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Published: July 31st 2008
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First off, many apologies! This update has been WAY too slow in coming to fruition! It's been a crazy week and a half for me since coming home. The very next day I found myself at youth football camp coaching up the kids. That went all week before it was on to announcing high school baseball games over the weekend. But no excuses!
Note: Congratulations go to Max and Bailey for winning the inaugural "Amazing Race: Hamburg"! Their exemplary efforts were rewarded with sweet Hamburg lanyards!
Attached are some assorted pictures that were emailed but never posted here. Most were taken by Heidi, and she is scary sneaky with that camera! If anyone has some good ones, email them to me at school (bdavidson@be.wednet.edu) and I will post them here!
Anyway... There I was, just a couple hours after that
last blog in Germany. At 3am we took all the stuff and headed for the garage to pile it into the car for the airport. As we pulled out into the darkness and the rain, there was Heidi, ready to go (kind of). She carefully placed a half asleep Ruby into the back seat and we were off, Uli and Monika
comprising the second half of the two car caravan. Memories, future plans and invitations back permeated the darkness and eased the urge to sleep on the 40 minute drive.
As we rushed across the airport road to the terminals in the pouring rain, we began searching for the group. There they were, some afraid to talk for fear of tears and some deep into final conversations and numerous thank you’s. Heidi and I decided to leave the two football's behind with a couple of deserving Germans. Annika was an easy choice as she has taken it upon herself to help us in our journey's (refer to
"A Wednesday Adventure to Remember") and just plain being there to help out. And all of this with a constant and sincere smile on her face! Marco was given the other football as he seemed to be standing next to me every time I turned around during the trip asking, "can you throw the football with me?"
I'm not sure that any of the German kids made a stronger bond with the whole of the American contingent that Annika did. It is amazing what an enormous affect a seemingly small gesture can have on someone. With
her new football in hand, and after I had explained why we had chosen her, it was all over. The tears began to flow. It seemed that this was the watershed moment (sorry for the pun) which triggered the eventual torrent of tears from nearly everyone.
Hugs and tears were plentiful as we checked in for the flight. We moved as a mob towards security. A swirling, dodging, swaying ballet of hugs and tearful goodbye's. Nobody was willing to miss anyone.
It was a melancholy wait for the short hop to Frankfurt. Everybody seemed ready for the comforts of home but none fully ready to leave.
The flight was a good one. The fatigue of the short (if any) sleep the night before was becoming apparent in some of the kids. Casey's poor neighbor on the flight ( a German businessman) became a makeshift pillow
(see previous post).
The wait in Frankfurt was pretty easy. Nobody lost any Oakley sunglasses or anything. Maybe because we didn't have to go through security. The kids shopped, slept a bit more, and tried to guess which movies we would have on our seat back televisions for the long haul flight ahead.
Boarding was simple yet disastrous! As we moved down the aisles to our seats I was just waiting for someone to notice. What was taken for granted was not provided. No seat back screens for this flight!
True to their nature however, and blowing me away yet another time, there were no real complaints.
The flight went well and most slept quite a bit.
Portland... Back on U.S. soil. 4 hours for some and 6 for others in beautiful PDX. Heightened security, some American grub, simply reading signs in English... ahh, back in the States again!
The kids began to catch their second wind during the wait for the two flights back north. We said good bye to Heaven and Fabien here as Heaven's parents picked them up.
As my group boarded the small turbo-prop plane for the trip north, a gate worker came out, boarded the plane and told Maranda to get off. Hmm... this can't be right. I tried to tell her that everything was in order but was told that she did not have a ticket (the very ticket mind you, that she had just given this worker in order to walk
onto the tarmac). I walked in with this gate worker, who was now quite worried about the impending delay now that we were pressing the issue and not just removing Maranda from the flight. Heidi was quite surprised to see me reenter the terminal. Upon further discussion, and after Maranda was walked halfway back to the terminal, they figured it out. No harm, no foul, and an amusing story.
The short hop plane was a fun one! 21 total seats and that cool turbo- prop sound. The altitude was much lower than the larger jets fly, even on the short flights, so you could see everything on such a beautiful day. St. Helens, Rainier, and every city in the southern I-5 corridor were easily visible (the kids loved seeing Wild Waves the most), and in the distance, even Mt. Baker could be seen.
Back on the ground in Seattle! We hopped on the subway tram for the short trip. Once we disembarked, the kids were excited. It was as though the whole idea of being home hit everyone at this very moment. As we got on the escalator and looked towards the top, there they were. Parents, siblings
and friends waiving and smiling. Again, the hugs!
Two hours later, the whole scene was repeated with the next group.
All in all it was an incredible adventure that none of us will ever forget! Our kids behaved brilliantly and impressed Heidi and I both with their responsibility, positive attitude and willingness to try new things. I think everyone gained something from this trip. From Drew finding a love for learning a new language and culture to Maranda Blau becoming a social butterfly on a whole new continent.
The exchange wasn't always easy, but then again, it really shouldn't be. If it were easy, just a simple walk in the park, what would be gained? As the kids fought through some homesickness and some cultural differences, they really grew. They found out that they can adapt and not only survive, but excel and enjoy life outside of their comfort zone. Now at the end of the trip, Germany is part of their comfort zone! I have no doubt that this experience will make it easier for them to face challenges and changes that they will encounter in the future. High school will be that simple walk in
the park mentioned earlier!
A huge thank you goes out to our German hosts! The families could not have been more welcoming and accommodating! Whether it was cooking, playing tour guide, constantly explaining things, or changing their schedules around simply to accommodate ours, everyone did it with a cheerful smile. It was obvious to us all that they really love their hometown, and truly enjoyed showing it off! They made this trip everything that it was and will continue to be in our memories for the rest of our lives!
As I walked to the car in the rain at 3am to leave, it felt as though I were leaving home all over again!
-Ben
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Heidi
non-member comment
Nice "Nutshell"
LOVED your last blog! I would have to agree wholeheartedly with everything you said. It's amazing how much perspective you gain when you step back for a week and think about all the great things that happened! And they did.....!