Oh hey blog. Sorry for neglecting you. My worst quarter of school ever kind of consumed my life and before I knew it I was jetting off to Germany.
Oh yeah, did I mention… I’M IN GERMANY.
It’s true. I made it. Years of dreaming, scheming, and planning have finally came true. I’m in Germany! It still feels like a dream… but maybe that is because I’m severely jet-lagged and sleep deprived.
My travels started on Friday afternoon. My parents dropped me off at the Cleveland International Airport and I began my adventures. Nervous? Yes. Excited? You bet. Scared? Terrified. My travels started off to a bit of a rocky start… for some reason I was under the impression that my connecting flight was in Newark, but in fact it was in Chicago. Way to go Morgen. It’s not like you’ve had this ticket bought for like 5 months or anything… So once I got that minor embarrassment resolved it was smooth sailing. Cleveland to Chicago, Chicago to Dusseldorf.
The flight from Chicago to Dusseldorf was operated by Lufthansa airlines. I got seated next to a very kind young German woman named Denise who was very excited to hear that I was going to be living in Germany for 5 months. That’s what I’ve been told by returned ICP students, and other world travellers, if you smile, make and attempt at their language, and show genuine interest in their culture, German people will like you! I did all those things and Denise and I were great pals for the trip.
I landed in Dusseldorf at 8:05am German time. One thing I’d like to mention is that time zones confuse the hell outta me. You’d think a college-educated kid such as myself would be able to handle some time changes… nope. So I landed in the morning and having not really slept on the plane, I was exhausted. I couldn’t rest just yet because I had to get from Dusseldorf to Köln. Here’s where I started to get nervous.
I managed to find my way to an Airport Information booth where I strung together the phrase “Könnte ich bitte auf Englisch sprechen?” May I please speak in English? A nod and a smile from the Information lady let me continue. I asked her where I could exchange money and how I could get to Köln-Deutz. She set me on my way and there I went. Information booth to currency exchange ($250 got me about 165€. Rough.), currency exchange to sky rail, sky rail to Airport Bahnhof. At the Airport Bahnhof I found a DeutscheBahn office where I used my same phrase from before. The kind DB man sold me my ticket and told me which platform to go to. So away I went, lugging my luggage along with me. I now know why they call it LUGGage.
On the train to Köln I only incurred some minor embarrassment. I didn’t realize that you had to punch your own ticket before boarding the train. So when the ticket guy came around he asked me (auf Deutsch) why my ticket didn’t have a punch. I smiled and said “Ich verstehe Sie nicht. Auf Englisch bitte?” (Probably not grammatically correct but I’ll blame it on the jet-lag). He smiled and punched my ticket. After revealing to my surrounding train riders that I was not German, I became all interesting. A kind middle-aged couple took a liking to me and gave me a bunch of much appreciated tips. They also told me when I needed to get off the train – also much appreciated. So, I got off the train and found my way to another DeutscheBahn office. I asked in probably terrible sounding German where I could find the Köln-Deutz Jungendherberge. The kind man told me where to find it (essentially right across the street, luckily) and away I went.
I had made a reservation online for myself through this website:
I got to the Jungendherberge at about 10:20am and checked in. I wasn’t allowed to get a room key until 1pm though. So I lurked in the hostel lobby for about 2.5 hours. I bought an hour of internet for 1,50€ and emailed my parents to let them know I’m alive and didn’t get taken. (I watched that movie waaay to close to departing). Once I finally got to my room, I put my luggage in the locker (included in the room) and crashed. Hard. I slept for about 6 hours, woke up, showered, and now I’m blogging!
I’m SUPER proud of myself for surviving today without having a mental break down. This is the first time I’ve ever travelled alone. I managed to navigate my way from the Airport to the hostel, and I even spoke a little German along the way. My 9 ICP companions will be joining me at the hostel tomorrow. (I was one of the first to buy my plane ticket, and it was cheapest flying in on Saturday). I can’t wait to see my friends! On my agenda for tomorrow…
- Frühstucken
- Find an Aldi and set up my Aldi Talk phone plan
- Buy snacks
After all I’ve accomplished today, I think I can handle that :)
Much love from Germany,
Morg
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