Those are five items that had been on our to do list for quite some time, and they all happened this week, the last four in the past two days.
To begin with, Kristina and I had a great visit to see her family last week. We were able to spend three days with her mom, during which time we went to the neighboring town of Bad Muskau, to the beautiful park and castle they have there. We had a great time visiting, and playing games. We took a walk one afternoon with Kristina's dad too. Then we drove with Kristina's mom to Dresden via Görlitz to have
lunch with some friends there. We spent four days in Dresden with Kristina's brothers and their families. We went on some nice long walks and generally justplayed with the kids and stuff. One day we went to a fun playground and started playing tag and hide-and-seek with one of our
nieces, then all the other kids wanted to join in. In the end I was chasing about six kids all over this place. It was cute because German kids have a hard time saying "Aaron", so half the kids are calling me Eric or Erwin. I strained a muscle in my leg at one point, which made chasing the girls a little difficult the next couple days. Victor has grown up a lot and was really cute. On Monday, we came back to Mainz, taking the regional trains. It should have take about 10 hours. It ended up taking more like 12, with a missed connection, a faulty train switch, and a pulled emergency brake. It was really hot towards the end, and Kristina and I agreed, next time, we take the fast direct train.On Tuesday, Kristina got up really early and went into Frankfurt for her Visa Interview, which she will describe in her own entry. I spent the day giving my group another practice defense talk and then working on their comments. I worked on that all day, and by that evening, I was still taking 48 minutes, but only have 30. After learning that everything was in order for Kristina's Visa, I contacted the BYU-I Travel Office, to let them know we could no book our flight. I sent a few emails back and forth with them, trying to find the best option.
This morning I practiced my defense one last time, and this time did it in 28 minutes, so I was feeling better. We went to the university together, carrying a bunch of food for snacks after the defense, and a fan to keep me cool during the presentation. It was quite hot, and I was in a full suit. I thought Maybe this would be good, because the professors on my committee would be hot too and not want to ask a bunch of questions. My presentation went well, and I hit 30 minutes exactly. The committee, on the other hand, really had to stretch to fill the minimum 30 minutes of questioning. But we all made it through and I passed. And that is when the fun began. German universities don't do graduations, so the celebration immediately follows the defense. To begin with, the graduate is given a custom made hat, with mementos of their work.
Then they stick you on this wagon/throne thing and pull you around campus. There were cans tied on the back making a bunch of noise, just in case someone missed the guy in a suit on this big huge chair. It is kind of embarrassing, kind of awesome.
There were two stops that had to be made. First at the statue of Johannes Gutenberg, for whom the university is named, where I thanked him for letting me study here.
Then at this statue of a horse, where I had to climb on top.
After all that excitement, Kristina and I went home and took a nap. That evening we had a pizza picnic with my group to celebrate, which was a nice time just to be together and think about the fact that I actually did it.
Then came the good news that the plane tickets discussed yesterday were purchased. Then I called the managers of the apartment we had applied for. She had said they had a few questions for me, but basically it was when do you want to move in. She said that we will definitely get a place, and most likely a third floor apartment like we requested. That got Kristina really excited, and rounded out nicely a very full, but productive two days.
Now all that is left is to sell as much of our belongings as we can, pack the rest, and leave. It's a combined huge relief.
