Home sweet home.

Around 1am this morning I arrived back home. The house looks just how I left it and it feels like I’ve only been gone a few weeks rather than months. The journey was long. I set off at 7am (CET: Central European Time). Because of the craziness surrounding travelling this week I booked myself on a much earlier train to Brussels which started in Frankfurt rather than Cologne.

My suitcase was really heavy since I’d filled it full of Christmas presents so it was a real pain having to take it on and off buses and trains and up and down the stairs (I still hate Marburg train station for not having a lift/escalator/ramp!)

I took the ICE from Frankfurt to Brussels. God that train is so comfortable. I had tons of leg room and the top of the chairs are cushioned with a little pillow. I had probably the best nap I’ve ever had on a train.. The train conductor had to repeat ever announcement in 4 different languages (German, French, Dutch and English) which was a little annoying. My favourite part of the journey was that the moment we crossed the Germany/Belgium boarder everyone in the carriage received a text message. There was also the most adorable little kid sat in front of me who was singing Christmas songs in German. One of which went like this:

In der Weihnachtsbäckerei
gibt es manche Leckerei
Zwischen Mehl und Milch
macht so mancher Knilch
eine riesengroße Kleckerei.
In der Weihnachtsbäckerei
In der Weihnachtsbäckerei

I had a five hour wait in Brussels, which really dragged, but I guess it was better than arriving with little time to spare. I was shocked at how different it was leaving Germany for Belgium and leaving Belgium for the UK. Going to Belgium was the same as travelling fro Marburg to Frankfurt. You just get on the train and hop off the train. Going to the UK was ridiculously strict. We could only check in at a specific time. We had to have our passports checked twice, if you were non EU then you had to fill out a landing card. My bags were scanned and I had to walk through a metal detector. Then we had to wait in the area between security and the doors to the platform as no one was permitted to enter the platform without permission. So strict! On the other hand the waiting area past security was quite fun. It was UK themed. They even went as far as having red telephone boxes.

The Eurostar train was a dump! Maybe I’m too used to the generally well kept and modern German trains. Not only was the interior shabby but there was no space to even move. I didn’t dare fall asleep in case I kicked someone. The journey was longer than it should of been due to a speed restriction (stupid snow) but to be honest I didn’t care how long it took. I just wanted to be home in time for Christmas.

It’s very surreal being back in the UK. I’m finding it a little difficult to adjust. When I bump into someone I don’t apologise, not because I’m rude, but because the word sorry in that situation is so foreign to me now that by the time I think of the word its too late. Maybe I should just go with my instinct and say “Entschuldigung” and “Es tut mir Leid” haha. Also I realised I wasn’t being as courteous as I would have been a few months back when it comes to getting to where I want to as fast as possible. I’ll need to retrain myself to hold doors open and offer to let people go in front of me.

Anyway I don’t know how often I will be writing for the next two weeks. But I promise that as soon as I get back to Germany I will be posting away as usual. So Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year :D