, settling into the routine of school while it's still new and enjoyable (something that is seriously lacking from the never-ending, dragging semester in spring, where the changing weather is a constant reminder that it's almost summer and your still stuck inside studying). Fall is the build-up to one of my favorite holidays: Halloween, and it gives way to my absolute favorite: Thanksgiving. 

 

All in all, it is the perfect combination of all the good things Georgia has to offer. 

 

So when I go outside on days like today, when I close my eyes and breath in the crisp autumn air, all I really want is to open my eyes and be in Georgia.

Centennial Olympic Park, Atlanta, GA - October 2008

what can I say... Fall makes me feel poetic.

Things I Forgot I Missed, part 3

Remember all those times that I said the weather in Germany isn't as depressing as people say it is? Well, I'm not quite ready to swallow my words yet, but even after a few days of under the Georgia sun, I realized how much Vitamin D I was missing in my life (or was it UV rays?).

I still maintain that the German weather is not nearly as horrific as people would lead you to believe, however, I didn't realize what little effect that harmless German sun had on me after being conditioned under the brutal Georgia sun for almost 15 years. Sure I got to wear my sunglasses and I even bought some sunscreen, but all that was child's play, really, after I saw the tan* I got in my first weekend of laying by the pool back home. 

I know that when you live there, the heat and humidity of the Georgia summer (read: April through September) can feel unbearable and over the top. In fact, it doesn't really matter where you come from, the heat and humidity of the Georgia summer is unbearable and over the top. But after battling through a June with highs in the 50s and [maybe] 10 full days of sun, I gladly welcomed 3 weeks of sweating just from standing outside and the need to reapply 50 spf sunscreen every hour. 

And, of course, even the worst summer day in Georgia can be made tolerable when hanging out with these two beach bunnies, who fight the harsh conditions with some sweet swim shirts and a good ol' fashion bucket hat. 

*in the world of a ginger, tan just means that I've gotten so many freckles they're starting to grow together. 

The final countdown: t-3 days.

I'd like to begin this post with a happy birthday to my dearest old pops. I always tell him he's old, but today it's particularly true! 
 
but let's get back to the countdown...
 
Things I've learned during my Fulbright year:
#10 - a lot about the English language
#9 - there is such a thing as too much free time
#8 - riding your bike in the snow can be dangerous
#7 - missing your last train isn't always a bad thing
#6 - how to not be the student
#5 - German
#4 - I am a Georgia girl
#3 - you're allowed to visit home on a year abroad

This is something that I would have completely denied 4 years ago when I was leaving for Switzerland. I was heading off to not live in Georgia for the first time in 10 years and, by God, I wasn't going to come back till it was over! 
 
And I didn't. I didn't see Georgia, my home, or my mom for 10 months.
 
When I left for Germany last August, I remember not knowing when I would see anyone, let alone the country again. This time it wasn't so much that I was convinced I had to stay abroad as it was I didn't know when I would have the money to come back. But I never thought I'd be getting ready for my second trip home at this point...
 

As luck would have it, I found myself with a little extra holiday cash and amazing deals on international flights a mere 6 weeks before the Christmas break. So, quite spontaneously, I booked a flight home for a week at Christmas and managed to keep the whole thing a surprise for my parents. 

In the weeks leading up to my Christmas return, I started to worry. Maybe going home was like cheating. I was resetting the living-abroad clock to zero and gaining an unfair advantage over my friends who could not make it home for the holiday. Not to mention, the first half year is always the hardest. Right around the midpoint you get that "ok, that was cool, glad I did it, but I'm ready to be done" feeling. And while that feeling was not nearly as prevalent this time around as it was in Zürich, I was worried that getting a taste of home-life would make me not want to come back to Germany. 
 
But after my week at home, visiting friends, spending time with family, I gladly packed up my suitcase and got back on the plane, ready to continue life in Forchheim. 

And I have not once regretting making that trip since. I think a quick visit for the holidays was exactly what I needed to get me motivated for the next 6 months. Plus, I will never be able to get the look on my mom's face when I popped out of the trunk out of my head - if anything, I'm glad I went just for being able to pull of the largest international Gauld-surprise in history!

So even though I'm super excited to be spending another year in Germany and at the end I'll be able to say I've lived abroad for 2 years, I have no doubt in my mind that my visit home will be the best thing I do all summer. 

the final countdown: the final 4

Things I've learned during my Fulbright year:
#10 - a lot about the English Language
#9 - there is such a thing as too much free time
#8 - riding your bike in the snow can be dangerous
#7 - missing your last train isn't always a bad thing
#6 - how to not be the student
#5 - German
#4 - I am a Georgia girl

This is a truth I have been trying to avoid for the past 13 years. Even though I wasn't born there, and didn't even move there till I was 11, I have spent over half my life in the state of Georgia. In fact, having been born in Nashville and never having moved north of the Mason-Dixon line, I don't know how I even managed to deny my southern-ness for as long as I did. 

I remember a similar thing happening during my year in Switzerland, only on a less specific scale. I've never felt more patriotic (Go 'murika) than I did that year. It wasn't that I was wearing red, white and blue everyday and singing Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an American" in the shower every morning. But instead of being annoyed or embarrassed when I ran into loud or obnoxious (or loudly obnoxious) Americans, I felt a little twinge of kinship - those are my loud and obnoxious people!

This year, however, seemed to go a bit further and awaken my southern belle. Although I still don't say "y'all", like grits, or believe the south will rise again, I have embraced my southern roots more than ever. I don't know if it was my group of very not southern American friends here or the fact that I was constantly asked to prepare lessons or talk about my home in the US, or maybe some weird combination of the two. But whatever it was, it's made me miss hearing a good southern drawl, the standard of southern hospitality and cold sip of sweet tea on a scorching summer day more than ever! 

I wonder if I'll still feel that why by the end of July... 

a list for Georgia

In 6 1/2 weeks I'll be back in the US for almost a month (remember?). Even though it's only a visit, and I'll even get to come back to Forchheim for a little bit afterwards, the more I tell people (teachers, friends, myself, etc), the more I realize/think about things I'm going to miss in Germany while I'm away. Besides this being obviously ridiculous because, in the scheme of things, 3 weeks is not all that much out of the 52 in a year, it's also incredibly irrational. Any 24 day trip is going to cause you to miss something, no matter when you go. 

So to balance things out, I've decided to make a list of things I'm excited about for my visit home:


1. Family and friends. Had to get the obvious one out of the way at the beginning. But really, it's true. 
2. Mexican food (with margaritas, of course!)
3. 24-hour shopping possibilities. Not that I'll actually take advantage of that
4. Terrapin beer. Mmm, Hopsecutioner, I know you're waiting for me
5. Customer service. Or should I be more specific? Good customer service.
6. Knowing that when someone asks "wanna go swimming?" they don't mean go swim laps for an hour, they mean, grab a drink and a float and sit in the pool gossiping all afternoon
7. Having said pool to sit in right in my back yard 

8. Hulu! 

9. wearing nike shorts and t-shirts any- and everywhere possible and not standing out like a sore thumb (now if only I had the matching ugg boots...)

10. Sweet tea!
11. catching up on a year's worth of gossip (probably in the pool). 

12. driving (maybe... mom? dad? please?!)13. unlimited texting!! (double exclamation point for that)
14. no randomly restricted youtube videos due to copyright laws. Seriously, wtf?
15. not being the one with the strongest southern accent in a 100 mile radius.
16. Choo choo, Mirko, Transmet, and all the usual food places...
17. Downtown Athens, specifically the Globe and Trapeze
18. Those flip flops and various other things I've forgotten about because they didn't make the 2010 European packing list cut. 

Of course the list would be a lot longer if I went into individual family and friends and the various things we're likely to do together... but then we'd be here all night. So there you have it, the list that is keeping me going! There will be a lot of things I'll look forward to coming back to Germany for (let's not make that list, then I just won't know how to feel!), but I think they can only be appreciated so much with the occasional break for amazing (and severely missed) family and friends, pools, and sweet tea. 

Coming to America

When I left the US in August, I remember planning on not seeing dear old Murikah again for a year, at the very least. That's me all excited in the Atlanta airport on August 23, 2010 before my flight to Edinburgh! ----------->

Well here it is 9 months later (omg, has it already been 9 months?) and I've just booked my second trip home. I was honestly amazed to find a cheap flight home for Christmas, so I was surprised to find out I could be lucky enough to find another good deal in the middle of summer. 

After fighting with the Delta website for an hour or so (I ended up just having to call the service people and buy the ticket over the phone), I finally booked my visit home for June 30th. Since I couldn't get a direct flight out, I opted for a ridiculously long lay-over in Amsterdam to be able to spend a day in a city I've never been too, before heading all the way back to Atlanta on July 1st. 

You'll notice, however, that I keep referring to this trip only as a visit home. And alas, it is true. I'll heading back to Germany on July 24. I can have a week or so back in Forchheim (for Annafest, really... as it's all anyone has talked about since I got here), before heading off for the next big adventure back in Zürich for a year.  But more on that later. 

Now that's just cruel.

These are real-life statuses and tweets from Georgia:

"OMG, I feel like laying out by the pool today!" 

"Chaco weather is here!"

"Working on my Chaco tan today"

"Going out without a jacket for the first time since November"

"The weather was so beautiful I ran 3 miles!"

I know it's not meant to be mean, but seeing every other update about how beautiful the weather in Georgia is, is just cruel. Over in Forchheim, we've descended back into the depths of winter, not reaching temperatures above freezing these days. 


Let's compare:

Forchheim...

Georgia... 

There might be a lot of things that I love about Germany, but I can't deny that I really miss the mildness and brevity of a Georgia winter. 


The snow was nice. And it was even nicer that it doesn't bring the whole world to a grinding halt. But I'm conditioned to winter ending at the end of February, so winter in March might be a real struggle for me. 

Transatlantic

I think my day of traveling (all 36 hours) counts as the longest trip I've ever made by myself! Although the man at the airport saved my life with the extra weight fees of the bags, I found myself restoring balance to the universal yin and yang almost immediately. 41D was my seat on the plane. Usually I like to ask for a window seat, but because the man who checked me in was doing such a huge favor anyway, I decided I could live with D, which on most planes is an aisle seat - most international planes I've flown having 3 rows of 3. Not this plane. For 8 hours I sat uncomfortably sandwiched between two strangers in the middle seat of the middle row. I usually love flying - the longer the flight, the better! 12 hours China? Loved it! But 8 hours in seat 41D and my perspective has changed slightly.

We arrived at Gatwick 30 min early (6:30gmt/1:30est). In the airport I had to open and repack one of my bags to switch out my giant carry on for my horn. Yes, I checked my horn. And this is how:

1. place horn safely inside case
2. pad empty space in case with socks, underwear, etc.
3. place entire horn case inside large piece of luggage
4. place shoes in empty spaces of luggage to prevent sliding
5. pad empty space of luggage with large coats and t-shirts

I was glad to see that my horn made it safely through it's first sub-cabin adventure, although I never really want to have to do that again. So after trading my carryon luggage for my horn I was ready to head off into the city!

I had been debating for several days before the trip if I would try to navigate the Tube (£1.80) with my two bags weighing over 50lbs each or if I would just take a taxi (~£20). After struggling... no, not just struggling, straight up battling my bags just to get them on the Gatwick express I knew there was no way I was getting anywhere fast with them on the Tube, or period, really. Fortunately pretty much every bus in the city stops by London Victoria, so I found one that would go straight to King's Cross. And Although I was obviously out of place with my giant suitcases on the full bus, it only cost £2 and my luggage and I both made it safely across the city.

When I arrived at King's Cross, they were just announcing the platform for the train to Edinburgh. Unfortunately it was the 10am train and I was on the 1:30pm train. Yes. I was almost 4 hours early to the train station. So I got a luggage trolley, loaded up what was surely well over 120lbs of luggage and hung out. for 4 hours.

***side note to Harry Potter fans:

Of course my first instinct while at King's Cross Station was to visit platform 9 3/4, so

after about an hour in the station I did just that. Immediately I faced several problems with this endeavor. First, you can't even enter that section of the station without a ticket (I wonder if they accept letters from Hogwarts?). And from what I could tell, tracks 9 and 10 no longer share a platform. Forcing what is sure to be hundreds of young wizards running straight into the tracks to reach the Hogwarts Express. However, when in London in 2008, I made sure we sidetracked out to King's Cross to get some pictures at the infamous wizarding platform, but it appears that area is currently blocked off for construction. I hope they get it ready by september 1, for the first day of school! ;)

***

Four hours later, after sleeping, eating, reading, doing circles around the station, etc. I loaded everything on to the East Coast line to Edinburgh - a 4.5 hour journey. Despite the strain of now having been awake for 24 solid hours, I only managed to doze for about 1 hour on the train. for the other 3.5 hours I plugged in my iPod and watched the British country side fly by. It was gorgeous! I would recommend taking a train across the UK just to see it all! Shahida and her boyfriend, Simon (who I also knew from Zurich), met me at the station! Thank God Simon was there, because he carried one piece of luggage up the 4 flights to their apartment and came back to get the mine before I even reached the 2nd floor!

I think I managed quite well, not having slept for so long. I allowed myself to sleep till noon yesterday, thinking I deserved a solid 11 hours of sleep after my long journey. But I was up by 9 this morning, so I don't succumb to jetlag. I haven't really noticed it too much so far.

Yesterday I spend the day sleeping and reorganizing my suitcases so I could actually find things in them, then we went into the city to have fish and chips for dinner (which I actually liked!) then went to the movies (only £3 because it was student night) to see Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Today I'm meeting Shahida for lunch at work then wandering around the city before meeting up again for dinner and drinks!

There are a lot more plans in the works, but there'll be time for that later.