First day in Germany

May 13-14, 2013

I got up at 6:00 in the morning and got my bags ready after worrying that I lost my passport. My mom and i drove to the airport and had a bite to eat. I went through customs easily by myself for the first time and went to my plane. I talked with a nice woman who was going to Sweden (I myself am in Munich as I write this entry) to see family, cousins, and an elderly aunt and her nearly centenarian brother. Something one just cannot miss. I boarded the airplane and found my seat. Amazingly I was in between two other twenty year olds on the same flight. I talked with the woman to my right (who is my age) about our different countries politics and other things (she is Canadian, I am American). She is in Ghana now as I write this on may 14th starting to teach English. The woman to my left lives about an hour away from me and is visiting family. I couldn't sleep which frustrated me, but talking to my 1st cousin's fiancé (twice removed) he explained that isn't unusual given how I was gaining hours by going east. The sun didn't set for me for over 24 hours because I was going over Greenland. I watched game of thrones and listened to podcasts and music.

I arrived in Amsterdam Schippol on time and found it to be a really well designed airport I had no trouble navigating for the first time. I sat next to a nice English student who teaches in Austria (a few years older than me). I was amazed at how very flat Europe is,  and stunningly beautiful. I arrived at Munich on time and found my 1st cousin twice removed's fiancé and one of my 2nd cousin once removeds who I am staying the night with. We went to a small Biergarten in a small town about 10 minutes west of Munich and had great food and great conversation about what we are planning to do when I get back from Tbilisi. We drove into Munich where they live and I talked with my second cousin for a few hours about her grandmother and family. There are a lot of stories still to share. We had a nice snack with my second cousin's fiancé as we continued to talk about my plans when I come home. It was a great day.