The End

Today is my second to last day in Germany — my last full day as I fly out at 9pm tomorrow night thanks to the lack of the Germans getting their stuff together and managing to open the new Berlin airport what, LAST MARCH? But anyway, last full day in the country. I’m hoping that finally, today, now that I’m leaving tomorrow, I’ll truly start to embrace the country. Isn’t that how it typically works?

….the predicted sunny and “balmy” 20C day I was supposed to be enjoying is instead a grey, blustery 17C. Glad I have my 13C morning in Copenhagen layers unpacked.

….apparently, my bus stop is not being serviced. For all of August. Therefore, I had to walk to the farther bus stop and missed my bus. And as it’s not a sunny and “balmy” 20C, I had to freeze in the grey, blustery 17C wishing I had my 13C morning in Copenhagen layers on.

….after freezing for 10 minutes, I climbed onto my bus and discovered that bus fair had gone up. A lot. Digging for more change….

….upon arriving at the stop that I needed to get off at in order to go the store, I didn’t wait until the cross walk to cut across the street and got yelled at. Glare in that German sensibility’s direction. I then got to the “busy road” and waited five minutes in the grey, blustery and now frigid 16C wishing again that I had my 13C morning in Copenhagen layers on for the stupid Ampelmann to change so I could cross the street that WASN’T BUSY this morning.

….the first store didn’t have what I needed and being that I can’t figure out how to exit the stores around here without purchasing something, I got “vegetable patties” that in fact have bird meat in them. German fail in the understanding of “vegetarian.”

….I opened my fake coffee that I purchased at store four of the morning, realized the lid didn’t have a hole for me to drink through and then proceeded to spill it on everything I own: iPod, jeans that I just washed and will be wearing every day until Saturday, shirt, sweater, bag, shoes. Outstanding.

….my precious little iPod is really starting to have a rough life. She just stops playing randomly and I have to restart her to make her go again (this was before the coffee spillage which was only on the external case and didn’t actually touch her). This could be a really, really long flight home. 

….on the bus home (which was going on whackadoodle detours every five seconds), I discovered I have played all 100 sudoku games my phone has to offer. This is pretty much the worst day ever. 

….the kids came home at noon. Again. How is it possible to only have four hours of school a day? I remember being very opposed to having to stay longer than noon in FIRST GRADE. 

….my London gag is refusing to leave (this could be a very big reason I shouldn’t live in London. Visit London, hack out the belly of the tube for the next week.) As are my wonky ears. This could be a really, really horrendous flight home.

On the positive side: after visiting three stores and digging through multiple boxes of chocolate, I found six bars of my favorite chocolate to take home and share amongst friends. And, the heavens didn’t open to a torrential downpour when I was out searching for them — I have plans tonight though. There’s still the overwhelming possibility that it’ll still happen. It wouldn’t be a proper goodbye to Potsdam if I’m not completely soaked.

I have hope that tomorrow, my final day in Germany, I’ll finally embrace the country to its upmost potential.