There's A Place Like Home for the Holidays

Merry Christmas to you and Happy New Year!--one day early. Isn't it strange that it will be 2007 several hours before it probably will be for you? I used to think it was strange that I was eating dinner when you were eating an early lunch. Then I thought it was weird when I was up early and it was still "yesterday" for you. But now...now I think it's strange that my date will end in a seven, yet yours with a six. (Come on now...don't you guys know it's not good to live in the past?)

As I write, Lynn and I are watching Friends DVDs, Stephen and Dad are playing cards, and Mom is probably checking her e-mail. Today we headed out to Bratislava, and after a one-hour train ride, we had to present our passports to the pass control people. Funny thing though. Someone you know didn't bring her passport; she goes by the name Karen. You might acknowledge this as abnormal for me, and it is. But here was my logic--the last time I came to Austria, a close sister told me I didn't need to bring my passport because Austria is in the EU. So, when I left Munich with the fam on Thursday, I didn't even intend to bring it, since Slovakia is in the EU...

But boy oh boy was it funny when everyone else was "all clear" and then I stepped up to the plate, practically laughing in the guard's face, and attempted to show him copies of my passport and visa. He looked right at my face and said, "NO." Then he brought me over to some guy behind a glass counter, showed him my papers, and the man just shook his head violently, left to right, repeat, repeat. He undoubtedly resembled the soup nazi from Seinfeld. Then I asked the man, "So what do I do?" And he said, "LEAVE ON THE NEXT TRAIN BACK TO VIENNA!" Haha. Lynn and Mom stayed, while the boys and I turned back around and walked directly to the same train we just arrived by minutes before.

We've been spending lots of time together doing what people do. We eat a lot, walk around a lot, yell at each other, laugh at each other, mock one another, and sleep. I enjoyed the opportunity to show my family around Munich, but with the way things are over here, Sunday through Tuesday were all holidays, therefore many typical touristy things weren't open. We did, however, see Neuschwanstein on Tuesday, and it looked like a scene taken straight from a snowglobe.

Wednesday we visited family on Mom's side in Gemünden, and let me tell you, the eight-hour-plus train ride was more than worth it. Oh, I can't tell you enough how enjoyable it was to meet relatives I've heard lots of stories about. There's so much to say, that you'll just have to ask me about it. The hardest part was leaving, because as I was hugging Tante Emmy (who is blind), she began to cry and said, "It's so hard to be blind.... It's so hard to be blind..." It crushed me and rethinking it now crushes me yet again. I told her one day we will be able to see each other, because I believe that. But I've never felt so sad and helpless in front of family like that.

But before we left, Hildegard insisted Lynn and I come into the kitchen, and we all made sandwiches for our return ride home. Each sandwich had to have buttered sides, salami/ham, and cheese. UNCUT SANDWICHES WERE NOT ACCEPTABLE. No, no! They all drove us to the train station then, in four cars, and sent us off in German style. We boarded the train, and they just stood out there, directly on the other side of the window. It was hilariously awkward and funny, because we didn't know if we were supposed to keep waving and stuff or what.

Things are going good though. Sometimes it's a little rough, but so is life.