Good Bye for now Munich

The past few months have been quite an emotional ride. And the past few days have maxed me out. I had to say good bye to my host family last Thursday. That was so hard. I have been so thankful and felt truly blessed to stay with them for a year. I have so many wonderful memories of adventures playing with the boys as my little brothers. I love them so much and cannot wait to see them again as they grow up! I learned so much from Nevena and have felt overjoyed to become so close to the boys and to also be here when the new baby came. Saying good byes to family is hard. But, this had to come at some point..

Later that day on Thursday, I welcomed my Oma and two of my Aunts to Munich! It was so great to see family and have them here to show them my life in Munich. So Friday I showed them around the city and took one final look at my favorite spots!

Friday night we met most of my friends in a Beer garden for a Bavarian Picnic farewell party! It was awesome! Everyone brought typical Bayerisch food to share and we watched Germany’s national soccer team play on the big screen. It was a difficult night, but a perfect way to say good bye to all of my sweet friends here. They were sweet enough to give me a photo book and write me notes which was so thoughtful and makes me feel so special. I am so thankful for all of you. I will never forget my amazing experiences here in Germany mainly because of the incredible company. Y’all made it that much more special. Thanks! My heart hurts because I will miss you all so much. I am excited to see you again in the future!

Saturday morning, I got on the train with Oma, Aunt Karen, and Aunt Cindy to head to Switzerland to meet the rest of our family to begin our tour through der Schweiz. I don’t know if I could have gotten on the train if my family wasn’t there to support me. It was hard to leave Munich. It was an emotional train ride for me. But, we finally made it to Zurich and met more of our family after several travel complication on everyone’s end. (Everyone missed their connecting flights – yes, everyone.) First arriving were 2 Baldocks and 2 Farsts from Texas. So I anxiously awaited in the Zurich airport for 2 hours before I finally got to see my brother and his wife after one year! 4 Keirns from Maryland met us the next day in Luzern after a hectic travel schedule. So we all finally met together and hopped on our family (Mercedes Benz!) tour bus and headed out.

So, I have spent the majority of these few days in tears – from joy, sadness, tiredness, you name it. I’m excited to go home to Texas to see everyone, but I am afraid to think about how different home is going to be now that I have been gone for a year and that living over here has become my normal. I am so happy to spend this time with family and leave my year abroad in Europe with a bang! But I am so sad to leave my home and family in Germany. I could not have asked for this to be a better blessing.