Excitement, anticipation, anxiety, and apprehension all swarmed around inside me as I sat in my seat on the airliner. We were on our way to Germany to visit our grandparents for Christmas; just my brother and I. What was it like outside the United States? It was my first time outside the land of the free. The world seemed so massive and, looking back, I think I felt more like I was bound for another planet than another country.
It was late at night but as the jet began to taxi down the runway I was wide awake. The second I left the ground I felt as if a part of me were missing; like I had left something behind in America. It is difficult to describe the emotion that results inside you when sadness and anxiety mixes with happiness and anticipation. I wanted to go to Germany and at the same time wanting to stay where I knew it was safe. I looked through the window and saw the last flicker of lights from America that I would see in nearly three weeks. Slowly, I drifted off to sleep.
The moment we touched down I felt foreign. I was so excited to see what Germany would be like and I began to realize just how different everything was. Because of the time difference, we arrived in Germany sometime around eleven o'clock in the Morning. To me and my brother it felt like eight o'clock at night. We left the plane and went through the German immigration system and then customs. After getting our baggage, we saw grandma and grandpa. It was so good to see them. They had been gone for quite a while serving as representative for our church in Germany. It was interesting to see how they felt right at home in the midst of things that were so different.
We hopped in their car and drove to their home. There I found a happy fact: Grandma's house feels like Grandma's house no matter which country it's in. It's a warm, happy place now matter where it's at. She had decorated their home for Christmas and it brought me back to all the Christmases we had spent together.
My brother and I were tired so we both went directly to bed. The next day we began our adventure in Germany.
We woke up and ate breakfast. I noticed how different their food was. Their juice was much stronger than ours in America. Bacon was thinner, egg yolks were orange not yellow. Everything was different but it tasted good all the same.
That day we toured downtown Frankfurt, Germany. It looked like an ordinary modern city. Most of the cars there were amazing though. Everyone drove a BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, or other expensive car. We saw very few cars that you would see in America.
The next day we drove on the Autobahn. That in and of itself was a neat experience. There was one lane designated only for semi trucks, one lane for slow cars, one lane for regular speed cars, and one lane that no one wanted to go in. Cars that entered the last lane were cruising around one-hundred and forty miles an hour. Every once in a while you would see a streaking blur along side of your car. By the time that you realized a car had passed you it was on the horizon.
We spend the day in the city of Mainz. This is where Johannes Guttenberg invented the process of moveable type that allowed people to share information more easily.
Christmas is a big holiday for all Germans. It is a time to be with friends and family; a time for great food and fun with those you care most about. All but the biggest shops close for Christmas. Everyone stays home with their families; except for at the weihnacts markt. In most of the cities in Germany cities there are places called the Weihnachts markt, or Christmas market. These are places to buy great food and treats and trinkets and toys. We went to the Weihnachts markt in Mainz. The smell of bratwurst, hot roasted chestnuts, and hot wine filled the air. Small shops filled with all the good things you can only find during Christmas time were gathered into a cobblestone plaza. Some stores sold nativity scenes, some sold food, and some sold little wooden toy men. The Christmas spirit filled the atmosphere. During December the Market is a mingling place for everyone in town. Everyone in Mainz was gathered to the Weihnachts Markt. The town felt like it had come straight from a storybook.
We pulled ourselves away from the Christmas Market and returned home for the evening.
The following day we drove to a famous river called the Rhein. In the day when kings and princes still ruled over Germany, the Rhein was a major trading river. Many of the princes, in order to grow richer, build castles on this river and charged the sailors a toll for their safety. As we wound our way along the edge of this river we saw castle after castle. They lined both sides of the river. Most were in ruin because of the war but some of them were in amazing condition.
