You know you've been traveling for a whole day when...

1) The handle on my 66 pound suitcase snapped most of the way off on the bus station at Steinholzi (just oustide the Stu(e)rmer's house while Anita and the kids were waiting for the bus to go to the train station with me. By the time it got to Edinburgh, it was completely gone. So now, it's going to be even more fun to roll around the cobble-stone (if that) streets of Iona. But, maybe this is a good excuse to get a better suitcase...especially if I'm going to be doing some more traveling in the future.
2) Airports have really weird/thought-provoking signs sometimes. It makes me sad that such depth can come from advertisements because it's depressing to think about a bunch of people sitting around in a room somewhere coming up with ways to get people to spend money...but...some of them are really make-you-think. There is this one series - for a bank - that will have the same picture 3 times in a row (like a couple on their wedding day, or a baby) with three different words; for the wedding it will be a series of the same wedding picture but it will say "fate" for the first one, "fear" for the second and "fairy tale" for the third. For the baby, it will say "love" then "legend" then "legacy" or something. And these are in multiple airports...it really makes you - well, at least ME - think. :-).
3) Kai (Matthias and Anita's youngest son) has the same birthday as I do - obviously, 22 years after me. I'd not met anyone with my birthday before! Both Lionel ad Matthias were also born in February (18, and 22 respectively). Go Short-Month babies!
4) It is REALLY hard to say goodbye to children - no, it's not because we didn't speak the same language, but both Lionel and Kai cried a LOT as my train pulled away from the station to the Geneva airport. This family I am with now also has two littl(er) ones...
5) French looks/sounds like an even more difficult language to learn than German. :-P (But Switzerland still ROCKS!)
6) I finally understand that Brian Regan sketch. You know, the one that goes this way:
"Brian, how do you make a word a plural?"
"You put a "s". You put a "s" at the end of it."
"When?"
"Uh....always."
"No, Brian, no, let me show you.....Irwin? What is the plural for "OX"?"
"Oxen. The farmer used his oxen."
"Brian?"
"WHAT?"
"What is the plural for box?"
"Boxen."
"No, Brian, no. Let me show you....Irwin? What is the plural for goose?"
"Geese. I saw a flock of geese."
"Brian?"
"WHAT?"
"What is the plural for moose?"
"Moosen. I saw a flock of moosen. I saw a flock of moosen out in the woodsen. There were many much moosen, out in the woodsen, eating the foodsen..."
"What are you speaking German, Brian?"
Yeah...so, to pluralize words in German, "You put a "N". "You put a "N" at the end of it." Ha.

7) I am in Scotland, the beginning of the last phase of my trip. I can't believe it. I've finally learned how to enjoy traveling. I can't believe I am going to be on Iona with my group from SPU in less than 8 days...
8) The family I'm staying with is super healthy, vegan, make-their-own-juicer, met-in-YWAM Aussie transplants to Scotland!!!
9) Cow's milk/dairy products are, apparently, REALLY bad for you. They are linked to Type 1 Diabetes, heart disease and arthritis. So...I'm glad I'm lactose intolerant (as in, can't be addicted to this crap). This guy's got a lot of other health information, too. You really can change your whole life by changing your diet - as in, stop eating "typical American."
10) Sometimes, listening to the same song over and over again really produces a rather profound insight....or just more understanding of the mindset of the person who wrote the song. :-P

11) Death sucks. I miss my grandfather a whole heck of a lot. I miss NanaPop Christmases and NanaPop's house, and Pop's laugh, and his grufft, Southern Accent. I miss him so much. Like, more than the people at home because at least I'll get to see them again.