Just one more week

It's hard for me to believe, but in one week, I'll be flying back to the US. And tomorrow I'm leaving for Rome for four days. So really, I only have a little bit of time left in Aachen. I'm looking out my dorm room window right now. It's a gorgeous day. The sky is completely blue. The trees are green. Each tiny leaf stands out in the bright sunlight. My window is wide open and I'm breathing in the fresh fifth story air. Right now I'm thinking I should take a walk, if for no other reason than to experience the weather. I could take a bag full of pop bottles that have been collecting in my room to the store and return them for the funds back for the deposits I paid. I've been trying to clean up my room somewhat since I'm moving out soon. It's crazy how much of a mess I can make in the course of a few months. I thought I was a pretty tidy, organized person, but I'm realizing that isn't true. My room was so messy, I was embarrassed to let other people see it. It's already looking a lot better though.
I'm really going to miss it here. I'm going to miss the people on my floor. I still remember the first day when everyone was so helpful and friendly. I've never been in a more welcoming atmosphere. I'm going to miss Maria and Irene. It's been a while since I've seen either, but they're both such great people. I'll miss the people from the institute where I work. Since I'm in there 18 hours a week, they're probably the people I've been around the most in Aachen on a regular basis. I'll miss the UROP students that I met. I already miss my German teacher. I'll miss the other friends I made, like those I went with to Baden-Baden. I'll miss Simone. I'll miss the guys from MSU; I know they're coming back too, but we won't be a unit anymore. We'll all go our separate ways.
I'll miss being on a constant vacation, though I still have summer break for a good portion of August. I'll miss the way of life in Germany. I'm not even sure what I mean by that yet, but I know when I get back to Michigan, it will become apparent. I'll miss all the old architecture. I'll miss the bratwurst, the schnitzel, the doner, the chocolate. It's really started to feel like home here. So what am I doing wasting my time typing?!
Get out there, Sara, and take full advantage of your last days in Europe!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Weather alert! I guess you decided it was okay to write about the weather again.
Geesh, the time really just flies, doesn't it? And it's always like that at the end. You realize how much you love everything and how much you're gonna miss it. I'm really so glad this has been a good experience for you, Sara!!! And wow, what a traveler you turned out to be... How many stamps in your passport now?
July 24, 2008 at 12:55 PM
flutterby1987 said…
I'm so glad to hear you're having fun, Sara! Enjoy yourself--and I can't wait to see and hang out with you this fall!!!! :-)

P.S. Your blogs are pretty funny. hehe I enjoy reading them!
July 26, 2008 at 4:07 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blister

I got a blister because I went to church this morning. I guess that's what I get for going to worship God and stuff. I debated not going this morning just because I have an exam tomorrow which I'm kinda stressed about (philosophy). But I knew that's a stupid reason to skip church. Like seriously, how many times in Sunday school did you learn that doing something else like going to your baseball game or something on Sunday morning was bad? And anyway, like I would have actually used that time to study instead of sleeping more or playing SmarterMind or something. Besides, I needed to talk to Pastor Dave about doing my reference for Egypt this summer. I had to get three references for the application, and his is the only one I'm waiting on. I believe it got filtered to his spam folder the first time I sent it. I forwarded the email reference form again just a week ago, but he still hadn't completed it. I stuck around after the service and finally got a chance t...
Read more

Mother's Day

Another Mother's Day. I keep forgetting I'm one of the mothers being celebrated today. I always just thing about my own mom, who's great by the way. It's my third year with my little boy; you'd think I'd be used to it by now. I didn't repeatedly remind my husband Mark that the day was coming or drop hints of great gift ideas. (I do have the perfect thing in mind.) I was hoping he'd remember the date and plan enough ahead to do something sweet--order flowers, buy a card, give me some little personalized piece of jewelry, whatever. But Mother's Day began like any other. No breakfast in bed. I didn't find flowers waiting for me on the breakfast table. It was Sunday, so there was church. Since we're in quarantine, we just have to tune in online at 11:00. I always wait for Mark to wake up so he can watch our son Greg while I shower and get dressed. He never rolls out of bed until after 10:00 and by the time he showers, there's no time left ...
Read more

St. Lucia

Image
This past Saturday, one of my friends, Rachel, invited me to her home church for their annual St. Lucy's Day celebration. Her church is part of the Evangelical Covenant Church denomination , so it has a rich Swedish heritage, and I guess Saint Lucia celebrations are a big tradition there. If you ever read those American Girl books about Kirsten, this should sound a little familiar. Saint Lucia was an Italian saint who suffered a martyr's death when she brought food and supplies to Christians hiding in the catacombs while wearing a wreath with candles on her head to light the way and keep both hands free. I guess this Swedish breakfast thing is a pretty big deal at Rachel's church each year. A lot of people are involved in it. They serve three breakfasts throughout the course of the morning so they can accommodate all the people who want to participate. Rachel, a couple other friends of hers, and I were eating at the second breakfast. Then we were going to help serve food du...
Read more