Sunday was leaving day. I packed and spent the day with my family. In the evening we all met at my parents place and hung out.
Eventually we headed to the airport together. I had done this type of things hundreds of times, but I hadn’t been the one leaving with no plans to return sine we left Germany 25 years ago – and back then I was a kid. It was really quite emotional. We sat at “Cocolate” in the airport, drinking teas, coffees and hot chocolates. We said our fond farewells and eventually I went through customs…. Only to find that we were now separated by a glass wall. Ironically that was almost more emotional for me than the whole time before. Eventually I had to leave them behind and get on the plane.
Farewell Australia!
It’s been great and you’re full of awesome people who made my life unbelievably nice. I will miss everyone terribly and I look forward to seeing you all somewhere in the world – either back in Oz or where ever we may meet next!
Because of time-differences, I arrived in Frankfurt on Monday afternoon. Here it became obvious that I had made a tactical error: I had left my winter gear hanging in a wardrobe at my parent’s place! Armed only with a jumper and a rain jacket, I caught a train to Berlin and arrived around 8pm – well after dark in the German winter. Manja was waiting at the train station for me and we went to a burger place in the train station to grab some dinner. We chatted about the last few weeks and about what the plans for the upcoming weeks were. Between jetlag, a few weeks of lack of sleep and the stress of moving, I wasn’t really taking it all in. By the time we got to our place I had a shower and was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I believe Manja was talking to me at the time.
Manja later told me that “It was the only time she saw me truly tired”
Tuesday: I woke up at a surprisingly reasonable time – around 6am. Today we would go shopping for essentials: Like a winter jacket and a hat. Oh, and a suit for the upcoming wedding – which was also part of the rack of winter things I left behind in Sunny Australia. It was quite nice to wander through Berlin in the pre-Christmas spirit, especially once I had a decent winter coat! We also found this Christmas jumper which I was coerced into trying on. I wasn’t skeptical at all 😉
In the evening we caught up with Butzi and Aki at a typical German Christmas market. Jetlag made itself known to me after a bit, and they were kind enough to drive us home in their new car a bit earlier.
On Wednesday we started to do German bureaucracy things – Register a tax file number, health insurance, open bank accounts, register my living location, apply for a driver’s license. The last required a passport photo, so we got that sorted too. After running the gauntlet of the German government, we were invited for a Christmas dinner at Katrin’s along with Ilka and Jana. We got there and had a really lovely dinner, during which I also got to meet her new partner Kilian. Being a swing-dancing, boardgame playing engineer, we got on immediately. The dinner was super tasty too, so we eventually left full and exhausted.
On the weekend we went to one of Manja’s friend’s wedding. We picked up a rental car and drove to a very beautiful hotel in the countryside. I spent a bit of time getting myself organised while Manja attended to Bridesmaid duties, before we all went to the Standesamt (Government office where you marry) where the wedding ceremony took place. It was a really beautiful room in an old countryside townhall. The couple looked absolutely stunning and the ceremony was beautiful. After the ceremony we took the bus back to the hotel to party all night, which included a load of food and wedding games. Even some fireworks had been arranged – a truly special and magnificent evening!
In the morning we had breakfast with the wedding community, before driving back to Berlin. When we got back it was time to pack again – Tomorrow it was time to head to Manja’s family for Christmas celebrations!
Thanks for still doing this! I really enjoy all the stories 🤗
Thanks! I’m happy that you’re still reading it 🙂