Ich liebe München

So I'm a procrastinator...that's a fact. So Monday (27 Aug) I still hadn't created my ppt presentation that I had to present later that day. Since I was finished with my project at work, i had plenty of time to do that. So I worked on my presentation all morning and finished it by lunchtime. Easy peasy. I gave my presentation and it went a lot better than expected. And Steve, one of the England guys gave me really positive feedback about how well I've done this rotation. I felt AWESOME! Then I had a lot of nothing to do afterwards. After work, I went home and quickly ate so I could go to FHE for one last time. It was so sad, but fun. We had a really nice lesson and afterwards watched BBC's Robin Hood. It was great! British humor...classic. I said my goodbyes and went home so I could pack. Why would I pack so early? Because we're shipping one of our giant suitcases to Sedalia to meet us there, so we don't have to carry two giant suitcases and a carry on with a GIANT personal item on the airplane. Of course, I cannot pack when I have plenty of time to do so, so I watch some tv on my laptop until it got late enough that I was tired enough to concentrate on packing. It was so sad. #depressing

Tuesday after lunch in the cantina, kevin was reminding us to say goodbye to everything. goodbye cantina. goodbye stairs. goodbye building. goodbye parking lot. It was so depressing. But it is goodbye...unless we magically get another assignment there, which would be EPIC! So I did mostly not much at work because I was all finished up...but Lindsay was working on her project and had to give her presentation. Of course, during the same time of her presentation, but big sis posted something HYSTERICAL that I was reading....the reviews for the BIC For Her Amber Medium Ballpoint Pen. It's life-changingly funny. So I tried not to be distracting...but it was too funny for words. On the way to the train after work, we ran into out Finnish friend that we alway run into on the bus, and got to chat with him one last time. He just finished his thesis and was going home to Finland this Friday. Goodbye Finnish Friend! And we met up with Siv, Kevin, and Anja on the train and went to the Augustiner. We ate fish (who still had their faces). I was in charge of buying the fish, and was really proud of myself for being so brave. We had a great last night with the COOLEST GERMAN CO-WORKERS EVER! It was really sad saying goodbye, and they gave Lindsay and me the nicest going-away gifts. I almost cried. Siv, Petra, and Kevin gave us a scrapbook of our time in Germany together with lots of pics and a notes at the end. It was so thoughtful. #bestgiftever

Nymphenburg Palace

On the way home Lindsay and I were making plans to meet up Wednesday afternoon. The best part of that was I had to think of whether or not the bomb has been diffused. So we could go to the English Gardens. Then I was skyping with Saryah and a HUGE bug came through my mesh window curtains and it was almost 2 inches long! It started flying around my room, so i ran out screaming and downstairs to beg for help from Lindsay. She was skyping Alex and I had to beg Alex for forgiveness as I stole away his gf to save my life. We slowly crept back into my room which I left open in my panic and the bug was sitting there next to my computer (where I was sitting) on the curtains mocking me. Lindsay had a rolled up magazine and I had a shoe. Our plan of attack was to knock it off the curtains, onto the floor, and the smash it with my shoe. The plan worked...with a lot of me freaking out and having a blanket wrapped around my head to protect me from a bug-attack. lindsay saved my life.

Nymphenburg Palace

Wednesday. My last full day in Germany. I slept in. YAY! Then walked from my apartment to the Nymphenburg Palace. It was lovely. While I was there I met a fellow Texan, and we chatted for a bit. Then I went to get ice cream and walk back to my apartment. I caught the metro up to Olympiapark so I could go to the Olympic Village and see where the Munich Massacre took place. It was a very somber moment, but I felt it was important to go and remember what happened there, the result of so much hatred.  I then went into town to see the Residence Palace and some churches I've been wanting to check out. I got some pastries and had a nice day, but by the time I got home I was EXHAUSTED! I waited for Lindsay and we went to have our last Munich dinner. We went to our place and got the usual, our delectable salads. It was a nice time. Lindsay had went to the Dachau Concentration Camp earlier that day and shared her experience. It was a good last night.

31 Connallystrasse, site of the Munich Massacre

Wall in the Olympic Village

Thursday started off right. We were both worried that we would not wake up, so we called each other in the morning to double check we were awake. We got our luggage downstairs, and the taxi drove us to the airport. Goodbye beautiful Munich. We had to pay for our overweight luggage. surprise, surprise. I decided to be honest and take out my gels and lotions, but since i didn't have a clear plastic bag to put them in, I had to throw them away. #dumb. I read my book as we waited in comfy couches as we sipped on our freshly squeezed orange juice. yum. I finished the book on the flight to Berlin, and realized it is the 3rd book in a series. Definitely not good enough to make me feel inclined to read any other book in the series. It was ok. Then we had a nice short layover in Berlin, where we got some sandwiches. Lindsay and I were supposed to have seats together, so we were a little surprised when a lady made Lindsay move because the seat was wrong. Sad day. The movies were alright. But the problem came when I messed up on my customs form and needed a new one. I put on the light to call for a stewardess...and after about an hour, one came by for drinks and I told her I needed a new one, to which she responded, "that's up in the front" and continued on. I waited longer, only to realize she turned off my light. I turned it on again...and waited...and waited. Eventually I went up to the front to see the stewartesses and tell them I need a new customs form. Their response was "that was hours ago when we went by with those". Thank you genius. I said, "yes, and I've been waiting with my light on for someone to come by so i could get a new one for hours". One of them when off and got me one, to which I responded again, "thank you, now i can go turn off my light." I was so mad. The rest of the flight was fine. We got to JFK, where I was waiting in customs and the lady behind me says "Excuse me, you're supposed to wait behind the yellow line". Now I'm just going to say, i was tired, my blood sugar was low, and i was hungry...aka easily annoyed. I looked at her...then down at my feet...then back at her and said "I am behind the yellow line". She responded, "Yes, but your suitcase isn't". I was about to go all sorts of crazy on her. I tried to say as calmly as possible how i dont think the wait-behind-the-yellow-line thing includes suitcases. It was ridiculous. luckily, for her own safety, it was my turn so i could walk away. We got our luggage, and checked them into JetBlue for our individual flights home. Luckily our gates were next to eachother. We each got something to eat, and i quickly passed out on the table as lindsay talked on the phone. (it was past midnight Germany time). We moved to the gates at Lindsay's suggestion, and she watched a movie on her laptop and I curled up into a little ball on the floor because I couldnt sleep on the chairs. Bad idea. Because I also was so tired, I slept the entire flight to Houston...which meant, I slept during Germany sleeping time, so all night longer in Houston...I was wide awake and didn't sleep because I was still on Germany schedule. Whoops.

GERMANY! I MISS YOU! Just Top 5 list of things I miss.
1. my German friends
2. The metro system
3. Bratwursts and Simmels
4. the lakes in Germany...they are BEAUTIFUL!
5. Not having to overhear dumb american conversations