Auf Wiedersehen

So I’ve been back in Texas for about a month and a half now. My first thought when I got off the plane was, “It’s so hot!”…then, “I’m so glad we have air conditioning!” I then got in my parents’ car and drove 3 hours back home. (This was probably only my second car ride in about a month.) When I got home, I took a shower and went straight to bed. I slept for the whole next day, only waking for delicious Mexican food. Oh, how I missed it! It was really hard for me to get over the time difference. For the next 2 or 3 weeks after I arrived back, it was hard for me to stay awake past 8.

Looking back, its so hard for me to believe that this all actually happened. I lived in Germany for a whole month of my life! One of the hardest things for me to overcome since I have come back has been switching back to saying things like ‘excuse me’ instead of ‘entschuldigung’ or ‘thanks’ instead of ‘danke’. We said these words countless times per day, and they became a part of our vocabulary. Now I have to stop myself from saying them…I’ve even said them a few times on accident.

Since I have been back, I have become more aware of our lack of energy efficient-ness. Driving everywhere, having the lights on all the time, having my computer running all day. All this now makes me feel so wasteful. Another thing I miss about Europe is just how simple everything was. I miss how easy it was to just get on a train and end up in another country. Even going through customs was so much simpler than here in the US. Alex, Stephanie, and I happened to be on the same flight on the way back. It took us longer to walk through the Frankfurt Airport than it did for us to go through customs. The line for customs in the US, on the other hand, took us a day to get through (it felt like a day anyway). Since I have been home, I feel like I haven’t had a moment to breath… school has started, work has started, tests, vet school application. Everything all happening at once. I miss the simplicity.

One thing I do not miss about Europe, though, is having to pay for water! I rather enjoy getting free water. Also, I do not miss accidently buying bubble water when you are really thirsty, but still having to drink it anyway.

Auf Wiedersehen,
Jena Webb