First Day in Germany/ First Impressions

So here it is...I'm in Deutschland!!!! I can't believe it! I'm in shock^^ My flight over was really nice and easy, but it just such a long day on Friday. I woke up at 4:30 am and left my house at 5:30 am for the Detroit airport. At 11:00 my plane left for Newark, New Jersey, and I even got to see the Statue of Liberty! then at 5:40 pm I left Newark for Germany, where I then arrived around 7:15 am in Hamburg. Remember there is a 6 hour time difference....my flight was 7 hours long. The food was good though!! And I was lucky because I got the window seat but no one sat in the middle seat so I had a lot more room! As I got on the plane I did begin to cry a bit because I was saying goodbye to America...my family, my doggies..everything. But I know I made one of the best decisions in my life doing this. So many older adults tell me that they wish they had done something like this when they were a young adult. I'm happy God gave me an opportunity like going to be an au pair in Germany.

bye bye America!

Sunset somewhere over the Atlantic!

Good morning Europe!

Oh hey Germany!!

So then I arrived in Hamburg, where I went through passport control and customs easily with no problem. I even got all my luggage! Thank God! But when it came to finding where my host family would be was a bit of a problem... Continental Airlines normally go to a different Terminal than what I had arrived in, and so my host family didn't know this so we both spent some time looking for each other. But in the end we found one another. Just flying over Germany you can see the differences in the houses and there is sooooo much greenery!   My host families house is so adorable and cute! I love my room too, its cute and big:) We then left to go on a walk so they could show me some of Schenefeld. We went to the bakery, butcher, ALDI, and I was showed where the 2 bus stops are. It's a really cute town too!

Some things I noticed that is different from the US is the windows. here the windows open up differently than the US ones. I'll post a picture later of them. The house look different, along with the roofs. I love how much greenery there is around houses. Although the yards are not big, it's not that bad, because there are so many places to walk! I'll post pictures soon (it's dark outside as I am writing this). At the bakery and butcher I didn't understand anything anyone said...they talked way to fast. It's a little overwhelming and I definitely am getting a culture shock, I think a little more than I thought. Stephan and Svenja gave me a tour of their house in German and English too. At night we all sat down to watch the Eurovision contest and I also had taken a 5 hour nap during the day and now I'm not tired at all....dammit! haah. It's already 01:35 here, haha.

OH and I got a big surprise in the mail today! (yes I got mail my first day!) I received a really nice package from Hannes and his family. Thank you so much! It was really nice of you:)


So after all this I can't wait to go out an explore, meet friends, drink alcohol legally, and of course spend time with my new host family!!

Ciao!