Tschüß Deutschland

I'm not quite sure what I expected to get out of this semester abroad, but I can safely say, I got way more than I ever could have dreamed of. I traveled the continent, made some absolutely amazing new friends, I can finally have a conversation auf Deutsch, I gained way too much weight, and spent way too much money. But these past six months have been the most amazing months of my life, and I don't regret a single thing.

Like Miss Emily Bender, here is a list of things I will miss and things I will most definitely not miss.

I will miss:
-My new friends. I made some incredible new friends this semester, and luckily, most of them go to Stevens Point, so I will be seeing them in the fall. But I'm very sad to say that my three traveling buddies, Emily, Kirsten, and Kelsey either go to Madison or Eau Claire.
-The Disko (Clubs). I love dancing. I love dancing. I love dancing. That's pretty much it.
-German sweets. This includes the many bakeries they have on almost every corner, German chocolate, which is a thousand times better than American chocolate, and the delicious gummy candies, including Haribo and Fred Ferkel of course. I know we have Haribo in the States, but it just isn't the same.
-Cheap Flights. It's nice to be able to travel somewhere far away for just a small amount of money, such as my 5 euro roundtrip fare to Rome two years ago, or my 45 euro roundtrip flight to Portugal.
-Trains. They make so much sense and make life so much easier sometimes.
-Drinking wine and cocktails. It's really nice to be able to order a glass of wine with dinner or have a cocktail on ladies night. I didn't think I would be upset about not being allowed to drink for another year once I come home, but I'll admit, it sucks.
-Kisses on the cheek when you greet someone. It's a nice touch. I wish we had it in the States.
-The style. People here are dressed so much better here because the style is so much better. Nobody walks around in just a t-shirt and jeans, and it's really nice not seing any pajamas in the classroom.
-The relaxed society. The people are so much more relaxed here because they're not work crazy like American people. They don't have to work nearly as much to make a decent amount of money, and they get plenty of time off throughout the year to vacation. My host family takes at least a couple of vacations every year.
-The Autobahn. I like speed, even if I'm not the one driving.

I will not miss:
-Late nights. The Germans love to party, but not until midnight or later. Sorry Germany, but I like to be in bed by midnight, not just starting my night.
-Bikes. I'm sick of those darn bike bells. I understand that you want me to move out of your way, and hey, I don't want to be run over either. But enough with the bells already!
-Thieves. It's just a little frustrating when you go to the public fridge in the kitchen for your food to find that it's been stolen. Stupid Diebs! Yeah, I've got loads of money to just throw around.
-The Euro. The exchange rate has certainly not done any favors for me this semester.
-My hairdryer. It's not the most pleasant thing to have your hair sucked into the other end of the hair dryer when you're trying to dry your hair.
-Not having any screens. I really don't like having giant mosquitoes in my room at night or moths for that matter. I also don't like having a bee attack right before I'm about to go to bed because there just happens to be a hive right outside the window. And you know what else sucks, waking up to a bee sting from the lone bee that survived the hairspray and fly swatter from the night before.
-Paying for water, refills, and bathrooms. Why do I have to pay for water? Why do I have to pay for refills when the drink was as small and expensive as it was to begin with? And why do I have to pay to use your bathroom? It better be real nice if I'm paying to go.
-Cigarettes. Smoking is still pretty popular here, so I am not going to miss the smoke I inhale on a regular basis.
-Not being able to watch youtube videos. It stinks not being able to watch a new video or something because "this video is not allowed in your country."
-Stinky people. Deoderant is not necessary here, and that's cool. I get it. But please keep a good distance away from me, or at least have the courtesy to change your shirt more than every three days.
-The Bus. Crowded, no air-conditioning, and again with the stinky people.

I didn't study abroad to "find myself" either. But I guess I did learn a lot about myself this semester. I worry way too much. I'm unfortunately a control freak. I'm a neat freak, but I already knew that. I'm addicted to sweets, and if there's food in front of me, I will eat it. I don't need a whole lot to live with, just give me the basics. I can make a week's worth of clothes last three or more weeks (I'm good at doing laundry in the sink). I'm extremely similar to my dad, and I never realized that before this semester.

I guess all I can really say now though, is that I am really going to miss Germany. This country has become my home these last six months, and I'm much more sad than I ever expected to be to leave it. That just means I'll have to come back as soon as I can to visit. But it's tschüß for now Deutschland, you will be missed.

Ireland, Wales, & England

Two Friday's ago, I hopped on a plane to Dublin, Ireland to meet up with my parents and my brother. It was the first time I had seen them in five and a half months, so it was a very nice reunion.

For our vacation, we were part of a bus tour that took us around Ireland, and a little bit of Wales and England. Our leader, Deirdre, was an older Irish woman, and everyone absolutely loved her. She was hilarious and always had some story to tell us. The tour consisted mostly of the older folks, but that's what I expected, and there were a couple people that were also pretty hilarious. Janice was my grandma's doppelganger on my dad's side. They looked the same, they sounded the exact same with that southern accent, and their enthusiasm for everything was the same. Then there was 77 year old Betty who was saying things you would never expect to be coming out of a woman's mouth at that age. I always got a kick out of her.

We spent the first weekend in Dublin, where we took a tour around the city, saw the Book of Kells, an extremely old book, and also visted the Guinness Storehouse. Our last night in Dublin, we went out for dinner and a show, where there were singers, dancers, and also a comedian. My favorite was the dancing of course.

One of Dublin's many colorful doors. 

Cafe where we ate lunch. 

Carriage ride through Dublin 

After Dublin, we took the bus to Killarney, which is on the other side of the country, but since Ireland is so small, we were still able to do it in just a few hours. Along the way though we stopped at the Rock of Cashel. Then the next day we took a tour along the Ring of Kerry, the Kerry Peninsula. This was my favorite part of the trip because it was absolutely gorgeous, even if it was raining for part of the day.

Rock of Cashel 

Bailey's and Chocolate. Again, two of my favorite things ever. 

After Killarney, we drove to the Blarney Castle, wher I kissed the Blarney Stone again. I don't know if that means I have double the eloquence now, but I thought it couldn't hurt to kiss it again :)

After the castle, we stopped in another town to have lunch, and next to the pub was a Famine Graveyard, where somewhere between seven and fifteen thousand bodies were buried during the famine. I never realized how bad the famine truly was. Two million people died, two million people emigrated, and the country only had nine million to begin with.

After lunch we drove to Waterford where we took a tour through the Waterford Crystal company, and then drove on to Wexford where we spent the night to catch our ferry to Wales in the morning.

This cost 30,000 Euros! 

We only got to spend an hour in Wales, but while we were there, we had to get a pint of the locally brewed beer. Brains. It wasn't too bad actually.

After Wales, we drove on to Bristol, England where we spent the night. The next morning we drove to Bath, Jane Austen's birthplace :) There we took a tour through the ancient Roman Baths, and then we were on to Stonehenge.

After Stonehenge, we continued on to London, our last stop on the tour. That night we walked around a little, saw Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and the Millenium Footbridge, which was in the last Harry Potter film. We also stopped at a local grocery store to pick up some goodies for the night, and I was ecstatic to see that they had one of my favorite German candies, Fred Ferkel, which are these gummy pig things, but they're delicious. In London though, they're called Percy Pig, and not only did they have Percy Pig, but they also had Reversy Percy, Percy Piglets, and Percy Pig and Pals. I've never been so excited about candy before.

The next day was our only day in London, so we had to make the most of it. We went to the Tower of London, where we walked around for a couple of hours and saw the Crown Jewels. From there we hopped on a city tour bus to see the rest of London, including Tower Bridge (which we actually thought was London Bridge, but isn't), Big Ben, Westminster Abbey (but only from the outside because the line was way too long to get in), St. James's Park, and Buckingham Palace. I really liked London, but I definitely know after all these trips that I am not a city person at all. I'll just stick to visiting them I think.

Westminster Abbey 

And early the next morning we all headed to the airport. I flew back to Deutschland, and they flew back to Dublin for one more night. It was a wonderful trip, and it was wonderful to see part of the family again :)