Landing!

5.23.10

My first plane from Charlotte to New York was delayed, which caused me to miss my connection. I flew in, saw the Manhattan skyline and the Brooklyn Bridge (I think, it was a big bridge.). I soon began to curse New York and all that inhabit it. Luckily, I was on stand-by for another flight at 8. I had two hours to eat, charge my phone, call my family and catch my breath. I made the 8:50 flight with a nice upgrade to World Traveler Plus. I was seated between two Indian men who fell asleep during the takeoff. I was not so lucky. Every time I closed my eyes I felt as if the plane were twisting and turning in circles. Motion sickness is something I know too well.

In London, my plans went awry. Due to the mishap in New York, I was scheduled to be on an earlier flight than what I had thought and couldn’t go through immigration check in order to leave the airport, which is something I would have to do if I wanted to go out into London. So, I hurried around the airport looking for a new international phone to tell my mom and host that I was arriving earlier than planned- a whole eight hours earlier!

After going to three stores, I found a phone for a reasonable 22 quid, which was a T-Mobile pay-as-you go. In Germany you must have a permanent address in order to buy a phone. So, I thought it best both language wise and cost wise to buy one in London. However, instead of having free incoming calls, I will be charged a fee since I’m not in the UK. I also picked up some delightful Cadburry dairy crème in Turkish Delight and Caramel! Brooke and Krystal, eat your hearts out!

There were literally 20 or less people on my flight from London to Berlin. Once in Tegel, I discovered my bags had been lost! Unfortunately, they are still in Berlin because Sunday and Monday are national holidays. They celebrate the assenting of Christ into heaven. It’s strange to think that Easter was in the beginning of April for the US. Also, none of our national holidays can be religious holidays because of the separation of Church and State. I explained this to my host Sabine, who thought it very strange.

After arriving in Berlin’s Tegel airport yesterday, Sabine, Julia and I rushed to the checkpoint Charlie meeting where we learned of our monthly itinerary. We drove back to Magdeburg, which is only 90 minutes from Berlin. If you’re going 150 km/hr on the autobahn, it’s a breeze. On the way, we saw several wind generators and fields of yellow flowers, which are used to make cooking oil. On the landing in Berlin I saw patches of green and yellow. So lovely!

We had a wonderful dinner of schnitzel, white asparagus (spargel) with hollandaise and potatoes roasted with rosemary! To keep ourselves awake, we played a game called “Creationary.” You roll a dice to see what category you must pick from (thing, auto, house, nature). Then, you take a card with four pictures on it one of which is from the category on the dice. Then, you must build the thing in the picture with legos! Try building a light bulb or carrot with that. I did it. I’m awesome. :-)

This morning we had a wonderful breakfast of brotchen and hard-boiled eggs. Afterwards we went on a walk around Magdeburg where we had ice cream at a shop that has been there for over 20 years. They still make all of the ice cream from scratch. I had “citrone” which was a lemon cream that tasted tart and wonderful! The buildings alternate between being old and new. There will be an older building with a newer extension built onto it. It’s easy to see what was built before and after the war. The city also has several stations to drop off recycling, which is big in German households. On some street corners there are large black pumps which you can use to pump water into a drain. There is a sign that says “Kein trinkwasser” (No/Not drinking water). I must look up what they are used for! I also learned that the sidewalks are two different colors, gray and red. The red side is for the bikers and the gray stone is for the people walking.

I’ve never spoken so much German in my life! I’m actually surprised by how much I can understand. The trick is to go with context clues but also to think of phrases and smaller parts of bigger words.