Day 1

These day's are always a mixed bag. You are nerveous/excited/scared all at the same time. When I got up on tuesday morning in Newport it was like any other day. Dad woke me up to breakfast and I heard mom wrestling around to get to work. It was just like when I lived at home, but today was going to be a whole new experience. Got in the car with dad and drove to portland to make my flight. We made good time and I made it through security without my coler bone setting off the alarm! As I walked around the terminal I found myself going back and forth between a bunch of emotions. Was I really about to get on a plane to germany by myself? It's one of those things that dosn't really hit you until you do it. I've planned this trip for about a year and it has stressed me out most of the time to think about it. There are so many unknown's that I can't account for and as a control freak it wigs me out. Regardless, at that moment I was doing it and as the wheels lifted off the ground in Portland I couldn't help but smile. I am really going to Germany.

The first flight was uneventful. Little to no turblance and a couple of nice people to talk to. Chicago was probably one of my least favoriate airports. It was very cold and industrial feeling. I did meet a couple of interesting people at the airport who were going on to Frankfurt as well. It's always nice when you can relate. So I got on the plane to Frankfurt and off I went into the night. Slept through most of it and the flight actually felt a lot shorter than the one from Portland to Chicago. It was amazing how soon we were landing.

As the pilot told us to prepare for landing the moment I had played out in my head a thousand times about about to be a reality. I was about to land in a foreign country without anyone to pick me up and then take the train to an entirely different town! I knew I could do it and in a lot of ways it was a relief to actually be doing it. When we landed I felt a great sense of relief. I was here planning and worrying be damed It was time to just see what you're made of and get out there a bit. Once we got to the terminal I had a bit to eat, called the hotel I was staying at and went to buy train tickets. So let me tell you EVERYTHING they say about the train's is true. They are amazing! It's SO easy to use. They are also extremly nice. It felt a lot like flying only you got to watch the secnery.

I took the train to Stuttgart without any issue and then the subaway to downtown where my hotel is. I was given directions from the subway but apparently I wasn't so great at following them. So I paced up and down one of the main streets downtown for what felt like and hour. I was getting frustrated to say the least. So I finally pulled out my guide book , sat down and figured it out. Turns out I came out of the wrong exit of the subway and was totally turned around. Regardless I was able to find the hotel. It was such a relief to unpack and take a load off.

I took a shower and went out to find some food. On the way I found that getting a mobile phone was going to be really easy. I went into a vodafone shop and the guy there was pretty funny. He was frustrated with his english and we laughed quite a bit about it. I liked him so I said I would get my debit card and be back. So I came back and got the phone from a girl who had helped him before. She also was embarassed about her english and we bonded about that. I told her the story of my trip and buying a mobile was a lot of fun. It's funny about the language. I was really worried about it , but as it turns out it's even easier than people promised me. The germans have been very nice and helpful.

Anyway this post has gotten out of control long and I'm SURE that you stopped reading a while ago so I will end, but it's been a crazy 2 days and it feels really good to get it all down. Hope everyone is doing well, I will post pictures soon and probably another blog post perhaps when I meet up with Bodo.