Our first day in Germany!

1 Nov 2007

Two years ago, a boy whistled at me when I walked into the band room to deliver some papers to the teacher. Today i am half-way around the world breathing in the fresh air of the Harz Mountains in his backyard. I didn't know Johannes very well in the year he spent at my hometown high school, but he was always very friendly (except when he gave me a hard time for scoring higher than him on a biology test). And one day in class, I mentioned to him that I wanted to study in Ireland in college. And he told me that if I was ever in Europe, I should come visit him and stay at his house in Germany... and I didn't forget that invitation. As soon as I knew I was going to be spending a year in Ireland, I sent him an email asked him if his offer was still good. He said "of course," that they have a guest room, that I could bring a friend, and that his parents were great hosts.

And so, for our first vacation from school in Ireland, my new friends, Elizabeth and Tom, and I traveled to Germany-- a totally foreign world-- all by ourselves. none of us know a word of German (except now the swear words that our new German friends taught us), and it's a wonder we made it here at all.

Monday morning we awoke at 3am to meet our cab at 4. We rode to the Dublin airport where we promptly got on the WRONG plane and almost ended up somewhere in Spain. The steward caught it just before the plane took off and just after we had gotten settled into our seats. Three different people had checked our tickets, and none of them noticed that we were in the wrong place. We felt like stupid Americans... but we were just glad that someone finally noticed and got us off that airplane.

Upon returning to the airport terminal, we ran into our German friend Gesa from Maynooth. it turned out we were taking the same plane to Frankfurt-Hahn! So we all waited for the RIGHT plane and boarded together. I slept soundly for the hour and a half flight, and as soon as we got off the plane, our luggage was there for us. We walked through passport control and customs and straight to the bus ticket booth. Gesa helped us get tickets to the Frankfurt airport and train station (even though the woman spoke English, I think). We said goodbye to Gesa, and I slept again for the two hours it took for us to get to Frankfurt on the bus. When we got to Frankfurt, Tom was freaking out about the train situation, but I told him just to trust me. We followed the signs to the train travel center and got tickets (EXPENSIVE TICKETS) to Osterode am Harz. With our extra time, we purchased and consumed some frankfurters in Frankfurt-- delicious! We boarded our first German train and chose some seats in a quiet compartment. The German trains are SO nice-- with automatic glass doors separating the many compartments. When the train man came to check our tickets, he told us we were in first class. So, once again we were uprooted. We made our way back to second class and eventually found three seats together behind an adorable little boy telling loud stories in German and giggling. I didn't understand the stories, but I understood the laughter.

A few train changes (and a missed train and a stop at Burger King) later, we found ourselves in Osterode about an hour early. As non of our cell phones worked internationally, we found an information office and asked if they had a phone. The woman directed us to a payphone outside. We tried to call Johannes, but each time we punched in the numbers, a German voice cut in and the phone went dead. So, we tried texting him from the payphone, and that worked! We sat on a bench at the train stop and waited for him.

About a half hour later, Johannes climbed out of his friend Eike's Volkswagon on his crutches and greeted us. (He had had surgery on his leg the week before). We exchanged a somewhat awkward hug and got our luggage and ourselves into the VW. When we pulled up to his house, I knew the week would be just as I'd imagined-- AMAZING! Even though it was dark out, we could see the grandeur of the place. Johannes gave us a tour of the house and the farm and took us up to the loft bedroom on the third floor that would be ours for the next few days. we had meat, cheese and bread (that Johannes cut for us with the fold-out bread cutter in a drawer in the kitchen), and fresh beef from his farm (which was AMAZING). We even met Oma (Grandma) and Johannes's aunt (who told us that when she was in South Africa, the first week she understood no English, the second week she understood a little, and by the third week she was dreaming in English!) Then we ran to the supermarket to get some drinks and snacks for the evening. When we returned, we made ourselves some kiddie cocktails and occupied ourselves with a puzzle until his friends got there. I also taught Elizabeth how to shoot a pool cue...

Johannes's friends trickled in, Eike taught us how to open a bottle of beer with a lighter, and we sat around until 3:30 in the morning talking with all of their friends. We met Christoph, vanessa, Leoni, Melani, Janine, Marcus, Andi, and Timo. There were lots of other kids there too, but man of them must have been shy about practicing their English with us. My new friend Christoph struggled through an hour of talking about Bambi and Japan. At 3:30, after being away for 24 hours straight, we finally retired to our lovely little loft in the attic...