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Today I planned to leave Hamburg and head to Berlin. I had to check in to my room at 3 so I was going to leave around 12 or 1. All packed and ready I learned that Nicole and Marian were in Chinese language class, so I decided to stay a little longer to say goodbye.

Their class happened to be having a BBQ, so I went with the family. It turned out to be a great time. It was interesting because most of the kids and parents spoke three languages, German, Chinese, and English. They talked in Chinese and German more so it was hard to follow some of the conversation but they were polite and talked in English also. We had great conversation about Germany as well as my trip and I even got some advice on what to see in Berlin. We ended up playing wii “just dance” which I was not the best at and I felt as if I wasn’t just visiting.

With the upcoming presidential election, everyone wondering about my thoughts on the subject. One of the girls, Carina I think was her name, jokingly asked me who I was going to vote for. As I was expecting to hear this question a lot through my travels I wasn’t expecting to hear it from and 18 year old. I got a kick out of it though.

I wanted to stay another night but the time came and I had to leave. I wasn’t able to cancel my reservation and I wanted to get to Berlin in the daylight just in case something went wrong with the reservation or I was unable to find the location. A couple hours later I was in Berlin. I got settled in and had a relaxing night.

Today I saw the downtown portion of the city of Hamburg, Germany. I was worried in the morning since it was pouring rain in the midst of a thunder storm. Thankfully the rain slowed down and I continued my day as planned.

As I am still getting used to the transportation system as well as the country in general, I was guided by Marian to the train station near their home. Although it was only a short distance, there was no chance of me finding it without my phone which is not working at the moment due to SIM card issues. What did people do without GPS back in the day? I am the worst with directions even with the GPS.

From the train station I would be taken to the central station in Hamburg which puts me in a prime location in the city. From here I was able to catch the hop on hop off city tour bus similar to the double-decker buses we have in downtown LA. I would never take one of these buses at home since I don’t consider myself a tourist in LA, so it was weird to be on one now. It is the most tourist thing you could do but it was a great help getting around the city and being able to see all of the main attractions. The tour guide was kind and spoke in English, so I would understand, and offered to help tell me when my stop was coming up.

I got off at only one stop but from there I walked to see many of the famous locations and buildings in the city. My favorite, was St. Michael’s Church. I wasn’t so interested in the interior of the church but I was intrigued by the bell tower. I was able to go to the very top where the bells for the church rang. At the top the view allowed me to see the entire city of Hamburg. A 360 view that I wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else. It was amazing and I was so lucky the rain stopped and the day turned out to be beautiful.

Along my way through the the city I ran into a few fellow Americans and even a Washingtonian believe it or not. It’s amazing how even though this world is so big it can be so small at the same time. All in all I made it home safe and sound, in one piece, by myself on the right train with all of my belongings.

Although I am so excited to arrive in Europe and chomping at the bit to see everything, it simply is not going to happen. I planned to see the city of Hamburg today, however I am so exhausted from traveling. I  am adjusting to the time change. I woke up several times last night thinking it was day, when it was not.

6 pm here is about 9 am at home; a 9 hour time difference.  I woke up around 11am here thinking I needed to sleep for the rest of my life to recover. I went for a walk around the neighborhood to get used to the time change. Not such an exciting day but relaxing was worth it.

After about 20ish hours of travel both by plane and train I made it to Hamburg, Germany around 5pm. With the time change I lost a day and then another day was lost due to train travel. I was lucky to have a home to go  to for the next few days thanks to my extended family.

With all of the excitement of this trip as well as the unlimited free movies I barely got any sleep on the plane. I was exhausted and and all I could think about when I arrived was sleep. I had to push through a couple more hours since the family wanted to take me out for my first German meal. Meat on meat on meat is what was served, different than what I am used to eating but it was still delicious. Although it was only a 20ish minute drive from the restaurant to the home, I was falling asleep in the car. After planning my day for tomorrow I needed to head to bed.

A bitter sweet moment at the airport this morning. Leaving my family and friends behind was a tough thing to do, even though it’s not forever.

It’s funny how leaving can be such a great thing to happen to you but so sad. There were so many emotions running through me this morning; happy, sad, scared, and so much more. I was leaving to go do something I have only dreamed of doing. Traveling  to see the world (well parts of it)  by myself seems so adult-like.    When did I even become an adult? What even qualifies someone to be an adult? Am I even considered an adult I don’t even have a real 9-5 job since I’m still in college. So many thoughts like this running through the my head.

One can only be so prepared for something you have never done before.  The rest is all about learning as you go and hoping that you don’t mess up too much the first time. This means that this whole trip is about learning and taking chances. Being in a foreign environment where everyone speaks a different language than you can be extremely intimidating. Now is my time to take the leap and explore.