Deutschland, here I come

It has been almost a month since I left Tennessee, and finally I thought it proper to write about what I’ve been doing with my time. Actually, I had hoped to post much sooner, but invariably, I have experienced a few minor glitches with the internet here. But, despite that, my time so far in Mainz has been wonderful. Before I get ahead of myself, however, let me go back to my trip here. As one not so keen on packing early for trips, I hastily transferred my files from my old computer to my new one, while simultaneously packing until around 4 a.m. the night before my flight. After a short nap of two hours, I again finished the necessary chore of filling my suitcases before driving to Nashville. Upon making a few last minute phone calls and finishing off my last “country meal” of sweet tea, corn, pinto beans, mashed potatoes, and chicken fried chicken (no sawmill gravy) at Cracker Barrel, I headed to the airport. Based on my last trip to Germany, I had the suspicion that I would somehow pack too much. After placing my two suitcases on the scales, it came as no surprise that I had exceeded the weight limit for both bags J So, after a few rearrangements, I again approached the sensors. And yet I still was above the 50 lb. allowance. Finally, after removing a few shirts and shoes, my luggage dropped one pound below the limit. A little over an hour later, I was in Atlanta, GA. Though it is one of the busiest airports in the world, I had no trouble getting to my destination on time. With only 45 minutes before my flight across the pond, I bought one last Coca Cola (Dr. Pepper wasn’t available!) and found my gate. Since my flight was headed directly to Frankfurt, there were many Germans waiting with me. As I sipped my Coke and listened to conversations and announcements in German, the stress from the past week was replaced by a growing excitement and anticipation for my journey. And, except for the little kid that continued to kick and shove his head into my side for the duration of the 8.5 hour trip, the flight was nothing out of the ordinary.
Upon my arrival at Frankfurt airport (around 9 a.m. German time, March 24th), I was greeted with dreary skies, rain, and cold temperatures. This, as you can imagine, was a drastic change from the cloudless skies and 70 degree weather back home. However, I decided to view this as nature rather than Germany frowning at my return =) Fortunately, my 98 lbs. of luggage arrived without delay and border patrol actually let me into the country! Loaded with my backpack, laptop bag, and two enormous suitcases, I scooted along into the main lobby of the airport, where I was greeted by a face I hadn’t seen in over two months. Thanks to Charlotte, I was able to skip the 40 minute train ride from Frankfurt to Mainz altogether, and enjoy a more comfortable ride in her car. And, 5 thousand miles later, I was once again able to experience my first home-cooked German meal: spaghetti! Ok, not a German original, but it is my favorite dish. In any event, I did have Sekt for the first time with that meal…amazing.
For the next week, I spent the majority of each day exploring the city on my own while Charlotte finished up her internship. I took many pictures and hope to have them loaded on a different site soon. So, that catches me up at least until my first week in Mainz. Sorry for the delay, but now that I have a reliable internet connection, I should be able to post more frequently. Now, I’m off to finish the Spätzle I just made. Bis bald!!