The First Goodbye - Das Erste Aufwiedersehen

Well it's officially that time. The worst time. I have never been excellent with goodbyes and always am left with something, in hindsight, that I'd wish I'd said more eloquently. This is making me especially nervous for my German goodbyes, considering that they're in German and that whole German-is-my-second-language thing. 


Martha and Bernd left this week for their four week vacation in Italy (which they say as if it's nothing), meaning the first round of goodbyes happened sooner than I'd expected. I grilled hamburgers in order to send them on their trip the right way. Bernd ate his open-faced with raw onions and curry ketchup, using a knife and fork. I am really going to miss him.  In the first German months, I basically lived by the golden rule: When the language comprehension gets tough, go and sit by Bernd. From our multiple (and relatively silent) trips to the Post Office to pick up the illegal American packages my parents were attempting to send, to stalling out multiple times during stick-shift lessons on Bernd's choice of the busiest road in Rheda-Wiedenbrück, it will be beyond hard to forget him, especially with the picture of his black and blue nose after Oktoberfest engraved in my mind. 


Martha had the fantastic ability throughout my entire stay of never making me feel like an outsider. From my first day, the hand motions were set into action and they honestly never stopped. I mean, the funniest morning so far in my life was spent with her, half-naked in the living room after falling into a giant puddle with the stroller. Without Martha, her wonderful ways with her grandchildren, and her willingness to babysit, I would have never been about to travel as much as I was able to this year, and for that, a large amount of credit for a the well-traveled person I am today is owed to her. 


Thank you both for being so wonderful to me. While y'all are laying on the beach in Italy, the rain is pouring down here, and I had abundant time to make a Mathis video! This one's for you.

One Month From Today - Ein Monat von Heute

Can you believe it? Exactly one month from today I will be back in the United States. Even while I'm writing this, I really can not grasp the reality of the situation. I feel like there is so much to do. I feel like I have already done so much. I feel like no time has passed. I feel years older. I feel excited, optimistic, and fun like I was when I was younger. I feel like I have experienced a lifetime of escapades that before I could have never imagined.

I am so excited about coming home! I've even been listening to large amounts of Lynyrd Skynyrd in preparation. I'm not sure I will ever be able to completely take in how important this year has been to me.  I found a quote the other day that I can't stop relating to my year here.

“Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same.”

Plus, who could forget to keep this cute face with them for always?

PARIS, FRANCE

Well, Paris is beautiful.  Also smelly, but no one seems to mention that part of the city, and it is easily forgotten with the beautiful sites on every corner. Brian and I took the train to Paris, and quickly figured out the Metro system in order to get to the apartment we were renting. After two security codes and quite a lot of stairs, we found ourselves in the most adorable one bedroom apartment with wooden beams and a lofted bed. I loved it immediately. Because we were only spending 2 nights and 3 days in the city, I wanted to make the most of our time, so we walked straight to the Louvre. The art museum is unbelievably large, and our plan to start at the top and work ourselves down was turned a hour later into finding the Mona Lisa and high tailing it out of there! I was so frustrated by the swarms of people around that one painting that I wanted to yell at everyone, “Stop shoving yourself to the front of the lines to take a picture, and look at the painting! Is anyone actually looking at this painting?!” I refused to take a picture of her, strictly out of spite.

The stairs leading up to our apartment!

the Louvre!

We walked along the expensive shopping streets, ate crepes in the park, and strolled by the Seine River in order to get to the Eiffel Tower. It was so strange to be in front of the symbol of Paris, which I could have recognized at the age of 5, thanks to "Madeline". To actually see with my own two eyes was hard to take in, so Brian and I laid on the lawn in front of the Tower for awhile, taking pictures and avoiding the strange foreign men selling miniature versions of the icon. That evening, we trusted our guidebook and ate at a fantastic outdoor restaurant serving typical French cuisine. Oh, and we also shared two desserts (aka I ate both of them), one being the most perfect, extremely wonderful, greatest chocolate mousse that I will ever eat in my entire life. 

Lovely, lovely Paris.

We found her!

Brian taking good pictures!

I love outdoor restaurants and great food!

On Thursday morning I woke up early, so I decided to wander the streets in search of breakfast. Where we stayed was so picturesque, and it was easy to find a bakery for croissants and a street grocer for fresh cherries. The New Europe Free Walking Tour was on the agenda for day two, and we really enjoyed walking around and learning all about the important sites, as well as the lesser known tidbits about Paris. We took a quick look at Montemare, the Parisian neighborhood where Picasso used to hang out, but we scared by the cheap, aggressive souvenir shops and headed back to our apartment for a rest before dinner. That night we went on a dinner boat cruise, and it was so fun to drink wine, eat a 5 star meal, and watch the sites float by. Our timing was perfect to go check out the top deck because we got to see the Eiffel Tower at night! I think I might like the nighttime Eiffel Tower the best!

View from our dinner cruise!

After cleaning the apartment and eating more croissants, we had a full schedule to keep for our last hours in Paris. Unfortunately, we didn’t factor in that every place on our list would have people lined up for hours outside. We tried to wait in a few of the lines, like outside of the Catacombs and Musée d’Orsay, but our impending train back to Germany made waiting in lines for hours not seem practical. We quickly changed plans, visiting the inside of the Notre Dame, wandering around weird interior the Pompidou, and grabbing a few baguettes before heading back to the train station. While Paris might have not turned out to be the “City of Love” for Brian and me, the little taste of the city was just enough to make me want to visit more! The French people were not rude and scary like Brian and I had predicted, of course the food is absolutely wonderful, and it was not so smelly all of the time.

Notre Dame

Cathedral in Montemare.

Yummy Eclair. 

Back in Germany, Brian was a great Au Pair assistant, and Mathis and I did our best to give him the real German experience. Once I slipped up and took Brian to see a movie in English, but a lot of times during his visit I would forget, turn to him, and say things in German, so I think it came out even in the end. We made one last American meal for the family (Sloppy Joes!), and on Thursday Brian was on his way back to America, hopefully without any E.coli. 

While you are waiting...

Hi! We are back from Paris and updates are on the way, but here is an adorable Mathis video to entertain while you wait!





More soon!