The last days at work - Ann Katrin (14 days until the world trip)

Somehow, the last weeks have flown by. At work, it was the typical everyday life, but privately there were the first "last times before the world trip", such as the last Taekwondo training or the last time indoor climbing...

And then, my last days at work came. On Friday morning, Indira, Simone, and Hartmut came to the office to tell me that they will "kidnap" me tonight. Oh boy. I didn't expect that. Interestingly, my first thought was "oh no! I promised Jonas that we would have dinner with his parents tonight." I was already excited about the idea, especially when they said that we would go out for dinner^^ I let them talk a little more, but couldn't fully express my excitement until... yes, until Simone suddenly announced that Jonas was in on it.

And well, what can I say? I was speechless! I wondered how Simone could have contacted Jonas since we don't share a Whatsapp group or anything like that. When she told me that she simply called him at his workplace and asked for him, I was amazed. Unbelievable, the effort my colleagues put into this!!! I have never received such a surprise before. Wow. I was truly touched!

In the evening, I was picked up and we went to Edo Sushi, an all-you-can-eat Japanese restaurant. Initially, we only received chopsticks instead of European cutlery, which was entertaining in itself. We talked a lot, laughed a lot, and all had a really good time. It was a great evening that almost felt like going out with friends. Already then, I wondered how I could ever repay the invitation. I'm so glad I could meet such great people at work!

As if all of that wasn't enough, on Tuesday we also had a Benjamin Blümchen cake!! Simone and I had been talking about this cake for weeks and dreaming about receiving it again, just like in our childhood. She was lucky that her husband already fulfilled the wish for her birthday and I was so envious back then. I mentioned it repeatedly, and voila! On my second-to-last day at work, we had it <3

Naturally, I was mega excited and immediately panicked about how to divide it fairly since it's not enough for the whole department!! When another colleague came into the office and admired the cake, Simone and I even sang the Benjamin Blümchen theme song - the versions that we still know from our childhood :D Then, in the end, our "U 30 gang + Indira" each got a piece, and the rest was shared by Hartmut and the managing director :)

And then...yes, then came the truly last day at work. Most of the time was overshadowed by preparing and cleaning up breakfast, but overall, the day was very emotional.

I must have mentioned our route twenty times (which, by the way, has already changed since the blog post about the route^^), and each time, it became more real that this is really happening soon! Sometimes I think we've already completed the trip, the way I talk so confidently about it "we'll do this, and we'll do that...":D Oh, and there's definitely no getting around a slideshow (or PowerPoint ;-) )^^

After breakfast, I gave a "speech" where a few tears were shed. I like words and I think the others liked it too. I also pointed out to Fabian which "rituals" he has to take over for me :D

I received a card and a pair of panda socks <3 and then it was time for my last round. I wished everyone a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and Happy Easter in advance :p And then Lissi picked me up from work and it was final. I probably won't be working for a whole year!! :O