We have arrived!!!
Our adventure started at SEA airport at 11:00 AM, checked in, and walked over to our gate. Of course we also measured our luggage to see who packed the lightest and who went overboard. :) We all concluded that Chris packed the lightest and Eleana & Willow got the record for large bags. The students are in good spirits, even with a short delay for a health concern from one of the passenger on board but we managed to arrive in Frankfurt with a short delay, which meant, run to our next flight!
My first test to see how the students would manage a busy terminal and a transfer that was short. Frankfurt Airport is undergoing some construction, so we were not able to deplane at a gate, so we were bussed to a remote location where we had to clear Immigration, after which customs was a simple walk through a door and then we found ourselves staring into a long line to check back in for our domestic flight into Munich. Luckily, there was an express lane. After some convincing of the agent, I was able to get all 11 of us through the security point unharmed. Out of all of us, Katie was the only one questioned. I guess she had curling irons and they looked like weapons, of which Aaron quickly joked as if they were light sabers.
Down two flights of stairs and a power walking sprint to the other side of the airport, up two flights of stairs and finally we were able to make the flight with 5 minutes to spare. The poor kids were sweating and exhausted, especially Jena, Eleana, and Karanjot who didn't sleep one bit on our flight but yet we made it.
We arrived on-time to Munich International Airport to find our hosts with the teachers. What a joy it was to see Adelina 34 weeks pregnant expecting their first. Just found out that it's a boy! Adelina was one of the teachers who was originally scheduled to come but decided to rest as the baby continued to grow. Reinhart & Uli were there as well, two of the teachers who came to Kennedy Catholic this past year with their group. We took a short ride from the airport to the school in separate cars packed with our luggage and were surprised with a little goodie bag filled with all sorts of candy and snack foods to boost our energy up. Chris and Aaron saw some similarities to the design of the school, very similar to Kennedy Catholic.
The German students all swung by the room we gathered at and took our students on a short tour. I was amazed at their energy, especially since it was 2:30 AM Seattle time and they were being fueled by sugar and you know what happens once your energy is spent. The only student out of our group who had the energy to keep pushing was Jessika. What a joy she is to have on this trip, let's hope she can energize the others.
All of the students left and I remained admiring the new updates and additions to our sister school. I was even blessed with a short audience with Herr Dittmann, the school principal, who was gracious enough to welcome us here and hoped that our time and experience will be a grace filled one. As for now....a good shower, some rest and getting to know our hosts... Tomorrow will be a long day. More pictures to come followed by our students who will be taking turns submitting their experiences. Auf Wiedersehen!
No comments:
Post a Comment