Every break, every holiday, it seems like every week, someone would assume, “but you’re going back home right?” I never really knew how to answer their questions because I myself didn’t know the answer. While it might not have been the best response, my standard reply was always that plane tickets cost a lot of money.

As one of the lowest income students at Frankfurt School, it was always a bit hard to see everyone go home for the holidays even if home was half a world away. Those who didn’t  go home, more often than not, chose not to for work or for an internship and likely saw their family other times during the year. A handful of people even moved to Frankfurt with their significant others and/or pets! For me, none of these things were ever an option and I would end up in Frankfurt wistfully watching my classmates reunite with their friends and family through social media.

So when I got the call that my grandmother was going to buy my plane tickets to come home for Christmas, I was caught completely off guard. I had no idea and even had go grocery shopping for my Christmas dinner the night before getting the call. I ended up having one day to pack my bags, set my affairs in order and head to the airport on Christmas Eve for a 25.5 hour process across the world.

Being home was very strange especially with so little time to mentally prepare. Being reunited with my animals was very special and I found myself holding back tears when hugging my parents for the first time in nearly two years. I have a wonderful relationship with my parents so rather than being ready to come home after nearly a month, I was wondering why in fact I needed to work for a living when I could so easily just be a couch-potato at home.

I honestly didn’t do a whole lot when I was home. I toured my cousins campus, had a dentist appointment, saw a movie, went for a hike with my dad, and visited with family. The first week of January was spent doing a research project for my Responsibility in Finance class using impossibly slow internet. The rest of the time was spent doing as close to nothing as humanly possible since that time was the closest thing to a vacation I have had since probably high school.

What I did do, for the most part, I recorded to make a cute little home video. It’s not much but hopefully it gives you all a better insight as to where I’m from (even though my parents don’t live in the town I grew up in anymore) and at the very least you can aww at the cute animals and appreciate the stunning scenery where they live.