First steps into the great unknown

Iltaa! Guten Abend! Good evening y'all!

A little introduction is due, since this is my very first blog post.
My name is Reili, I am currently 29 years old, and I'm studying to get my qualifications to work as a children's instructor in early childhood education and care. I am almost graduated and wanted to end my EduKo experience with a grand finale - coming abroad to stay in Bergheim and be a trainee in a German kindergarten.
I have never traveled by myself, I've never been to Germany and I don't know the language more than the basics and perhaps one curse word, and I rarely do anything that is out of my comfort zone. That's why I'm doing it now. It is a once in a lifetime experience I just couldn't bear to let pass by.

Now onward to the regularly scheduled program!

Sunday, 02.11.2025, 02:20 AM - my alarm starts ringing. Even though I went to sleep early, I had great trouble getting out of bed. 

My partner had kindly agreed to drop me off to the airport and the drive went smoothly, we arrived to the airport well on time. He showed me where to drop off checked baggage and then it was time for a quick yet meaningful farewell. I felt both sad and excited as we separated, he to drive back to Kouvola and me to get to the security check and take the first steps into the great unknown.

Got through security check without any problems and had so much time to find the right gate.
Bought myself a bottle of water and made small talk in the queue. Read a few chapters of a book. Waited for boarding to start.

Mandatory wing photo

Sunrise

Everything went well, there was ample vacancy in the plane, so  no one sat next to me. No turbulence, everything was going well.

 Or so you'd think.

After I went to the loo and came back, I noticed there was a wrapped, melted, piece of chocolate on my seat. Conclusion - I sat on it for almost two hours. I tried to clean it up a bit and moved to the middle seat.

The culprit in question

When the stewardess was making rounds again I mentioned it to her and she kindly offered to take me to the back of the plane to check my trousers. And of course there was chocolate on my trousers. She then proceeded to help me clean it up while wondering out loud how something like this could've happened. As I returned to my seat, she soon came to talk to me again. She wanted to make things right and now Finnair will supposedly contact me for a small compensation, even though I tried to assure her it's okay and sometimes things just happen without it being anyone's fault.
Lucky me, the chocolate was in the wrapper, or otherwise it would've just been mysterious brown goo.

At Düsseldorf airport teacher D was waiting for me. After a quick hug and telling her about the chocolate incident we then went to her car. We got to know each other a bit on the drive to Bergheim and then she showed me around since I had time until my check-in at the accommodation I had booked.

The accommodation itself is an AirBnB that has 4 bedrooms for guests, and shared bathrooms, kitchen, and living area.
On a quick glance it looks super nice and renovated, but if you start paying a bit more attention to details, it's lived in. The bed is awesome though. Mattress is just as firm as my back needs, the duvet is hefty and warm, and the pillow is very malleable.

I crashed hard when I finally got to my room and got horizontal on the bed. I took a nap that lasted 1,5h, not even noticing all the noise coming from the outside. I woke up only to hear (and smell) another guest cooking downstairs. So. Hungry. Must go outside to see if I could maybe dine out.

By the time I got dressed and grabbed my umbrella, the other guest had already gone to their room. I went and walked around Bergheim, walked to the train station to see where it is, walked to the nearest bus stop to see where that's located, walked all around town completely immersed in absorbing every last detail I could see.

Here are just a few photos of Bergheim that I managed to take while on my afternoon recon mission.

I then decided to step even further out of my comfort zone and take a look at the most crowded place I had ever seen: der Hubertusmarkt - a funfair and an annual tradition in the beginning of November.

It was raining, I was still hungry and the food stands were all full with long queues , I was getting sensory overload by all the flashing lights, people bumping into me, and the noise level (even though I had my earplugs in) so I did what any sensible person would do and go home.

Except I was so disoriented that I couldn't find my way back even with Google Maps. I then went outside the festival zone and took a deep breath and realized I just needed to turn around and go left, then walk all the way to the end of the block and I was back at my accommodation again. For my own sake, I shall call it home base from now on.

Back at home base I got my cup noodles that I had taken with me from Finland and went to the kitchen to prepare them. I also tasted the water from the faucet and to my surprise, it tasted even better than most tap water in Kouvola. I am very particular about the taste of water, so it was a blessing to be able to acquire drinking water straight from the tap and just refill my water bottle whenever needed.
While eating the noodles, I saw a glimpse of the other guest that is staying here. I assume, based on their looks, that they might be a male human in their late 20s to early 30s. We greeted each other with a quick "Hallo!" and they then proceeded to go and do whatever they were doing and I continued eating my noodles that had never tasted so good in my entire life.

After that I went upstairs to my room, connected my laptop to the house WiFi and started working on the first ever blog post about my journey in Bergheim, Germany as a trainee working in kindergarten.

The first steps into the great unknown were scary, but I managed to take the leap into uncertainty knowing I will be one step closer to achieving my personal goals.

Best regards,

InterReili