May 6, 2011

• 6 Weeks

  In 6 weeks, I’ll be back in Kansas City. 

  I will have taken one last train to Frankfurt – followed by a charter bus to the airport.  There will be crying and laughter – either high-pitched in an over-eager attempt to fight back tears, or the slow laughter that turns into mellow sobs.  The 24 other students from America with whom I’ve shared this experience will make last attempts at swapping stories and e-mails.  We might all eat lunch together one last time – with a healthy noon-serving of German beer.  We will check our bags and wait in customs.  When I board the flight I will once again sit between the Sch- and Tur- last names.  We will all crowd to look out the window at take off – soaking in every last glimpse of the country side before it all fades into the monotony of the overcast sky.

  When we reach that good ole capital city…everything will be different.  People around us will be speaking a different language, the restaurants will have different names – different smells and sounds and sights we’ve all but forgotten.  It’s like entering a foreign world – even harder than it was when we came to Germany.  Some of us might be scared or have trouble understanding…but the tough part comes as we seperate.  The Washingtonians board one flight, the Flordians another.  I will walk with the other Kansan to our gate – we might even exchange a few words in German before boarding.

  A few more hours and I’ll be landing in KC.  The jet will probably bounce a few times as it lands, and have a few delays before we can pull in to the gate.  I’ll walk up the ramp, my small suitcase clattering over the metal slates.  Through the glass terminal walls I will see my parents and possibly my brother, Adam.  My boyfriend, who came a few weeks before I did, will be waiting for me.  I feel hopeful when I see his face – his lips mouth my name and his eyes smile.  Schatzi, he will say, ich habe dich so viel vermisst.

  I will listen eagerly to the chatter in the car.  You must be so happy to be home they will tell me.  We’ve made your favorite for dinner.  The girls are waiting at the house - the girls being my nieces.  We’ll be home soon.

   

  

   

  But that’s the thing.

  I don’t know if, in 6 weeks time, I will be going home…

  …or rather - leaving it…

   

  M

  • 1:44 am
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