1) Not as nice or exciting as our flight to Europe - I think the reasons are obvious. :) Also, we really liked Luftansa, and going back we flew Delta.
2) Making 3 attempts to watch the Lego Movie but kept falling aslepp. I made it through the third time though and it really made me laugh.
3) We had a layover in Newark and had the nicest time talking to a lady named Linda while we were eating lunch.
4) Going out to dinner in Atlanta with Newel's sister and her family.
5) Finally making it home and being SO tired. We realized that we had been traveling for 24 hours by that point so we slept really well that night.
Well, that's it. I'm finally wrapping up my posts about our trip to Europe. We left one year ago today. Crazy how time flies, and I'm feeling a little bit sheepish that it took me a whole year to document our travels. I just wanted to conclude with some things I took from 14 days, 4 countries, 13 cities, and 60 euros worth of tickets later.
What I learned about the German people (from being there and from what Newel told me):
1) Men pee where ever they want (saw this at least once).
2) They drink and smoke a lot (saw this too).
3) They are not shy about public displays of affection (yep, saw it).
4) They like to sunbathe in the nude - I guess I lucked out being there when it was a little too cool to sunbathe.
5) They drive really, really fast (on the Autobahn) - there's no federally mandated speed limit. We would be driving at 75 miles per hour and cars would fly right by us all the time.
6) The roadways, especially in East Germany, were very well maintained and easy to drive on - I really appreciated this because Birmingham struggles in this area.
7) They sneeze really loud (no specific stories with this one, but that's just something I noticed)
8) They are great hosts - the Sengers were so good to us - they fed us lunch and dinner and took us to see all the neat things in Annaberg. Newel said most Germans were hard to approach as missionaries and a little stand off-ish at first, but when after they got to know them, they were very friendly. I always felt welcome by the people we came in contact while in Germany.
What I learned about myself:
1) I get thangry. I knew I got hangry (angry because I'm hungry), but never knew I could get angry because I'm thirsty.
2) It's still hard for me to cope when things don't go the way I want them to (like when Versailles was closed on a Thursday - it's usually never closed on Thursday!) I'm getting better at this but I learned it's still a little struggle for me.
What I learned or what was reconfirmed to me in general:
1) Things work out (we were still able to do all the things in Paris that we wanted and then saw Versailles the next day).
2) The history of the human family is filled with a lot of sadness and suffering (e.g., Holocaust, Berlin Wall, etc.), and how grateful I am that we have a Savior who suffered all these things so people can and do move forward and learn from their experiences - the bad and the good.
3) Americans really do have a weight problem. Not trying to rag on anyone here. I love this country and it's people, but really, other people in this world are not as big as we are. Maybe my view is skewed because I live in the 2nd fattest state in America.
3) God loves all people and hears all languages.
4) We are all connected - I saw people and looked in their eyes and saw them as real people with life stories even though I had never seen them before in my life and I couldn't speak the language they were speaking, but I felt this connection to them. I knew they were like me. They have their struggles and challenges too. Maybe it's not getting thangry or not coping well with change, but they have something that's hard. We all do. But that helps us to be more compassionate with one another.
5) Newel is a good, GOOD man and the best one I could have married (people over there would comment about how good he was for not drinking alcohol or carrying my bag and other things that I have taken for granted because that's just who Newel is and that's what he does). He's also so awesome for loving me with all my thangriness.
6) It really is a small world after all - we made connections with Americans in Germany and Paris.
7) Faithfully serving a mission blesses you your whole life. I know Newel wouldn't trade his two years serving a mission for anything and it was an awesome experience for both of us to visit where he had served and lived.
8) I live in abundance daily, in all kinds of abundance, and as much as I loved our trip, it was also good to get home - home to the South!
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