So...ich bin hier!!

And I really thought it would be SO much HARDER than it was. Before I left, Rachel asked me if I was excited, and I told her that I was but not "giddy excited," meaning I didn't have a smile plastered to my face like the day of our wedding...wait...I promise I was (and still am) happy about that! But I was excited about travelling to Leipzig, but I wasn't so excited about leaving her behind, going by myself, not really knowing where I'm goinging, and not really knowing enough German. Sounds like a recipe for disater. But I got here 10,000 times smoother than I ever imagined I would. The hardest part was going through London's Heathrow airport...uhg. What a drag that place is. Seems like it has taken organization lessons from America's public schools...I mean...oops. Did I just type that? Really? Well, not ALL of USA's public education systems are quite that bad...maybe only the ones in which I've had some stake...possibly only one particular school... Anywho, note to self: Avoid Heathrow at all costs; unfortunaltely you have to go back through it on the way home... But really, though I had plenty of time to work out the Heathrow ordeal. I had five hours to figure out how to get a boarding pass for my next two flights (changing airlines was a new adventure for me) and find my boarding gate...plenty of time to feel like I haven't felt since registering for college the first time..."No, sorry sir. You're gonna have to go across campus to this building here and have THEM tell you what to do next...(meanwhile- back-at-the-Hall-of-Justice kind of thing for all you long time Superman fans)..."I'm sorry sir. You're going to head across campus from where you started...blah, blah, blah..." Ah, c'mon. You remember registering for college the first day...especially back before the user-friendly online registration. (Pretty sure I just dated myself...Thank Heaven the Internet and online registration isn't very old! Thanks Al Gore!)
Anyhoo... I get through Heathrow, which is the first stop of this LANGER Tag, and I'm off to Düsseldorf. 4 hour layover. Seemed like an ETERNITY. No one goes to Düsseldorf much. Smaller population than Dresden, TN. Cross my heart on that one. Finally board the plane to Leipzig/ Halle, and we are shuttled out onto the tarmac. This can't be good. One bus load. One plane full. It was the smallest plane I had ever realized I was going to ride. Smallest. Hands down. But you know, it was the smoothest ride of which I have ever taken part! Smoothest take off..eh, a few turbulent patches...and the smoothest landing ever! It really was quite amazing, and I congratulate and deeply thank my capitan of that flight.
So I get off the flight wondering if my luggage actually made it straight from Rahleigh, NC to Leipzig, De. I'm here to tell you that these people are good at what they do! My luggage was right there. I wasn't even given a baggage claim/ deck number. Picked it up, and off to get some food in the Leipzig/ Halle airport.
I get food, and the entire time I'm eating I'm thinking, "How am I gonna get to my hotel. Can I even FIND it? Maybe I'll take the train...but it's getting late, and I might have to sleep on the street. Oh my. I've never been this uptight and in knots in my LIFE!" All the while eating a salomi sandwich, which was quite good! I did enjoy my sandwich in spite of all that second guessing and, dare I say, THINKING too much. So...it's been a long day of waiting...waiting...waiting...so I follow the Taxi signs. I'm here to tell you that the Taxi driver took me right to my Hotel. It only cost 30 Euros WITH the gratuity. I might have paid only the fare with that amount in the States. And here I am in my cozy little Lindner Hotel Leipzig room with a bed, an Internet connection, and a mini-bar. Now for some sleep to rid myself of jetlag and fatigue...