What an early morning this was. We all had to be ready to go by 4 AM to begin with breakfast. Many of us spent the morning by reliving some of the moments we cherished as our favorite. But before long, the group was divided into two. One group leaving with Mrs. White to come home, another heading back to Pfaffenweiler to stay with family or friends. I came with Mrs. White. After breakfast, we all loaded onto a bus and headed to the Berlin Airport. We all got through security and other miscellaneous airport business, before we sat for a while, waiting. That is one thing I really don't like about travelling. There seems to always be long periods of waiting. However, before long, we were on the plane headed to London. It was a short flight, being approximately an hour and fifteen minutes. We landed, and embraced ourselves for more waiting. About four hours. Many of us gulped down the coffee, reminiscing some more over Germany. After getting through the gate and security, we sat there waiting to board, and came across another American school group, from Terre Haute, Indiana. Ironic? Yes. Before we knew it, we were on the flight headed to Chicago. This flight, we were pretty scattered on the plane, so I can't really say what we all did. I, however, watched some of the media they provided and slept several hours. The flight was rather unevenful, much like the entire day. But after about seven and a half hours, we had landed in Chicago. We immediately went through customs, finally being back on American soil, which felt really good. We could understand people and fluently communicate again! After customs, we had to claim our luggage and re-submit it for the flight to Evansville. Bryor ended up losing a carry-on, almost causing a few of us to miss the flight. However, we all luckily made it onto the flight. The short flight caused anxiety for me. We were so close to being home, but yet we weren't actually there. But after landing, it was over. We all quickly grabbed our carry-ons and hurried into the airport, to quickly be greeted by all of our parents. As requested, my mom was waiting for me with a jar of Jiff peanut butter and a spoon. After minutes of hugs and excitement, we went to collect our luggage. Unfortunately, my luggage was the only one that hadn't been there. It was still in Chicago. This is one of those moments where you just think "Why? Is it too much to ask to just simply be here to go home?" Luckily, it arrived at my house early the next moment. Anyway, after collecting luggage, we all went our own ways, ending up at our houses to sleep for our first night in four weeks in our own bed.
I would like to take just a minute to thank everyone who helped with our trip. Thank you Mrs. White and Mrs. Wehr, for doing everything you could to make our trip great. Thanks to Sister Cities for donating such a generous donation for our exchange, it really means a lot. Thanks so much to the Deutscheverein for everything they've done, you guys are very kind. Thanks to the Schnitzelbank for allowing us to host meetings and events in their facilities. I want to give all the thanks I can to all of the teachers and citizens in Germany for all of the activities you planned, tours you gave, and just for making our stay in Germany a very positive one. You guys will be missed. I want to also give thanks to our host families and partners for giving us wonderful places to stay. Lastly, I want to give thanks to anyone I may have forgotten. This trip will always be one of my favorites. Thanks again, everyone.
Taylor Reutman
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