Cora's 29th

The 29th and 30th were pretty much the same day for me, so I hope no one is offended if I include some of the 30th. The 29^th was pretty much packing and getting ready for the flight to Germany. Luckily friends were taking care of the kids so it wasn’t quite as stressful as usual. Of course, there was still plenty to be stressed about: finding everything especially my plane letter (which ended up to be under my bed…), making sure the doors were locked, we had every bag, the windows were closed, the stove was off, the doors were locked, the thermostat was on the right temperature, and of course that the doors were locked. Also, delivering my application was quite an ordeal, and on the way to the airport no less.

Anyway, we got to the airport and checked in pretty quickly. We were all happy that we weren’t flying to the States because we always feel like we’re doing something illegal when we do. We made our way to the gate, picking up two CD’s (The Who, finally, and Deep Purple), some books, and duty-free whiskey. Then we were going to buy some Chai to go along with the banana bread I’d made, but the coffee shop/bar only had coffee and beer. In protest, I didn’t have anything.

When the plane was ready to board, we had to wait for Mama, who, while telling everyone else to use the bathroom one last time, had forgotten to go herself. We were the last ones on the plane. The ride seemed a lot less comfortable than usual, though it was shorter. The seats seemed a lot harder and there seemed less leg room, but maybe that was my imagination. Also, there was not a single good movie. I ended up watching “Little Black Book” and only finished it because I can’t stand not knowing the ending to things. When that was over, I did some SAT questions until I got bored after the fourth or fifth one, read a bit, and then played “Who wants to be a Millionaire” in German because the answers were so stupid they were funny. Then I tried to stretch out on my brother’s seat cause he was on Mama’s lap and listened to some music (“No one knows what it’s like to be the bad man, to be the sad man, behind blue eyes”) until Mama came and wanted the seat for herself. Sleeping sitting up wasn’t quite as relaxing…

Surprisingly, though, they brought us a delicious croissant for breakfast, the best I’ve ever had on an airplane. Not quite as good as the almond one at Premier Moisson, but definitely getting there. The landing in Zurich was also very smooth and quick, even in the dark and fog. The transfer was perfect- we landed, went through passport control, and at the gate they were ready to board. We took the bus to the plane, seemingly around every single airplane there was, in serpents. And the plane itself was tiny. Our family made up at least a third of the passengers that were in there. It was also half empty, so I could find a seat for myself at the window, where I could finally lean against the wall and sleep. Trouble was, the flight seemed like nothing. (It was 45 minutes long.)

Finally arriving in Germany was, somehow, unspectacular. The airport was almost completely empty, probably since it was 8 in the morning the day before New Year’s, which was nice, but somehow there wasn’t that much of a homecoming feeling, at least for me. Of course, I loved seeing my Dad, seeing Matthias’ Dad was also fun, and everyone speaking German was comforting. But for some reason I was looking forward more to my Dad’s apartment, maybe because it is one of the few places that has stayed almost completely the same since I was born, and it was truly good to be back.

Then, greeting Kati (my Dad’s girlfriend) who had gotten the pretzels, and Leonie (my sister), who had just woken up. I arrived just in time for breakfast, German pretzels, so good. I was almost falling asleep, but they made me open some late Christmas presents: a digital camera (!!!!!), a game of memory with pictures of all of us, a CD, a ring, and a DVD of Jamie Oliver cooking. We put on the CD, a German band called Silbermond, and I tried out my camera. It’s an Olympus, has 6 programs, awesome zoom, and is very small. It sounds mean to say it was better than my old camera but I think it’s true. Anyway, close up pictures are a lot more in focus. As much fun as it was, I went to take a nap around 10:30 because I couldn’t keep my eyes open. And that was the end of the 29^th for me.