Goodbye Döner, Hello Chick-fil-A

My time in Mannheim has officially come to an end. What an amazing semester filled with traveling, learning, experiencing, and growing. The last few weeks were bittersweet as I did all of my "lasts" in Germany.

After getting back to Mannheim from Norway on June 14th, I immediately took a shower and a three-hour nap. My flight that morning was at 6 a.m., so I had to wake up at 3:45 a.m. to make it to the airport on time—needless to say, I was exhausted. The flight was only about two hours, and luckily I had no train delays (which never happens with Deutsche Bahn!!). That Friday was spent packing and hanging out with friends. I had a picnic with some of the girls, and then my international Bible study hosted a goodbye barbecue in the evening, which was so much fun! Packing took me way longer than expected (like always).

Yumm

The next morning, I went on a walk to say goodbye to another friend, then continued packing and cleaning my apartment. Every weekend I didn’t have plans in Mannheim or was not traveling, I visited my German friends in Weiterstadt—just about 50 minutes away. Since they live close to Frankfurt, where I’d be flying out of, they offered to let me spend the night and drive me to the airport in the morning. So sweet!

Just when I thought I wouldn’t have a travel nightmare on the way home—like I did when coming to Germany—things started to go south. I woke up at 6:15 a.m. because we had planned to leave at 7 for the airport. My flight was at 10:40 a.m. But to my surprise, I got an email saying the flight was delayed to 2 p.m., then cancelled entirely, and finally rebooked for the next day. So instead, we ate breakfast, got ready, and went to church. I was really, really bummed because it was Father’s Day, and I was supposed to land in Atlanta around 2:40 p.m.—plenty of time for a dinner somewhere in the city and then a drive home with my whole family. Turns out my grandparents, who live in Alabama, were even planning to drive over to meet us. The cancellation put me in a bad mood for a few hours, but once I accepted it, I was able to enjoy the extra day with my friends. We came back home, ate lunch, napped, made homemade chicken tenders with Paprika chips as the breading, had dinner, played cards, and stayed up late talking.

Sunday morning came quickly, and I was so tired (totally my fault), but I made it to the airport. Thankfully, everything went smoothly from there: check-in, bag drop, security, and boarding. I made the most of it—even though I had the “worst” seat on the plane: middle seat, back row. I still managed to sleep 8 out of the 10 hours, though!

Once I landed, I got through customs and baggage claim quickly and met up with my dad! It ended up just being him who came, so we got to spend some really sweet one-on-one time together. Fun fact: it was his birthday! Originally, I was supposed to be home the day before and spend the whole day with him, but instead, he drove seven hours in one day just to come get me. God bless him.

Adjusting to life back in the U.S. hasn’t been too dramatic—except for the very real political differences between Europe and America. That part has been especially eye-opening after spending so much time abroad and seeing how America is perceived from the outside. Going through a presidential election in the fall right before leaving the country, and then witnessing an election in Germany as well, was an experience. Overall, though, the transition has felt pretty smooth. I think that’s because I used to live in Germany and would come back to the U.S. every summer, so I already had a sense of what it feels like to return to American culture after being away.

From Döner in Germany to Chick-fil-A in South Carolina, it’s definitely a bittersweet transition! I’m trying to soak up all the time I have in the U.S. before heading abroad again. Thank you so much for following along on my journey this semester in Germany—I’m hoping to pick things back up for my Singapore adventures in Spring 2026. Stay tuned!