Kanada war echt schön…

Sonntag der 10. Januar

Hi,

So much (mostly good) stuff has happened since I last updated.  The biggest thing? KANADA!!!!! I got  to go home for Christmas and it was amazing to say the very least.  I had the best Christmas I can ever remember, which I never thought would be since one key little being was not with me this year for the first time in over a decade. I love her.

Well. Here is how it happened:

My flight left at noon on the 18^th of December from Frankfurt. To get there in time, I had to get up at about 5 am and take the train with 2 massive suitcases and a massive backpack to the Flughaven in Frankfurt. … but first i had to take my luggage down the stairs of my building, drag it out the bus stop,  load it on the bus, keep it from tipping over on the bus, load it off the bus, drag it to the station, load it on the first train, take it off the first train, load it on the 2^nd train, take it off the 2^nd train (now at the airport!!!!!!!!!! =))))))) ), balance everything up the escalator, check it in, and… freeeeeeeeee!!! The plane trip to Canada was great- Lufthansa took good care of me and even provided me with excellent vegan food- definitely not your “typical” plane food! I watched some movies and worked on some essays and before I knew it… we were landing….

I got through customs okay, except i brought back too much alcohol (Christmas gifts from my friend for her family so she wouldn’t have to ship it back) but I just played the dumb blond card and got through just fine =) and how smart is that?

After I got my baggage, I went to go meet my mom, who I was pretty sure would be picking me up (hahah!) but I got an even more wonderful surprise- practically my whole family was there! My Oma, Opa, Auntie, Cousin, and even brother showed up with my mom! That alone made the journey.  Then we went to go find the car and after we dropped off my Auntie, cousin and Oma at my Oma’s house, my mom drove with me back to my house to drop off my things and say a big smoooooooochie hello to Tiger. I was so happy to see her! (Both my mom and Tiger, hahah!) But I hadn’t really seen Tiger in months because she does not Skype with me.

Anyway…. I could probably go on forever, but it suffices to say that I loved my time in Canada and I am really looking forward to going back in August. I got to see lots of friends and family and relax for the most part. One thing I realize is really missing in Freiburg for me is that there are no mentors or even just elders of any sort to keep me grounded.  Or maybe that isn’t the case, but whatever it is, I feel like being in Freiburg, I don’t have the same expectations for myself as I do in Vancouver- in some ways, there are more, in other ways, there are less. For example, I don’t do nearly enough animal rights work around here. Sure, I signed up to be a part of the vegan club at the Uni Freiburg, but I haven’t heard from them at all, and this was in October that i signed up.  In other ways, though, there is lots more expected of me- like with laundry and cooking and stuff (which I really have to get to… or I will have no clothes left. Tuesday. Tuesday will be Laundry Day.) It’s just different.

Some things I really liked about Vancouver (only in a very slight order):

1. getting to see family and friends (and smooch Tiger <3 !!!!)
2. Christmas. That was wonderful.
3. balmy weather- it was 8 °C there sometimes- positive!
4. vegan food! Nachos at the Naam and an infinite amount of amazing OrganicLives creations- the city has things I can eat- woo hoo!
5. the ocean. Although I really only saw it once. Okay, twice, if during landing counts.
6. the mountains- they are really big. We’ve got some either very big hills or very small mountains here in Freiburg, though they are also beautiful.
7. familiarity.

 

Two thumbs waaaaaaaaay up for sure. I just loved it.

… but all good things must come to an end (although I don’t really believe that), and so, it was time to say aufwiedersehen to Kanada and head back to Germany. Not that I don’t love Germany, it’s just… different. And cold.  But my room in Germany is warm- brownie points- although the rest of the country is freezing.  I think I’ll miss that next winter, hahah.

So, Mum kindly drove me to the airport early in the morning and I was off again. I brought some delicious snacks from OrganicLives on the plane, as well as some raw brownies I’d made, which are excellent, I must say.

We got delayed in Calgary by 2 hours, but I was able to notify Mum who notified Susanne who was kind enough to pick me up from the airport in Frankfurt. My second flight was okay except I was seated next to a creepy older gentleman who was reading Cosmopolitan.  Yah…

Susi, Luki, and Jan met me at the airport and we went to McDonalds. They ate at McDonalds. Then we went to Ikea and the boys ate at Ikea. Then we went to Subway. And the boys ate at Subway. Thennnnn we went to some other furniture store and i almost passed out i was so tired. Then we drove to Holzhausen (!!!!!!!!) and I tried to stay awake, which I did.  We made lunch for me and Susi and then I visited Tante Emma and then we went Schlittenfahren (Toboggoning)- it was so much fun!  Oddly enough, I can’t really remember what else happened while I was there, but I know that the next day, we went to visit family in Singhofen for a couple of minutes and then Susi drove me to Mainz to catch the train so that I wouldn’t have to umsteig… hmmmm…. transfer (???) trains from Nassau. I appreciated that so much I cannot even express it.  I had my normal massive backpack and then a MONSTER mother of a backpack- a backpacking backpack I got in Canada, which could very well have broken all the bones in my body it was so heavy- and then a maaaaaaaaaaaaaaassive suitcase. My Auntie gave me lots of clothes I wanted to take back. What?

So then I took the train to Freiburg and Alicia met me! I was so eternally grateful! I had rearranged some of the things from my backpack to my suitcase, but still, it would’ve been totally unmanageable without her help. So then we bussed on home and chatted and she surprised me with one of the most wonderful Christmas gifts I have ever received- a collage of our time in Freiburg. I was so touched- it was incredibly thoughtful. She even framed all the pictures in a selbst-decorated frame and hung it on the wall in my room with a red ribbon. It is amazing and I will cherish it forever.  I just looked at it again and it is really, really nice.

Other than that, I have a bit more exciting news. Ready? Point form time.

-          My dad ordered me vegan pleather gloves so that my fingers will no longer freeze when I am biking. This is big news. I swear I have almost gotten frostbite a few times; it is so, so cold here.  The gloves I’ve got now definitely do not cut it. I hope these new ones are warm enough…. but there are options. I found a hemp pair, too (also vegan, as I found out) that have fake lambs fur on the inside.  Anyway. I am stoked and I hope they get here really soon!

-          I will definitely not have to take any more courses after I am done this term. Definitely not. I thought i would have to, because I am one elective credit short of my grad requirements, but… I e-mailed my advisor and everything is A O K!!!! That means more time for freeeeeeeeeeeedom!

-          That wasn’t really point form at all…

 Okay. I am going to go make some lunch before this guy, who confessed his love for me in the form of a card which he gave to me with a present which I opened on Christmas morning, gets back from Stuttgart because he said he would help me look over my German presentation which I have on Wednesday. How awkward. I mean, I said I wanted to just be friends but… what else do you say? I live on the same floor as the guy! I couldn’t just be like, “Um, no. No way.”  Ugh. How awkward. Good thing I’m outta here reeeeeally soon! What I will do when I am, exactly, I am not sure. Actually I am not at all sure.

Okay. Time to skidaddle.

<3 gemmer

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