Auf Wiedersehen Deutschland, Olá Brasil

I’m currently sitting in the sun in my bikini, drinking carbonated apple juice, after a nice nachmittags coffee and cake session with my grandfather, Gabi and one of their friends who I met when I was 5 years old. I’m in such a peaceful state right now. It’s roughly 30C, but feels like 25C. The sun is soft and comforting, very unlike the harsh Australian sun. I the smell and sounds of summer. The birds are chirping and fluttering around the garden, the flowers are in full bloom and everyone is taking it easy. Yesterday I caught up with another uncle and aunt we walked their little (well actually it’s quite big) puppy in the forest. Pronunciation in German is very important. For example, hundchen (puppy) and hunchen (chicken) caught me the other day. My Oma and I decided to make Sushi and she asked me if I wanted to make some nori rolls with hunchen. Thinking that hunchen and hundchen were one of the same, and my oma had just asked me to make sushi with puppy, I was a little startled at her question! Needless to say, this became an ongoing joke between my cousins. The forests in this area are just divine. There are families and young children walking and bike-riding everywhere. I have completely falling in love with the Volksdorf area, and the wider Waldorfer area (forested area). My grandfather’s gardener is now sitting with us, enjoying a cigarette, as most Germans over 30 seem to do (there is so much smoking here – even in restaurants!). The community vibe is strong. I love it!

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Today I caught up with another dear friend, Melanie, who lived with us in Australia for some time roughly 7 years ago. The last time I saw her was 5 years ago when I was a mere 16 years old and was fascinated by Spaghetti-Eis (Ice-Cream and fresh strawberry sauce that looks like Spaghetti Bolonaise). It was only tradition that we ate spaghetti-eis again. Last time we saw each other we were figuring out what to study at university and what we wanted to do with our lives. Five years later and having finished university now, with our lives very much on track we had some great laughs about the past. My Oma and I made sushi for dinner tonight, and I am currently sitting on her balcony drinking a frozen non-alcoholic beer. It’s about 10pm and the sky is still light, but the sun has set. The air temperature is cooling, and I am surrounded by flowers with a beautiful view the endless sky. With a mere 20 or so hours until I leave for Brazil, I am really enjoying this moment. I am pondering what is going to happen next, what has happened to bring me to this point, and I am also just enjoying being at peace with everything. I’m really, really happy.

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So... the first leg is complete. Hamburg --> Frankfurt. Next, Frankfurt --> Sao Paulo --> Curitiba. It’s going to take me roughly a whole day to travel back 5 hours and back to the southern hemisphere once again. My last day in Germany was just beautiful. I went out to breakfast with my grandmother to a gorgeous Vienna Coffee House. We had a glorious meal with champagne, tea, yoghurts and fresh fruit, bread and cold meats and eggs and everything! I definitely felt spoilt. Spending this last week with my grandparents, both my Oma and Opa, has been amazing. I don’t know if they’ll ever know how important and meaningful it has been to spend time with them. I guess they probably feel the same. Listening to their stories, and even just enjoying their presence in silence, and feeling the importance of family has been unforgettable. My whole trip has been like this, even before I left; meaningful moment after another. Even though I have departed from my family and friends, I feel like I am closer than ever with them. It feels really amazing to love your family so much.

Saying goodbye at the airport was harder than I thought it would be. I shed a tear or two when I left and, again, I just felt so much love and gratitude for my week in Germany. My darling uncle Lars and my gorgeous aunty Elke came out to the airport again with Theo (Malte is on an island somewhere), and my grandparents were naturally there. Lars and Elke always show so much enthusiasm for me and always make a beautiful effort to see me and make me feel very welcome and loved. I really appreciate that, and I’m not just saying all this because they told me they wanted an honorary mention in my blog! (hehe) All my friends and family here in Germany, and my family in Australia too, all called or Skyped to say goodbye and goodluck. Its amazing how many people are reading my blog and giving me beautiful feedback (Altanta - you deserve an honorary mention for your support too!) I feel really whole as a person right now, and completely ready to take the next step. Wow.

By the way, I hate Frankfurt airport. It’s probably my least favourite place in the World. After many phone calls to Lufthansa/TAM Airlines/Hamburg Airport trying to figure out what my baggage allowance was for Brazil, it was a consensus I could have 1 x 23kg bag, and 1 x 8 hand-luggage. When I got to Hamburg Airport the lady told me I could check in 2 bags (even thought my first bag was quite overweight) and she would find me nice seats too. Lars (look there are two mentions now, Lars) bought me a lock for my hand luggage bag away it went. It is so nice to travel lightly for once. Normally I am sweating and struggling with all my heaviest items in my hand-luggage. So – good start! But then I get to Frankfurt and it all goes downhill. I have to catch trains and walk a thousand miles and my flight isn’t displaying on the screen (there are 1000 other ones though!). I get shuffled down to a part of the airport that has no air-conditioning, really mean looking security guards and war-time German architecture. This part of the airport is for Africans and South Americans. There are few ‘westerners’, and I’m starting to feel like I stand out. Not to mention I keep setting off the security gates and I have no idea why. This part of the airport lacks the traditional German efficiency, and everyone is running around like a headless chicken. All the staff are African and South American as well, and I guess this is giving me some idea/preparation for my arrival in Sao Paulo. The German language is slowly departing my mind as I hear Portuguese words whispered around me at my gate. I’m flying Lufthansa to Sau Paulo, but saw a bunch of TAM air-hostesses and they are all very ‘Brazilian’. You can spot a Brazilian by their eyes – somehow they’re very distinct. Everybody is about 6 inches shorter as well. Western manners, behaviours and general reservedness have gone out the window and kids are screaming, people have no shoes on, their feet on the seats, etc. Fascinating to see the contrast. I haven’t even left Europe yet and I already have so much to say. 18 hours left until my final touchdown and I’m reunited with my White Knight. I know I will have a lot more to say then. Olá Brasil!