Visit from Family

I had a great weekend because my Dad and grandparents from Germany came to visit me!

On Saturday the 2^nd I took the train to Graz and picked up my Dad from the Graz Hauptbahnhof. A friend of his, Christine, brought him from the airport to the train station and I took it from there. When I first saw him, it was one of the strangest feelings ever. I haven’t seen him in 7 months, but it felt as though I was coming back from camp for a week. Except that I have grown at least 2 inches! Anyway, we had an hour wait before our train back to Knittelfeld so we sat down at a café in the station and talked about his flight and his business trip (he just got done with a project in Angola for 4 weeks and stopped by on his way to Little Rock to visit me for a few days). Once we got on the train, the landscape changed quite a bit, and he was in awe because of the mountains. At the Knittelfeld train station, my host mother, Edith, picked us up and brought us back to the house. We had a great lunch, and Dad got to know my current host family. After that we went on a walk, and I showed him Knittelfeld (didn’t take too long). It felt so good to be able to show someone from home where I have been living for the last 7 months! I think it made a good impression! As the afternoon wore on, Edith took us out in the car and drove around the surrounding area. At dusk we got a wonderful view of Knittelfeld and Fohnsdorf at night. In the evening we had dinner and joked around. At Dad’s hotel we had some time alone and listened to music.

At the airport in August- note how tall I am compared to my Dad

Now

The next day was much of the same but in the mid afternoon my grandparents from Germany came! I haven’t seen them since Christmas 2011, but it wasn’t anything like when I saw my Dad! Right when they got here we headed over to my first host family, the Knauseders for coffee, cake, and a light dinner. We ended up staying for 4 hours and I was glad to see my grandparents enjoying themselves so much! My dad had a little trouble understanding the dialect so we periodically went on walks.

On Monday, it was more showing them around and spending time together. For lunch though, my host grandparents prepared a big meal for everyone, and my last host family, the Heiders, came for coffee afterwards. I was really glad my real family got to meet my host families and vice versa. In the late afternoon my grandparents, my Dad, and I drove to Graz. My dad’s flight the next morning was at 6:45, so we had to spend the night in Graz. We all went to a restaurant for dinner and then said our goodbyes at the hotel; Dad and I bunked out at the hotel so I could see him off the next morning.

Tuesday morning Dad and I woke up at 4:45, skipped breakfast and took a taxi to the airport. We got his bags checked in, ate a bit, and chatted. Eventually I told him he should go ahead and go through security, so there we parted. The goodbye wasn’t hard because in just 4, 4 very short months, we will see each other again. From the airport I took a train all the way back to Knittelfeld and got there at 8:45.

All in all I was beyond glad to see family for a few days. With this visit, it reminded me that in just 4 ½ months I will already be back home. Dad, Omi, Opa: if you’re reading this, thanks so much for coming out this weekend! It meant a lot to me, and I look forward to seeing you this summer!