Getting Settled In
We finally made it! The flight out of Baltimore was delayed over 10 hours. Boo! When we got to the airport, there was a huge line, but no flight leaving Sunday night as planned. We all still had to get our bags tagged so we stuck around to get that done. While we were waiting, the USO was nice enough to bring up a bunch of pizzas for all of us waiting! We gobbled up a few slices of cheese 'za. When we got the bags tagged they said to come back at 3am to drop them. Oof! That meant about a 1am wakeup call. So we headed back to the hotel, saw the last few moments of the Packer game (YAY!), and got some dinner in the lobby restaurant. We got in a 4 hour nap before that dreaded alarm went back off again. Yawn. Ross' flight was also leaving that morning, so he packed up his small bag and away we went. See ya later Baltimore.
We got back to the airport around 3 like planned and stood in the same long line, this time to drop our bags. The USO was NOT there with coffee and donuts. Bummer. It went pretty quick. TSA didn't open until 4am, so we wandered the airport for about 30 min and stopped at Dunkin' Donuts for a breakfast sandwich. We went to go see if Ross could check into his flight yet, but it was so early that the counter wasn't open and even the self check-in kiosk weren't on yet. So back to the AMC terminal. By the time we got back almost all the military personnel that were waiting in line had made it through and there were just a bunch of civilians lined up for their own international flights. Ross and Leah said their final good byes, and we jumped in the TSA security line. That also went surprisingly fast. But as all good military things go it's all about the "hurry up and wait." The flight was supposed to take off around 6:30am. At first it sounded hopeful that we'd begin boarding, but that message kept repeating and repeating over the intercom...6:30 came....and went. Everyone was getting nervous that the flight would be delayed or cancelled. Great. But alas, it wasn't and around 7:00 we got the ok to start the boarding.
Have you ever been in a sauna? Hot, right? Well, imagine that while in uniform with 300 other people. That was what the jet felt like for the first hour. The A/C wasn't working right, which is what caused our delay in the first place. Luckily, it finally kicked in for the most part. But dang, was it hot for a while there!
7 hours later....Arrival in Germany! Local time was about 10pm. And it took what felt like forever to get off the plane. (getting warmer again too...) Eventually we get off and it's time to wait for luggage. A bunch of us didn't think we were getting ours! The carousel was empty and a good dozen of us were missing bags. Eventually they showed up and we moved on with our lives. Two of the FM folks were waiting when we got out of the terminal. They helped me find my room and carry all my bags too. They were even nice enough to bring a bit of food and bottles of water for the morning. It was about midnight when we made it to the room. We got to sleep in a little bit and started work at 9am instead of 7:45.
The first day is a blur. (The Pine was stuck in the room all day) I (Leah) got to see 3 128th members working in the same location, so it was nice to have some friendly faces right away. I started my inprocessing and seeing what I had access too. There are still a few things to be worked out, but not bad! Ross and I are starting to figure out what communications work best. Only a day in and we think we may be able to have short video chats while he's at lunch and I'm in my room for dinner. Yay!
The guy I'm replacing here was nice enough to take me to the Commissary (grocery store) and BX (department store) to get some things for my room. I found the biggest sweet potatoes known to man! Once I got all my goods back to my room and put away I was about ready for bed a 9. Unfortunately jet lag set in and I was wide awake at 2am. Finally fell back asleep at 4:30. That 6am wakeup was not a good one. I snoozed probably one too many times, but made it to work on time for my second day.
Second day was better than the first. Still getting the hang of things, but that's to be expected for a few weeks. I'm finally unpacked and got to enjoy some of my groceries for a quiet lunch in my room. I decided it was time for the Pine to come to work.
I (The Pine) was happy to finally get out! I have a nice spot on the desk to hang out and watch the daily happenings. No photos of it since we can't have phones in our work area. Everyone loves me of course. At the end of the day everyone got into a nice discussion about vegetarianism/veganism. Fun! Friends Not Food!
Overall, still weird knowing we'll be here for 6 months. Not sure when that will sink in. People seem good to work with so far too. Should be a good tour. But still hope it goes by fast!
We got back to the airport around 3 like planned and stood in the same long line, this time to drop our bags. The USO was NOT there with coffee and donuts. Bummer. It went pretty quick. TSA didn't open until 4am, so we wandered the airport for about 30 min and stopped at Dunkin' Donuts for a breakfast sandwich. We went to go see if Ross could check into his flight yet, but it was so early that the counter wasn't open and even the self check-in kiosk weren't on yet. So back to the AMC terminal. By the time we got back almost all the military personnel that were waiting in line had made it through and there were just a bunch of civilians lined up for their own international flights. Ross and Leah said their final good byes, and we jumped in the TSA security line. That also went surprisingly fast. But as all good military things go it's all about the "hurry up and wait." The flight was supposed to take off around 6:30am. At first it sounded hopeful that we'd begin boarding, but that message kept repeating and repeating over the intercom...6:30 came....and went. Everyone was getting nervous that the flight would be delayed or cancelled. Great. But alas, it wasn't and around 7:00 we got the ok to start the boarding.
Have you ever been in a sauna? Hot, right? Well, imagine that while in uniform with 300 other people. That was what the jet felt like for the first hour. The A/C wasn't working right, which is what caused our delay in the first place. Luckily, it finally kicked in for the most part. But dang, was it hot for a while there!
7 hours later....Arrival in Germany! Local time was about 10pm. And it took what felt like forever to get off the plane. (getting warmer again too...) Eventually we get off and it's time to wait for luggage. A bunch of us didn't think we were getting ours! The carousel was empty and a good dozen of us were missing bags. Eventually they showed up and we moved on with our lives. Two of the FM folks were waiting when we got out of the terminal. They helped me find my room and carry all my bags too. They were even nice enough to bring a bit of food and bottles of water for the morning. It was about midnight when we made it to the room. We got to sleep in a little bit and started work at 9am instead of 7:45.
The first day is a blur. (The Pine was stuck in the room all day) I (Leah) got to see 3 128th members working in the same location, so it was nice to have some friendly faces right away. I started my inprocessing and seeing what I had access too. There are still a few things to be worked out, but not bad! Ross and I are starting to figure out what communications work best. Only a day in and we think we may be able to have short video chats while he's at lunch and I'm in my room for dinner. Yay!
The guy I'm replacing here was nice enough to take me to the Commissary (grocery store) and BX (department store) to get some things for my room. I found the biggest sweet potatoes known to man! Once I got all my goods back to my room and put away I was about ready for bed a 9. Unfortunately jet lag set in and I was wide awake at 2am. Finally fell back asleep at 4:30. That 6am wakeup was not a good one. I snoozed probably one too many times, but made it to work on time for my second day.
Second day was better than the first. Still getting the hang of things, but that's to be expected for a few weeks. I'm finally unpacked and got to enjoy some of my groceries for a quiet lunch in my room. I decided it was time for the Pine to come to work.
I (The Pine) was happy to finally get out! I have a nice spot on the desk to hang out and watch the daily happenings. No photos of it since we can't have phones in our work area. Everyone loves me of course. At the end of the day everyone got into a nice discussion about vegetarianism/veganism. Fun! Friends Not Food!
Overall, still weird knowing we'll be here for 6 months. Not sure when that will sink in. People seem good to work with so far too. Should be a good tour. But still hope it goes by fast!
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| Decorated the mini fridge in the room! |
So glad to hear you, and Leah, are pretty much 'settled-in'! Great hearing from you, and Leah too!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you'll be a whole lot happier on her desk than locked-away in her room!
Ross will be over this weekend, along with Ryan, to close the pool (hopefully) so I'll hear if the video chats worked-out for Leah and him.
Make sure to share a warm cyber-hug with Leah for me and make sure she keeps herself safe and happy!
Keep us updated... Love checking-in to see whats-up!