Germany: August 10, 2013

So, I am currently sitting in the airplane on the nine hour flight to Germany as we speak. It's about 11:00pm "local time" ( and by local time, that means the middle of the Atlantic Ocean), and in Germany, 4:00am. From this moment we have about 4 hours left of flying to bring us to a destination time of 8:00am in Frankfurt. Once we get to the Frankfurt airport, we have the pleasure of getting to ride busses to the language camp in Hederleben for 4 1/2 hours (as so I have been told). Then we get to brave the day on just about no sleep. While I'm writing this, Finn and Celina are currently bickering about who's eating what part of a brownie they had and suggesting that they eat a whole bunch of sugar and then just crash so they get some sleep. I say good luck to that….we'll see what happens.

My last days in America:

Tuesday night, I had a little "father-daughter time" and the two of us went to a baseball game- my last American baseball game- with the Arizona Diamond backs playing against the Tampa Bay Rays at Chase field. And the Diamondbacks won! Then, on Thursday, I got to have a few of my friends over (Sarah, Francesca, Hailey, Zach, Kathleen, Miranda, and Sandra), to wish me a goodbye. It was bittersweet cause I loved that I got to see them, but it was really sad when the moment hit me that I would be leaving them for an entire year- Francesca and Sarah were practically bawling and it really made me realize how much I was going to miss the two friends that were always there for me. But the time came when they finally all had to leave. Then my mom treated me to getting some lighter blonde highlights in my hair, which I loved! Finally, on Friday, my mom and I went to go see We're the Millers (probably the best movie I have ever seen- so highly recommended). Then my whole family went out to dinner at a Chicago-styled restaurant called Oregano's, and, finally, to the Jonas Brothers concert! It was so much fun to see them after their last concert they had in three years. I even predicted the four main songs they were going to play: Burnin' Up, S.O.S., That's Just the Way we Roll, and Love Bug. Not to mention after the concert, one of the warm-up acts (DJ Mike Tomkins) did a little meet-and-greet where I had the pleasure of getting a picture with him, having him sign his t-shirt I bought and writing for me to have a great time in Germany.

Departure day: Saturday, August 10, 2013:

After getting back from the concert at around midnight, I had the pleasure of getting three hours of sleep and waking up at 3:00am to get up and ready for the airport. We left my house around 4:30am and arrived around 5:15ish. We got to the checked bag counter and I ended up with a 49 pound bag and a 53 pound bag, causing me to dig through and take out three pounds worth of stuff to give to my mom. Then it was off to security check in which was the final goodbye was made to the parents. Again, bittersweet, but I was too excited to go to Germany that I didn't cry.

Once I made it through security, I found the other CBYXer (Paola) whom was riding with me, and we got our seat on the plane. We then made our way to Chicago in which we had a layover in. While there, another CBYXer (Saige), ended up coming to us and we discovered she had a layover in Chicago as well, coming from Kansas. And then, as we were making out way back to the bathroom, we were surprised by a fourth (Finn). So that was kind of exciting that there were more of us getting in to Washington D.C. at the same time.

We finally landed in D.C. and it was a momentous reunion seeing more people that were waiting for the rest of us, and, when we arrived at the hotel where everyone else was, and even grander reunion! We passed the rest of the night just hanging around the hotel being the random people that we are. But the party had to end and we finally had to go to bed since it was going to be another long day.

Going to Germany: Sunday, August 11, 2013:

So another long day with waking up at 4:30am to head on out to the airport at 6:00am. Being how many kids we are, it took us a long time to get through bag check and security. But we made it just in time and boarded the plane to Dallas. Once on the plane, I had the pleasure of sitting next to a kid from Germany. It was rally cool! He was coming from Germany to be an exchange student in Arkansas for a year. I also got to ask him a few things about Germany and the German language, and him ask me about America.

We arrived in Dallas at 11:30, giving us three hours to do whatever we want. So Celina, Finn, and I decided to roam the airport being the complete goofballs we are and eat at a "fancy restaurant" as so we call it, having a fun conversation with our waiter, getting her to talk in funny accents with us. And after all the commotion, we finally got on the plane for Germany, which was just a really cool experience in itself since I've never seen the giant three-sectioned plane and the videos in the back of the seats and the fully-prepared meals.

But now we are still flying the air, still in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, but a little more than half-way. We have about another three hours to go and the landing time is still estimated at 8:00am, so we'll see what happens. But I'm gonna  split now so I can maybe talk with Finn and Celina a little more, finish the movie I'm watching then hopefully sleep at least an hour so I can brave the day.

Until next time!