Overcoming Jet Lag by Writing a Post

First of all, whenever traveling for long distances, I suggest British Airways. They give you socks, and eye masks, and a little toothbrush with little toothpaste and they have a huge selection of movies. I also suggest that you make that flight as few times as possible because it is very long. I was reminded multiple times of my last trip to Europe. Kelli and I were sitting there and they had given us drinks and fed us and we had napped and had second drinks and read our books. We decided to check the map to see where we were…WE WERE OVER MONTANA! We totally thought that we would have been somewhere over the Atlantic, more than halfway done, and boy were we thinking wrong. I was reminded again of that trip when I was killing time in Heathrow and came across some of our favorite candies (don’t worry Kelli or Syd, I will bring you back some).

Anyway, so I finally made it to Berlin and took a taxi to my house. It was so weird interacting with Germans because I knew I should be doing it in German, and yet my first reaction was to respond in English. That is going to take some getting over. I arrived at a beautiful apartment building with a park across the way and buzzed the door because Kelsey said that she would be here. Nobody answered; I waited and tried again, to no avail. So I went down the street a bit and sat. Honestly, I am very proud of myself for not breaking down right there. It was a little scary, being in another country, where I don’t speak the language very well, and hitting a bump in the road like that.

Then out of nowhere, over the peaceful noise of the kids in the playground there comes this loud man’s voice. He was seriously angry at this poor woman. I really think he was drunk, because he was all over the place, and she was just standing there taking it. I felt so bad for her. Being only short distance away from the quarrel, I decided it was time to try the door again, so I did and Kelsey answered, thank goodness.

This set up is really nice. We each have our own rooms on the first floor and we share a bathroom. We each have a shelf in the kitchen and a big drawer in the kitchen for our food (which I think is more room than I had at BYU). Nora, our house-mother, has offered to do our laundry because it wastes less that way and is just a little easier for everyone. She is so nice, doesn’t speak much English, but is so kind about my inability to speak German.

Here is a picture of my room (yes, the bed is a couch, but I'm assured it is very comfortable)


Kelsey and I went for a little walk today, too. We ended up at this old cemetery. It was so pretty. All the graves were overgrown, but in a good way.
I think this was my favorite statue there. I don't know why, perhaps its the Marinist Catholic in me coming out (oh, Chaminade). Also, they had a lot of statues of Christ that look a lot like the ones in the visitors' center at the Temples.


ps Jet lag is the worst!