Two cadets who have never been outside of the United States are excited to experience a new culture.

Our journey to the Ukraine was a long one, full of excitement, head counts, food, and sleepiness.  To start off our trip across the Atlantic and Europe, we signed our passports, a first time for some cadets, checked our bags, and bought snacks for the long trip ahead of us.   

Upon arriving at the first of two layovers, we had dinner and found the gate for our next flight.  Being an Army Brat who has grown up mostly in Europe, the long trans-Atlantic flights are not new to me, however I was still excited for the adventures ahead of us.  I am glad I was able to witness the shock and excitement on the faces of my team members who had never traveled outside of the U.S. as they were boarding our Germany-bound plane.  Some expressed excitement over the individual TVs we had in front of our seats, while others expressed surprise about the size of the aircraft.  The eight-hour flight went by quickly, or at least it did for me, with movies, games, TV shows, and listening to music.  As the flight came to a close, I think it is safe to say that we were all excited to be getting off that flight, however the sleepless night was catching up with us, and we were fading fast.  The heavy eyes seemed to fade away as were walked off the flight, and into a new country.  Arriving in Germany was a very familiar experience for me, and a new one for most people on the team.  Once we located our next gate, we were free to roam the airport, in buddy teams of course.  My group ventured around, settling at a souvenir shop.  Once we met back up at the gate for our third and final flight, we waited shortly to check in and board a bus that would take us to the plane.  We boarded the smaller plane, waited a few extra minutes than expected to take off, and slowly one-by-one we were zonked out in some of the most uncomfortable-looking sleeping positions.  I know for me personally, I woke up in the middle of the flight just in time to eat the yogurt they were serving, only to fall right back to sleep after eating only a few bites.  The time I woke up, we were seconds from touching ground in the Ukraine.