Return to Germany 2009

Well, it's been a while... Went home to Oregon for 3 weeks for the holidays. For the most part it was a fun time, except for the 18 inches of snow and ice that came in the span of 2 days (see photo). I had tickets to the Jets/Seahawks game up in Seattle right after the storm hit. Luckily I have a truck with 4WD so we managed to make it up there, but very slowly since the road was just a sheet of ice. A trip that normally takes 3 hours took us 6 and a half. We decided to go up early to make sure we got the on time and crashed at my sister's for the night. The game was great... Got to see Brett Favre and also Mike Holmgren's last home game before he retired. They did a big tribute to him at the end which was neat. What was really fun was that the stadium was covered in snow, so everyone was throwing snowballs everywhere. Security tried to kick people out, but that just encouraged people to do it more. At the end of the game some of the Jets players were getting sick of it all and decided to retaliate at the fans... check it out.

I had a good Christmas... Got some gift certificates for some new clothing so went on a shopping spree. The cashier lady was surprised by how much stuff I had, but I told her that I had to stock up on good fashion before I headed back to the land of neon jumpsuits and mullets. Once Christmas was over my mom and I made a surprise visit to Madison to visit the family. We though it would be smart to leave on the day after Christmas during all the crappy weather (sarcasm). We made it to Minnesota alright, but got stuck there for a good 7 hours before they loaded us on buses and shipped us down to Madison. The trip took about 6 hours, so we didn't get in until almost 3am. We were supposed ot get in at 7pm the day before so we had to get a taxi to a hotel for the the night. Had a good time meeting up with the family, especially since I haven't been there for like 5 years. The trip back to Oregon wasn't much better. In Madison we got stuck for 5 hours for some 'maintenance' issue, so we missed our connection to Portland. We got on the next one, but we had to wait 2 hours in Minnesota before it arrived... and of course it arrived late. Let's just say I spent a good amount of time that day in a bar watching football.

The flight back to Germany was alright. They moved my seat without asking me but put me in an exit row so I had tons of leg room. The only problem was that it was right next to the bathrooms so everyone congregated around us, which got a little annoying. Also, there was a family in the middle row with 3 young children who kept running around and crying and pooping themselves. At one point one of the youngest ones came over and blatantly knocked the cup of orange juice off the tray of the guy that was sitting next to me... no punishment. Kids get off too easy these days for stuff I would get smacked for.

Anyways, when I arrived in Germany we got in 45 minutes early, so they had to unload us on the tarmac onto buses to take us to the terminal. Kinda sucked, but what made it miserable was the fact that it was -20 C out (~0 F) and it was windy. I think my lungs actually froze about 10 seconds after being out there. But I managed to survive and made it to my bus to Darmstadt and then got a taxi to my new apartment. Luckily the manager spoke a little English, so with my little German we were able to figure everything out. She was really nice. She showed me around the apartment and told me how to work everything and what not, so the transition was smooth. Once I was settled I headed to work to pick up the stuff I left behind in my office. I arrived right at lunch time so I got lunch with the people I usually eat with and then I headed out. Once I deposited everything I had to make 2 trips to the grocery store (about a mile away) to get some food. Since I can only buy what I can carry I have had to make 4 trips there and back in the past 3 days, and I will probably be making another one today after my workout. Kind of obnoxious, but hopefully I will be able to cut it back to once a week after I have all the basics that I need.

Anyways, this is getting too long so I should probably cut it. Coming up... apartment tour... get excited.