Arriving in Germany

Flight: No matter what time your flight is be sure to try and sleep on the plane as much as you can. I know there may be kids or movies playing, just try to block it out and sleep! This will help your transition with the time change once you do arrive in Germany. Forcing yourself into the new time zone will be the best for adjusting. Try not to take naps once you get to your location. Go to bed and wake up at normal times. Set an alarm to make yourself get up! The more you sleep or take napes the longer it will take to adjust and you will start to feel miserable. So do yourself a favor and try to adjust right away! A lot of people are confused as to what happens once you land in Germany. You will be sent through customs, which is really them just checking passports. You will then be sent to pick up your luggage. Be prepared to hurry up and wait as the Army loves to fulfill that statement. We waited for a while to get our luggage, one because there is so much luggage coming off the plane and two, it's not a typical airport where they have conveyer belts moving all the luggage. The Airmen themselves are moving it off the plane. Once you have received your luggage you may be sitting around for a while. I believe we waited about an hour because the service members had to "check in" or something... I really don't know what they did but it took forever. Buses will then arrive at Ramstein and you will be bused to your location. Our bus ride was about 4 hours. Obviously that will change depending on where you are headed. Just take some time to relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery. Once you get there hopefully you have a sponsor there to help you out and welcome you to your new home :)

                    

                      This was my first glimpse of Germany!