Die Erste Sonnuntergang
Still readjusting to the keyboard...Gonna be some slow typing...
We left Oklahoma on Monday the 5th of March, 2012 at 4:40 pm Oklahoma City time, were at the airport 1:40-ish pm OKC time. We sat at our gate for...I dunno, an hour or so. Frau Boudreau spent it teaching Frau Losher- the adjunct who has never had any of the GAPPsters as students- the names of all the Amis and their partners. Some people went for some last-minute Sonic, which Kira and I also did. Last Blue Coconut Slushie for three weeks!
The flight to Dallas was short, but I met Haley- sorta. She and I had never spoken before. She was next to me on the eight-hour flight too. My row was Ricky, Hannah, Jared, Haley, me.
It all felt like a dream...Sorta. But not. As excited as I was, I also found myself more relaxed and at peace than I'd been in a while.
Most people were trying to sleep on the eight-hour flight. Hannah and Ricky made good use of each other's shoulders, and at one point, Haley and I looked over and compared the sleeping Jared to the sleeping Ricky: Jared looked adorable and boyish, Ricky looked adorable and older. I think part of it was Ricky's facial hair compared to Jared's...not facial hair.
We stopped in London Heathrow, and everyone scrambled to get food. I wasn't hungry- or maybe I was just lazy...details, details- so I stuff-sat for...everyone.
The Travel Rules of Frau Boudreau:
1. Nimmer allein. Never alone. Always have someone with you.
2. If you want to leave, have someone else watch your stuff. Like you, your stuff is never alone.
Our last flight consisted of us all going "WE'RE ALMOST THERE" and thinking of how we have to speak German. Small freakouts.
Then we actually GOT to Tegel...Oi. The first German we all met was the passport dude, who was this angry German man sitting at this tall desk...
We could see the crowd of German GAPPsters as we got our luggage. Glass windows! They had signs and were all squeey like us, and some of them were obviously looking for their Ami- as some of the Amis were looking for their German (this theme of searching for each other will carry on throughout the trip).
I think I was the first to get all my luggage, so I was the first one out. I probably had the most awkward smile on my face- I mean, I was excited and sleep-deprived and...well, it must have made for an awkward smile! I found my partner Yasemin easily, though.
SHE IS SO CUTE. She's a bit shorter than me and petite, and her hair is like dirty blond and wavy-curly-ish and long, and her eyes are blue, and she's just so ADORABLE. She was all smiley too, and she handed me a bag with a Kaethe-Kollowitz Oberschule (our partner school, KKOS) hoodie, a box of Kinder Schokolade- GERMANY'S GIFT TO MAN, I SWEAR- a bar of Caramel Milka, and a bag of Haribo. Welcome to Germany!
Frau B just sent us away from there. Yep. She was just like, "Find your partner and leave. Uh, bye!"
Got home to my own room- MY OWN ROOM. Never had my room! I unpacked, gave all the gifts.
I had two little host sisters, Dilara and Sara. Dilara is twelve and Sara seven- she turns eight in April. I met my host mother, Merih, and my host father, Herr Gross. Merih is a Turkish Muslim, so there was no pork in the house. She also always had Turkish tea on the stove- and when they first asked if I wanted some, I was like, ECSTATIC. I love tea, and I was worried that maybe I wouldn't be able to have it as often in Germany...Nope, tea every day! Herr Gross is a tall German man who looks quite intimidating if he doesn't smile. He's that awkward "I'm a father" friendly, and he reminded me a lot of my Baba.
Yasemin, Dilara, Sara, and I went on a walk at sunset, and I learned the word for sunset- Sonnuntergang. Sunrise is Sonnaufgang. We walked to a small park, and they had these disk things...We all sat on one and took turns spinning it. It was pretty tight.
And it was on this disk thing with my host sisters laughing and speaking German, after I'd been awake for about twenty-seven hours straight, that I realized I was in Germany.