Making the trip to Germany

June 10th & 11th, 2019

Getting to Germany is no easy chore. For one it cost $1000 for a one way ticket and that is a cheap ticket 2) it is half way around the world and takes roughly around 30+ hours of travel.

The movers came on June 5th and did the job in 11 hours. We didn't have much stuff, so they didn't take the 2 days they initially planned for. We stayed at my mom's house in Waikele for 5 days packing and getting our stuff ready for the flight. As sad as I was leaving family and friends, I had no time to think about it as there was still things to be done before we left.

The big hiccup was that we got an email two days before (June 8th) saying Delta couldn't accept the dog on the flight. Michelle had to change the flight. Delta only accepts dogs on Boeing 737 and Airbus 330. But they change the plane, so that is why we couldn't bring the dog. Now, instead of going from Honolulu -> Atlanta -> Frankfurt, we would now go from Honolulu -> Los Angles -> Amsterdam -> Frankfurt. We would now get to Germany sooner, but would have shorter layovers. Let me tell you this would be a long exhausting process.

My mom dropped us off at the airport on June 10th at 4:45am in the morning. Delta was giving me shit for our dog Kiwi saying he needs a pet passport. After arguing for over 1.5 hours with the Delta agent, Kiwi finally got clearance. I wish Delta knew their facts when checking in a pet. They wanted me to produce a pet passport, but the United States does not issue pet passports, that is an EU thing. I kept my cool because this was only step one in the process and I couldn't spend all my energy on the check in. Jared started to get emotional seeing Kiwi being checked into cargo not knowing if he would be okay. I told Jared the reason why Kiwi couldn't come with us was because he is too heavy and couldn't fit underneath the seat. I told Jared Kiwi will do find. Kiwi showed a positive attitude the entire month, so I believe he would follow through on the flight.

Honolulu to LA

The flight to LA was quick, we got on the plane, left at 7:30am and got to LA around 4:00pm PST. Fellow friend, Sarah was on the plane with us, but didn't sit near us. Sarah who is getting her Doctrine in England had a 5 hour layover in LA, while our layover was 3 hours. When we got to LAX, we wanted to see Kiwi, I went to the Delta counter, but they assured me that Kiwi was going to be okay. So I told Jared lets see Sarah. Sarah was at the exclusive Delta Sky Lounge upstairs, since I flew Delta, I figured we go up there too. At first I didn't get a friendly reception, maybe I looked too poor. I gave them my Delta credit card and the guy only charged me for one person. I guess he taught Jared was a little child. This Sky Lounge is legit. Free food and alcohol, comfortable seats. There is also access to showers. First class all the way. After doing homework, Sarah talked with us for a bit. We discussed our European adventures that await. Sarah is also taking a intern job at the Smithsonian. Good luck to her as she is progressing towards becoming a made woman to quote Goodfellas.

LAX to Amsterdam

This would be the longest flight in our travel, we would be flying 10.5 hours in the air. We got off to a bad start, the flight was delayed for about 30 minutes. I felt we might miss our connecting flight from Amsterdam to Frankfurt, but for now the focus was on the 10.5 hours in the air. Right away I knew this flight would be interesting. This French guy and his girlfriend sat by us and were loud. It gave me good insight about French personalities. He was complaining about everything (in French). He complained to the flight attendant that it was too cold, told the person behind him to stop pressing so hard on the touch screen, and got really pissed off when the person at the window seat started coughing so loud. The flight was difficult for Jared, he kept on complaining about his legs being numb. I just told him to walk around. We kept busy by playing games on the touchscreens. The flight was really long, the French guy kept on complaining throughout. Although we didn't talk he seemed to like me, not in that way, just a level of respect. Every time he contacted me (the seats are small), he always said sorry, excused me. Finally after 10.5 hours we landed in Amsterdam. I told Jared we have to hurry. As we exited the plane, I looked at one of the monitors in the terminal and saw the Amsterdam to Frankfurt flight left...

Amsterdam to Frankfurt

I went to the KLM counter (Delta gave way to KLM) to rebook. The lady at the front desk gave me a paper and said they had to rebook on Lufthansa. She spoke good English as many people in the Netherlands do. I asked her for a boarding pass. She said she can't do it and told us to go to Transfer station 6. We went to Transfer Station 6, the lady said, "we can't do it, go to Transfer Station 5". We went there, the guy said, "we can't do it, go to Transfer Station 2". I was like, WTF these people don't know what they are talking about. But then, I had to think and thought that if they rebooked through Lufthansa, then I would have to go to a Lufthansa counter. Getting to Transfer Station 2 was a disaster. We had to go through customs. The line snaked about 15 times. It was super long. I asked one of the workers if Lufthansa was in Transfer Station 2, they said yes, so I told Jared, "its this or bust". After an hour of waiting, we got through customs. At Transfer Station 2 was still KLM, I was like, "awe frick". The lady said, "we can't do anything but go to the Kiosk to print your boarding pass", so I did. Only Jared's pass printed out. We tried 2 more times, with no luck. I figured lets go to the gate and try get a boarding pass printed out. However, when we got there, no one was there. I panicked slightly, this was the first time during travel I wasn't thinking straight. I left Jared, and walked back to the Kiosk. Michelle kept on texting me if we could get on the rebook flight, but I couldn't give her a straight answer. With no luck at the Kiosk, I walked back to the gate and there was a Lufthansa agent there. He printed out the boarding pass for me. We were so drained at this point 26 hours into travel, that we slept the entire Lufthansa flight. Both Jared and I slept before take off and we both woke up when we landed in Frankfurt.

Frankfurt to Otterberg

You would think that this would be the end. We landed in Frankfurt. However, it is not the end. We waited for our bags for 45 minutes and 1 bag didn't show. Someone dropped Kiwi off, so that was good. Jared was so happy as the expression on his face showed it. After waiting for another 1/2 an hour, I was like fuck it! I'm filing a missing bag report. The Lufthansa agent I spoke to obviously didn't want to talk to me, so he passed me onto another agent. One thing I learn is that Germans do not want to communicate with Americans if they feel their English is not good enough. Germans called it schande which means shame. This makes sense as in American culture, you get teased if you mispronounce a word. I think the Germans have caught onto this and rather be comfortable speaking German rather than get teased, no one wants to be teased. As we exited, Michelle surprised us near the exit. Jared seeing his mommy was a huge morale boost. We walked to the car. I felt a sense of relief. It has been stressful the pass 2 months getting this move accomplish, but I felt that phase 1 is done. Driving to Otterberg took some time, about 1 hour out of Frankfurt which is long when compared to Hawaii time.

Otterberg

We finally got to the house at 10:40pm German time. Michelle showed us a tour of the house, I was very impressed, its a three story house with a nice winter garden, and small yard. German rooms are usually big, because they don't have closets, so you would need to buy make shift closet to store your stuff.