The last time I posted, I was in Germany preparing to see Tine and her family. After a long journey on the train, I was finally able to see her and her husband Johannes. We talked in the car and got sushi for dinner before heading back to their apartment. There, my immune system was attacked by their cat Woodstock's hair. I had an allergic reaction I had never had before; my throat swelled and it was getting increasingly difficult for me to breathe. I took a lot of medicine and drank water while going to bed that night. The next morning, I woke up around 7:00 AM along with Tine to go to her school for the day. The last day they had before Easter Break. Johannes slept through an extremely loud alarm and I am convinced he has some kind of condition. Tine and I went to her school after eating a German breakfast, which is basically bread, meat, and cheeses (which I loved). I went with Tine to two of her English classes where they asked me a lot of questions about myself and the United States. Some of the kids were shy while some were bold and asked me very direct questions. It was fun to be in a high school again and I liked hearing about the German schooling system. Later, we left the school and picked up some medicine for my allergies, and explored Cologne. Tine, Johannes, and I climbed a tower to see a view of the city and then walked around the cathedral and its treasury. After spending a while there, we got some coffee and pretzels and started to head back home. Before going home, we went to dinner with Tine's cousin and her boyfriend. Johannes and I talked about physics and science. After that, we packed their apartment and all of my belongings to head to Hamburg the next day. I only slept for an hour because my allergies made it hard to breathe, so I was exhausted. We had dinner with Tine's parents and brother before leaving for Hamburg. The group of us spent the day around Hamburg exploring and went to a model train exhibit that Hamburg is famous for. We spent the night with Johannes' parents and I left for the airport the next day, spending 12 hours the next day in the airport before flying home to Manchester preparing for my family to come. I slept the rest of the next day before waking up around 2:45 to meet my parents. For the next few days, I took them around Chester, Manchester, and Liverpool before ending up in London where I am now. I will not go into detail about what we did because I took them to do things I have already described in this blog. The only things we did differently were going to an archery tag activity which was very fun and going to a Hotspur game in London. It is Easter today and my parents leave tomorrow. I apologize for the shortness of this blog but I simply do not have time to write down all I have done in the past week.
Picture Descriptions
Top Left: Liverpool Buildings by The Dock
Top Middle: View of Cologne from the Top
Top Right: Treasury in Cologne
2nd Top Left: Cologne Cathedral
2nd Top Middle: Me Playing Soccer with Children
2nd Top Right: Johannes, Peter, and I
3rd Top Left: Tine and I in Hamburg
3rd Top Middle: Me in Hamburg
3rd Top Right: Tine and I in Cologne
Middle Left: Me in Phone Booth by Big Ben
Middle Middle: Victoria Statue
Middle Right: Buckingham Palace
3rd Bottom Left: Ben and I buying cotton candy in Liverpool
3rd Bottom Middle: House of Parliament
3rd Bottom Right: Boys at Dear Evan Hansen
2nd Top Left: Fish and Chips at Chesters
2nd Top Middle: East Gate Clock
2nd Top Right: Me at Hotspurs Game
Bottom Left: Chester Cathedral
Bottom Middle: Dai Tai Fung (Dinner in London)
Overall, it has been an exhausting week due to the large amount of traveling I have done. Of course, it is always good to see my family and it was amazing to go see Tine in Germany, but there was little time to rest or do any school work. I am off to Germany again soon but need to get some papers done!