christmas and new years

Wɔatintim: 15.03.2017

Hi, how are you 🐬

I'm currently sitting at the airport in Sydney and I thought I could write again. In my last post, I already revealed the topic. Today, it's about my stay in Germany.

In August, I decided for personal reasons to fly back home for Christmas and New Years. When I told Alex about it and he was super excited, I booked my flight and it was decided that I would spend Christmas in Germany.

I didn't tell my family and friends about it - somehow it got lost in all the excitement. So on December 20, 2016, I made my way to Germany. Just before that, I was still living with my friend in Bondi and saying goodbye to Australia was harder than I thought, but I knew I would be back soon. My family and friends assumed that I would spend Christmas in Bondi, so I wasn't allowed to share anything on social media about my trip back home. However, I still took some pictures:


Sydney Airport
Sydney Airport
Sydney Opera House + Harbour Bridge
Sydney Opera House + Harbour Bridge

I flew via Beijing and Zuerich to Hamburg. The flight to Beijing was really one of the worst flights of my entire life. We had about 12 hours of turbulence out of the 16-hour flight, so alcohol was my only help.
Beer on the flight to Beijing
Beer on the flight to Beijing
Funny story about this picture: I had just landed in Beijing and wanted to let Alex know that I survived the flight. At the same moment, Pia posted a picture of Berlin TXL airport in the girls' group and said that she was picking up Flo (her best friend) and spending Christmas at home. To make everything more believable, I simply replied: I wish I could also spend Christmas at home. :(
24 hours later, I was standing in front of them.

From Beijing, I then flew to Zuerich, and the flight was much more pleasant and the food was also edible this time.

I even had the seat next to me free on this flight, so I slept almost the entire flight.
Arrived in Hamburg
Arrived in Hamburg
I landed in Germany at 14:05, and as I'm writing this, my heart is racing again. I was so looking forward to seeing Alex and being home, but there was still the bus ride in the Flixbus standing in my way. Those were truly the 4 most exciting hours of the whole trip, especially because it was right before Christmas and everyone naturally contacted me. Being on German soil almost drove me crazy because I couldn't tell anyone about it.
Of course, the first person I met in Berlin was Alex, special shout-out to Alex's mom who gave him the car.
After our first cigarette together, the first stop was Kiekebusch, where some of our friends had gathered because Alex had told them that he had something important to share. When we arrived, Alex went first to the youth club. There he announced loudly that Isa was pregnant. The surprise was huge: 


And then it turned out to be me:
The joy was immense, and the first question, of course, was: How long are you staying?

The next step was to surprise my best friend Mine. Alex came up with something funny for that too. Since she didn't come to the youth club that evening, we went to her house. While I hid under Alex's things on the back seat, he lured Mine into the car just to go for a drive. Mine, young, blonde, and naive (

I packed my best friends and went to see my mom and oh, I could cry again. Two days before, I had texted her that Alex would bring her Christmas present after work and that she should stay awake. Knowing her, she fell asleep, of course. Nevertheless, she woke up after a few minutes of ringing the doorbell and stood in front of Mine and Alex. I had given them magnets that I bought at every place I visited here in Australia. They were then ceremoniously handed over to my mom, and I still remember my mom being so excited about the magnets (!?) and the two of them just waiting for me to finally come out. After a few minutes, Alex said, 'We have an even bigger gift.' And then I came around the corner. You can imagine the rest. *sniff*

After that, Alex was finally relieved, and Mine and my mom went to see Dad and Max so that I could surprise them too. The stories that were told about the surprise became more and more unbelievable. This was the story that my mom picked up Mine in the middle of the night in Cottbus because she had a fight with her mom and didn't want to sleep at home. On the way home, the entire trunk smelled of gasoline and it had to be checked by Dad AND Max at half past 11 in the night. So both of them were woken up and had to check the trunk, in which I obviously lay.

After almost 30 hours of travel, numerous surprises, and tears, I finally went to bed. Mine said the next day that I spoke English in my sleep, which means that I have already internalized it to some extent.

The next day, I stayed at Mine's place, and our dinner was just a dream. For you, it's probably nothing special, but for me, it was special because in Australia there is rarely good bread/rolls let alone decent cheese. I also missed Quark a lot because there is NOTHING similar here.


Over Christmas, my mom and I went to Berlin to celebrate with Ömchen, my aunt, my uncle, and my cousin. Max and Disi also came on the first day of Christmas celebrations, and it was a perfect Christmas, of course without any gifts for me haha.
On December 25, we went to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and thanks to jet lag, I only fell asleep 5 times :D


I celebrated New Year's with all my friends at Leon's place, and oh, it was just such a beautiful evening, surrounded by my loved ones - I couldn't have wished for a better New Year, even though Sydney is a tough competitor.
With Leon on New Year
With Leon on New Year's at 6:30 am

I tried to spend as much time as possible with my family and friends during the remaining days until January 5, when I had to return to the warmth, back to the beach, back to my beloved Australia. My return flight this time was from Hamburg via Hong Kong to Sydney. Since I got sick in Germany, as I expected, these flights were not pleasant, but I survived them and landed safely in Sydney.
Hamburg
Hamburg
Hong Kong
Hong Kong
The best lunch box from the best aunt <3
The best lunch box from the best aunt <3

In summary, it was a great surprise for all my friends and family, it was a beautiful but also very cold time at home, and I would like to thank all my loved ones, especially Alex, without whom many things would not have been possible. I hope to see all of you again soon.

P.S. I'm sorry that I only finished this post now, but I was so busy and unmotivated to complete my blog, so it took me four months. However, I now have a computer, which makes writing much easier, and I hope that I can keep you more up to date because of it. And another apology for the ä/ü/ö/ß - interruption at the beginning, my computer is Australian and doesn't have these keys, and I only found out how to insert them halfway through the post. :D

I love and miss all of you.
xoxo
M.






Anoyie

China
Akwantuo ho amanneɛbɔ China