IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS...
Pictures
CBYX/PPP – 34 – Hamburg to Mainz to NYC. The CBYX ConclusionPost Trip in Hamburg
I had a wonderful weekend at Elke’s with the "family". I got all my stuff from my super trip unpacked, aired out, and ready for the next week away. I then had to find some stuff in my already-packed boxes of crap, and then prep for my week away, in Mainz and in New York.
Coolest thing about the weekend, GERMANY WINS!!!!!!!! DEUTSCHLAND IST NOCH MAL WELTMEISTER!!!!!! That was quite an experience, and was really cool to experience it there in Germany. People were honking and lighting off fireworks til late in the night to celebrate the awesomeness of becoming the best football team in the world. Such greatness.
Mainz-ing it Up
Well, the next morning, my train to Mainz was a half hour late. The train lady came on the loudspeaker and said “yeah were late, but were world champions. Gotta keep our priorities straight.” Go Deutschland. So although it was kinda frustrating, I had to keep it all in perspective.
I eventually got down to Mainz on my train, and had an awesome couple of days with the gang. We all converged on Colin’s place, and got in some last minute wandering around and errands before the big day.
We be-bopped around, watched Frozen, had some beers and cooked, and then went to Frankfurt and stayed up all night before the flight. We ended up revisiting our mid-year seminar stomping grounds, Oberbayern, and had quite a great night. Sleep was calling really loud though for a bit, but we all powered through, got to the airport, checked in, and met up with the rest of the program.
Holy crap. Things came to it, it actually was July 16, we were actually flying back to New York to end the program. How the hell did the year go by so fast? Seriously? I didn’t think it was possible, but this was actually happening.
Well, we all got through security and were waiting at the gate for our super plane flight in an A380!!!!!! Holy shit, that plane is huge. The largest commercial airliner, and we got to ride it in style back to the US of A. Oh yeah.
I passed out for the first hour of the flight (thank you ear plugs and eye cover), watched 47 Ronin (I dug it, Keanu keeping it real), then the 30th class of PPPlers turned our area of the plane into a low key bar. The steward was being all sorts of cool stuff and just supplying us with beer and wine, and we got a superawesomecoolthyme Lufthansa Polaroid picture in the galley. We made an awesome time of it, and ended up drinking an A380 out of beer. Pat on the back right there, definitely one of the highlights of the year.
The Big Apple and Finish
Well, we made it to NYC, waited an hour or two for our shuttle bus to the hostel, and got our time in NYC started.
The first night, I walked around with a bunch of others to some of the sights, Grand Central Station, Wall Street, World Trade Center Memorial, and the Brooklyn Bridge, and got a little bit of sightseeing in.
The next morning, reality really started setting in. We went to the German Consulate and had a day of info sessions and talks and stuff. For the most part it was interesting and engaging, but sort of looming, just getting closer and closer to that 3:30pm end of the program. Eventually, it came to that. We got our certificates, a letter explaining our participation, and a picture of the group of participants on the steps of the capitol building in DC before it all started. Wow. Holy crap. What the heck. Fin.
A whirlwind of a year, all of a sudden come to a closure. All good things must come to an end, true, but it’s just so weird to know that I won’t be in Germany with 70 other people a phone call or train ride away going through the same stuff as me ready to help out. It was easily the most formative, informative, and growing year of my life. I learned more than I could ever track, done things that I never thought I’d get the chance to do, and met some of the most amazing people I know. I am nothing but blessed to have been through this life-changing experience, I will never forget it, and I am nothing but grateful for all that helped me get the chance to take part in the 30th Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals.
Post-Program NYC
That was that. We all got our bags, and started saying our goodbyes. What a weird feeling. After becoming so close with these people, we’re all moving on to the next stage in our lives.
With all of this, I felt weird. I'm in a really weird situation. Not just calm before the storm, but in a complete and total daze that this year is done. The program is officially done. And not just that, but all sorts of weird and worried and excited for what is ahead of me. Instead of going into a sure thing, I’m going back and taking a huge risk, hoping that some hard work and initiative will land me a job in Germany for a few years. It’s going to be risky, difficult, and stressing, but it’s time to jump out of my box and go for what I want. I want this.
The couple of days before and after the flight and time in NYC were weird. This really ended. I'm no longer going to be in Getmany with 70 of my newest and closest friends. I'm no longer a CBYX program participant. Everyone is split up and off to all different corners of the world. It's a weird feeling, and one I don't particularly like. The good byes were hard. I have no idea of the next time I'll see most of these people. I was in a really weird mental and emotional state after it all came to.
That next day, I met up with my travel crew one last time. We walked around Central Park and hung out just like old times. We all got these little books from Dawn, such a sweet thing, and one more way to never forget all that we did together in the past year…
But, I was the first to depart my gang. It was sad and weird. I’ve come to know these three great and amazing people in the last year, and would love nothing more than to keep them in my daily life. That’s not going to happen right now, but they will always be a part of my life, and that’s something I will always cherish.
OLY in NYC – Just what the Doctor Ordered
I left, and went to meet up with my NYC Oly crew. Jason lives in Brooklyn, Zach came up from Virginia, and Matt came down from the Upper East Side to give me a sort of welcome “home”. I was a bit of an emotional wreck on my way down there, but wow, that was just what I needed. Ice cold margaritas and stacked nachos in a low-key bar with some really close old friends, just taking it easy getting caught up. That was exactly what I needed. The rest of the weekend turned out to be a lot like that. I don’t know what I would have done if it wasn’t like that, other than being an emotional mess. It would not have been pretty, but as they say, I get by with a little help from my friends.
I was definitely the weakest and tiredest link that night, so not much happened other than going back to Jason’s place and crashing on the couch.
The next day was low-key, easy paced, and relaxing. Jason came and made me and ZZ breakfast, then we hit the road and headed to Manhattan for a little bit of fun. We checked out some ritzy PJs, a cool Patagonia surf shop (in Manhattan, crazy), struggled to decide which beer to get when faced with hundreds of choices, walked into Kaths Deli and saw shit was crazy expensive then went and got pizza at Ray’s and drank our beer. Then we went over to the High Line on West Manhattan, a former supply railway that was turned into a park/walk way. We visited Candace’s coffee stand, and I actually sampled the fare. It was pretty good. Some more walking, chilling around and people watching, and eventually we made our way over to some Korean Chicken Wing joint. Oooooh weeeee was it good, but holy balls was it expensive. I almost croaked when I heard the final cost (the problem of having other people select the menu…).
After a near heart-attack, we went to a rooftop bar right under the Empire State Building. Kinda cool looking straight up at a gigantic building. A little different than a fjord, but still a crazy thing to marvel. After that, we walked up to Rockefeller Center and tried to get into the LEGO store right as it closed ☹ and saw a church close to there.
Holy cow is that a different experience compared to Europe. Every cathedral or dom I’ve ever visited is always quiet, very respectfully open to visitors who respect that it is a place of worship. At this church, right across from Rockefeller Square, it was loud, there was scaffolding all over the place, and I would not imagine people using it as a place of worship. The fact that it opened up right on to an extremely busy New York Street, across from a statue of Atlas, that kinda makes sense though…
To end the night, we passed through Time Square. Wow is that place ridiculous. Daylight at night thanks to all the billboards and advertisements. To be honest, I was a little disgusted at the place. So much excess and in-your-face capitalism, I wasn’t a big fan. But hey, I guess it’s America. We then sat around and listened to some street musicians rock out some blues and jazz, a chill way to call it a night.
The next day was even more relaxed. I started off with a sampling of McDonald’s lowest fares (quite delicious), and ended up with a nice rock in my stomach to hold me over for the day. We then headed out, met back up with Matt, and took the ferry to Governor’s Island, a nice place to chill out on the grass and get some beautiful views of Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, and the New York harbor. After our time there, and some walking around Brooklyn, we headed over to Shake Shack, and grubbed our faces in some delicious burgers. Win.
Absolutely Needed
As I said, I don’t know where I would be mentally if it weren’t for the time with my Oly boys. It was awesome to not only catch up with some of the best friends I have and see what’s going on in their life, but to also share some of my past year with them and give them a little insight into what I spent the past 12 months doing. That was extremely helpful and enjoyable.
USA Culture Shock
I was only in the U.S. for a matter of five days, a very jam-packed and in-your-face five days. Honestly, I don’t think it was the fact that I was in the States that gave me signs of culture shock, I think it was the fact that I was in New York. Holy crap that place is different than anything I’m used to. It’s absolutely huge, smelly, dirty, packed, expensive, and full of too much. It really was like going to a different world.
In general, however, there were a ton of things I was super stoked to see and do: Chipotle, good beer, music gathering, McDonalds, good beer (porters and stouts and ambers and IPAs and Summer Ales and……… oh god…) and walls of selection, small talk, cheeriness with strangers, catching up with and seeing close friends, UNLIMITED mobile data, air conditioning, and more things I can’t think of at the moment.
But of course, there were also things that were a bit of a shock and took some concentration to accept: understanding all of the conversations around me, not being able to drink in public without being secretive, angry assholes everywhere in NY, traffic and lots of noise, and also many more things I can’t think of at the moment.
I only got a snippet of culture shock. Five days was not enough for it all to set in, just to give me a little taste of it all. I know it will take me a few days to get back up and running here in Germany, but when I do eventually return to the US, it’s going to be quite an interesting time getting used to my home country again.
Up Next
I am now back in Germany. I have two months to look for a job, and plan on going hard in the paint to find something.
I am unbelievably blessed with all of the help and support of my friends and family around me. I don’t know how I would be if it weren’t for them, and I don’t think I would be over here without their support. I am definitely a very lucky man.
But as I said, I’ve got about two months until I need to be back in the US, so the time until then is going to be very jam-packed and go by very fast. I’m excited to see what happens considering all that’s going on (end of the program, adjustment to a new phase of life, working hard to find somewhere to work, etc.). This will definitely be a very formative two months, or at least have a huge effect on my future. We’ll see how it goes.
Blog Future
Well, the program is done. That’s obvious. But I am going to sporadically keep this little thing going. It’s been a great way for me to track my activities, thoughts, ideas, etc., and I'll keep that up and running, no matter where I end up.
Original Publish Date: July 23rd, 2014