My last full day in Germany way Monday, August 4th. It was a somber day. I had to spend yet more time packing up the last of my belongings, doing laundry, and cleaning. I did, however, find time to go out around town for a little. I got ice cream with Kalle in the early afternoon to say goodbye. Afterwards, I wandered around taking in the sights for one last time. I made sure to just stop and enjoy the moment as much as I possibly could. It was weird hearing all the sounds of the city, seeing all the sights, and realizing that I may never be back there again. I did some last minute shopping, and I ended up getting some awesome paintings of Mainz done by a street artist. I felt like they were the perfect final souvenir of my time in Germany. I watched the sun set from my room, as I often did, and a sadness came over me. The finality of everything had finally caught up with me. As expected, it took forever to fall asleep.
Tuesday, August 5th, was my last bit of time in Germany. I had to wake up at 5am to pack up my remaining toiletries, take out my trash, and get rid of all the things I had in my apartment for living, such as pots and pans. I finally walked to the bus at 6:30. With my four bags, moving was quite a strain. When I got off the bus, a woman asked me if I needed help. I told her that my bags were heavy, but that I would appreciate the help. When I was standing at the top of the stairs looking down to the train track, a man asked if I needed help, and I again graciously accepted. He asked me where I was going with so many things. When I told him that I was going back to the USA, he kind of laughed and said that it made sense that I had so many bags. When I was attempting to get all my bags up onto the train, another woman just kind of jumped in and helped me. As my train crossed over the river, I looked out the window, trying to burn the image of the sun rising over the water into my head. Some tears came to my eyes in that moment. After more struggling and sweating, I finally crossed the massive airport and dropped my bags off at the desk. I didn't even have to pay for my second bag! I headed to security and made it through without problems. However, once I got to customs, the German customs gave me some trouble with the length of time I had been in Germany. I'm not sure why he was giving me so much trouble, I was leaving the country, but I managed to talk it through (in German) with him and he let me by. When it was finally time to board, I boarded with my zone. When they scanned my ticket, the machine beeped. I ended up getting upgraded to first class!!!!!! International first class is absolutely amazing. My seat laid down into a bed. I got a Weston Heavenly blanket and pillow. We had four courses for lunch, free alcohol, warm cookies between meals, and then a light dinner. Noise cancelling headphones were also provided in-flight. The list goes on. Leaving in first class certainly helped my mood. When we landed 9.5 hours later, it felt weird to be on American soil. I finally made it back to Huntsville at 5:30pm central time. My mom cried when she picked me up at the airport.
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