Ausgang oder Ausfahrt

1.       Last week my parents were here as I had wrote before, and it was amazing to see them. They came to Berlin on November 9^th and stayed for 4 days before they went to Italy. I showed them around Berlin and we ate some good German food. Mom isn’t the biggest history guru and Dad knows all the history since he grew up over here, so we didn’t do too much “learning” if you know what I mean.

In front of Brandenburg Gate

2.       One morning they came over to my host family for breakfast and got to see where I live. They got along really well with my family and they all spoke German to Dad, but he didn’t really speak it back because it has been so long. He is pretty rusty. I can’t imagine how frustrating that would be to be fluent in your mother tongue and understand everything but not be able to speak it because it has been so long. I would go crazy. 

3.       They came to my game on Sunday, and then that evening we just hung out and relaxed because they left for Italy the next day.  I wish I could have gone, but I had soccer practice and was already missing Thursday for Munich. It’s always so interesting when you have Americans visit. Mom kept saying, “That is weird.” about things and like I learned early being here, you don’t say things are weird you say they are different because weird has a bad connotation. It just such a different lifestyle I guess of walking everywhere and we definitely walked a lot. It’s interesting how it just is normal to me that I hop on Hercules (my bike) to get anywhere. Seriously I would be more upset if someone stole my bike than my cell phone probably.

German food and beer.

4.       Kevin made some amazing German food for my parents while they were here. They stayed at their house because they have an extra room in the basement and it was such a blessing. That way when I was at practice they had people to hang out with. Mom brought so many treats for me from the States. She made Grandma’s caramel or apples which I LOVE and also she made my favorite Christmas cookies that she bakes every year. Also she brought my birthday presents from some friends from home, which included Funfetti cake mix and Reese’s and other cool stuff. I miss both of those things a lot, along with Chipotle. One of the best parts was having my winter jacket arrive since it has been so cold here.

5.       The part I enjoyed the most of the visit was probably meeting them in Munich for three days. We went to Augsburg the first day, which was where Dad grew up before he moved to Munich. It was so surreal seeing where he grew up and it’s like you could almost see the memories flooding his mind as we walked around. It was kind of emotional because it just made me want to know my relatives more and know more about his life growing up. We saw his house, the Church he went to, his old school, the pool where his brothers and he spent a lot of time, and the Bakery they frequently visited. I wanted to knock on the door of the house and ask some questions, but we decided not to. It was funny though because we were parked right in front of it and the people living there were home and the dog kept barking. We tried to not make a scene, but I mean we were walking around with a big camera so it was hard not to. Then we couldn’t get our rental car started so I kept saying maybe this is a sign that we are supposed to knock and ask, but then we got it going.

On top of the TV Tower in Munich

6.       Speaking of car though, this is what turned out to be the biggest problem of the trip. First of all if you know Mom, she is paranoid when it comes to driving and so the Autobahn and she don’t go well. She closed her eyes the whole time in the back seat, and it just made me laugh. Dad was obsessed with the GPS and we both thought we knew best how to get places so that turned into a couple arguments, but in the end we got there. I forgot to mention that the rental car was a stick shift, and we haven’t owned a stick shift in a LONG TIME. So let’s just say it was a bit of a jerky ride at times. We went down a couple one ways and it was funny people would just stare at us, and Mom would be so embarrassed in the backseat and I would just laugh, while Dad was flustered. Good thing we had an Italian license plate so they didn’t know we were Americans, but gave us a little grace because we were tourists.

7.       I think the funniest driving experience was when we were in a parking ramp and there were two signs as we were trying to leave, one that said “Ausgang” and one that said “Ausfahrt”. I know that “Eingang” is entrance so clearly Ausgang is exit, but “Ausfahrt “ also means exit. So the first problem is that we killed the car up the hill and there was someone behind us that was honking. Next we took a left because we decided we wanted “Ausgang”, which then realized the sign was for behind us because it was a dead end so we had to turn around and the car was still upset behind us. So once we turned around and went back down we realized that “Ausgang” is an exit for only humans and really we needed to go out “Ausfahrt”, so that meant we had to turn around again. Let me remind you we are in a small ramp and at this point I think my head slammed against the headrest maybe only 8 times because the jerkiness. I mean I wouldn’t do better so I can’t complain, but Dad and I were dying laughing. Then the whole time Mom is sitting in the back saying I think we want “Aus-FART” and finally I was like Mom that is not how you say it. Maybe you had to be there, but I was hilarious and when we finally made our way to the exit, we had so many people staring at us because we killed the car to avoid hitting pedestrians, while Mom was saying “THERE IS A PERSON, BE CAREFUL.” This story may only make sense if you know our family and our personalities, but to say the least it was as if there was a circus in the car. Note to self: Use public transportation when traveling to foreign places

We were fascinated with the BIG leaves.

8.     The next day we went back to Munich and we decided to ride the trains the entire day and leave the car parked. Mom was beyond thrilled. So we went to our hotel, which we realized was NOT in the city and in the middle of nowhere. It was nice though so that was good. We had booked it a day ahead because the night before in Augsburg we had waited until we got there and we literally called twenty hotels and not one had a room available. Plus, I always snuck in because the hotel system is different here than in the states. First of all, King mattresses don’t really exist, it is either a twin or you put two twin beds together. So that is what most people sleep on. So the second night we had two twins together as one bed. And I was going to sleep on the floor until we realized that we didn’t have more blankets. Mom asked for an allergy pillow because it was offered on a sign, but clearly not many people request them because the man had NO IDEA. We got another pillow then and I was going to use towels for blankets, but in the end we decided we would all just bunk up in this big bed. It was like a slumber party when you are a child all over again. We shared two twin duvets and Mom was the lucky one who got to sleep on the crack. It was quite the trip.

9.       We walked all around Munich and went to the markets. I would love to go back there and just spend more time in the city. We saw Allianz Arena from the outside and it looked incredible. I can’t imagine how sweet it is when it is lit up. I am determined to get to a game before I leave this country. For those of you who don’t know that is the arena that Bayern Munich plays in. We also went to the Hofbrau Haus, which reminded me just like how it was at Oktoberfest. It almost feels like a cafeteria to me. It was such a fun trip to Munich though and I loved being able to get a glimpse of Dad’s life growing up.

10.   It was hard to say goodbye, because I don’t know when I will see them next. I am so blessed to have amazing parents like I do that take time to come here and visit me. I miss them so much already, but like I have said before I know this is where I am supposed to be and it means so much to just have them supporting me. I feel like I have so much to write, but this is really long, so maybe tomorrow.