Volle Fahrt!

   “Vrooom” the jet engines whirled to life. The flight finally was beginning. For the last hour and a half, we had been sitting at the gate, waiting for the plane to be able to take off. But really, I had been waiting with excitement all day.

    Us CBYXers spent the whole morning at the hotel, talking in small groups about our excitement and fears about this adventure we were about to embark on. Around one o’clock we left for Dulles airport. We arrived and waited in line to get our bags checked. When it was my turn to weigh my bag, I was shocked to see it was six pounds overweight. I guess cheap online luggage scales aren’t that accurate. I opened up my luggage on the airport floor (looking like a mess) and tried to cram as much in my book bag as I could and tried to stop holding up the airport check in line. My small group leader from that morning laughed at my sorry sight. I couldn’t blame her- it was very funny. Finally shaving six pounds off my luggage weight, I stopped clogging up the check in line and moved on to security. All I have to say about that is make sure you don’t have three bottles of Coke in your bags. I should have listened to my mom; soda causes problems!

    We finally got to our gate, and that’s when the waiting began. After a delayed boarding, I finally got to my seat, (thankfully an aisle seat). I was in the very last row of the plane, which as a six foot tall person, was great since that meant I’d have extra leg room. Initially, I thought I had the row all to myself, but thankfully in the end I was joined by a German guy. You might be wondering why I am happy to have had to sit next to someone, but my seat mate was amazing. It’s crazy how some people you just instantly click with. We talked for the next two hours (giving me good German practice) which were all spent on the ground, as the plane’s printer was broken (I don’t know why that delayed us). He and I laughed all about the situation, and as the plane finally took off, we both watched out the window as America got smaller and smaller, and Germany closer and closer.

    Finally in the air, it was time to relax. I got my seat mate to watch Braveheart, although I don’t think he cared much for it. He turned off Braveheart after about thirty minutes. For me, I just sat in thought. I’m sure I looked stupid, just watching our flight path on the flight map, but I couldn’t help it. There was so much to think about.

    As I closed my eyes to try to get some rest, the situation I was in became real. Here I was, sitting on a plane flying to Germany, not to return for a year. Behind me, I had my family supporting me. Next to me was a new friend, and ahead of me an adventure like none other.