Germany Reflections

Sadly, I think it's about time that I close and sum up the Germany chapter in my life. Today was the last day of my internship and......(insert sob story here. I initially wrote like a 500 word essay about how sad I am about leaving, but blogspot couldn't save the entry properly and so I lost it when my computer froze -___- Anyways, the gist of it was that I'm really sad that I have to leave Germany because I've grown quite attached to the people here. When I said goodbye to them on Friday, it really didn't feel like a goodbye that would last forever but more like one where I would see them again on Monday at work. It is really a weird feeling when you know mentally that you are about to leave, but it just doesn't feel like it. Iono, I can't write as sad as before because all the tears have already been shed like an hour ago for that post. You can't just start up that emotion again for the same exact reasons--posting on a blog. Anyways, I hope that we will all stay in touch and I that I will see them again sometime in the future. I know that when I see them again, there might be slight awkwardness due to time, but stuff like this happens. Time will go on and our relationship will probably deteriorate from friends to acquaintances and so on. It's inevitable with the distance between us. The fact that things will never be the same again is really strange. I have developed a routine of sorts while I was in Germany and soon I'll be thrown into a trip around Europe and then back to reality back at home. Anyways, I can't reenact what I felt when I initially wrote this post.)

It was the last day on Friday so I was required to present my results in a talk. I wasn't too nervous before my presentation, I mean I could have been a lot worse :P However, right before my presentation (like 10 minutes before, or the part where I waited 15 minutes till everyone was present as I was all alone at the front of the room), I was pretty nervous. I could feel that my heart rate was accelerated and my hand was shaking. I was pretty worried that when I was using the pointer that it would totally go all over the place due to my shaky hands. Good thing it went well even though I spoke a bit too fast. I mean, I naturally speak kinda fast and I tried to slow it down or at least keep at normal, but it was still too fast. Sorry guys. Also, Sven prepared some pre-made questions for me but I was super obvious that they were premade. He asked me a question and I answered in like 2 words or so. It's kinda like....it's an essay response question but you answered in fill-in-the-blank format :P Sorry Sven. Well, hopefully I'll get more experience with these presentations and it will come out more naturally next time :)

After the presentation we went to Tina's flat to have lunch. I tried some Bavarian sausage which I thought was alright even after it was lathered in this special mustard. Part of the reason why I didn't like it as much as I should is probably cause I am not the hugest fan of mustard. Nonetheless, it was pretty good. Afterwards we had a gift exchange. The lab gave me a pizza made of gummies (it was presented in a pizza box and each component of the pizza was an individual gummy. For example....bacon was a sour belt, there was some chili pepper gummies, etc.) and a mug that was very representative of Mainz. It is decorated with the mascots of a broadcasting company here in Mainz (or was it Germany?...no...I think it was Mainz) and every time I use it, I'll think of my internship. As for what I got for the members in the lab, I got Tina a box of chocolates from Hussel. Initially I was planning to get some sort of jewelry or something, but I knew that could go horribly wrong and could be tossed to the side forever. So I went for something safe like chocolate. For Florian I got him the Playbook and Bro code book from How I Met Your Mother (in German). I was probing Florian pretty much the entire week and he shot down every one of my ideas. I thought, maybe a Nike+ product, but he doesn't like running and what's the use of a pedometer like thing if you're running on a treadmill in the gym. It already tells you everything you need to know. Weightlifting gloves? Nope, too fugly apparently. Something gaming related? He probably had everything he needed and he shares games with Benjamin...so it was very likely that I would give Florian a repeat. Sooo....I strolled around after work for a couple of days and finally got him these books from the bookstore. When I saw them, I knew he would appreciate them :) For Sven....I got him something online like two weeks ago but it hasn't arrived yet :( I was checking the mail diligently for the past week hoping to finally see it in the mail, but sadly....there was no sign of it. It was not until Thursday, the day before the gift exchange, that I received an email telling me that the address didn't work. So I had to provide the clinic's address to ensure that Sven would receive it somehow. So on Friday, Sven was pretty much present-less except for a bar of 82% chocolate (the darker the better!) and he will just have to wait to see what it is. For safety precautions, I will not mention what it was yet just in case he finds this blog :P Anyways, by the end of the day we said our goodbyes and I ended up crying a little bit :( Oh wells.

At Tina's after my presenation

These past few days I haven't really done much because my friends aren't really around in Mainz anymore and I couldn't get into contact with David, sooo...I spent it watching Heartstrings, the Korean drama. Darn you Wen! Now I'm sucked in!

Whelp it's almost time to catch my flight to London and this time I'm definitely going to the right airport :) I'm really going to miss the people here in Germany and I really hope that I will see them again. I will miss the cafe culture here where I can just lounge around outside a cafe and sit there for hours without the waitress/waiter rushing for me to leave. I'll miss all the breweries and many other things. I will definitely miss my lab the most and I hope that I will see them again. Overall, Germany was a good learning experience. I can now do multiple laboratory techniques with some level of confidence :P and I guess I am slightly more independent now. It was the first time I was in a foreign country truly alone with no knowledge about the language here, but I must say, it went quite well. Although I had Sven for help and support whenever I needed it, so maybe I'm not as independent as I think :P Anyways, it's time for me to head over to London and the rest of Europe! Good bye Germany! I hope I'll be back soon!