No Place Like Home

Home is the best place to be at the end of a long day.  Saturday, after a short night's sleep, I woke up early to catch the train to Hamburg Airport.  My flight was a little late leaving Germany en route to Copenhägen, Denmark, but my travels weren't affected.  My layover in Copenhägen was plenty long enough (originally scheduled for around five hours).

 

Denmark is one of those countries, like Switzerland, who accept Euros in many places, but give change in their local currency.  I didn't change any money for just my layover, but ended up with a few Danish Krone in change from my relaxing lunch at the airport.  I made it through passport control and to my gate right on time for my originally scheduled boarding time.  I stress "originally scheduled" because, by the end, my flight from Copenhägen to Chicago was delayed almost two-and-a-half hours.  Thanks to the airports WiFi, I was able to let my family know of the delay, but sitting in the hallway (the gate was completely closed) got annoying by the end.

The "Expected" time kept getting later...

I wasn't able to sleep on the nine-hour flight across the Atlantic, so spent the time watching four in-flight movies (Harry Potter 7.2 and Get Smart in English; The Bourne Identity and Australia in German).  We made up a little time in the air, but still arrived late enough that O'Hare customs were operated by the smaller night-time shift.  Picking up my luggage and making it out to the arrivals lobby took almost two more hours.

Scandinavian Sunset

My grandma had come down for the weekend, to welcome me home and to see some of my brother's high school events.  I had gotten to talk with her on Skype late last week, so I knew she would be waiting with my family.  I was completely surprised to see my Michigan Tech roommate and his dad standing there as well.  They had driven three hours one way, then waited two more hours, just to spend a few minutes with me in the airport.  What a great way to be welcomed home!

With this post, the story of my life in Lüneburg draws to a close.  The past semester was truly amazing, filled with memories I will hold on to for the rest of my life.  I learned and saw so much, and there's so much more of Germany to experience!  That'll have to wait until next time, I guess.  Thanks for following along with my travels, and for supporting me during my time abroad.  As wonderful as life in Lüneburg was, and as fond as my memories are, there really is no place like home!