Welcome to Europe
Well it's been too long since I've written anything here. So this one will probably have to be a long one. I'll start from the beginning, as I left the states.
Mom and I drove to Salt Lake City to depart at that airport. We stayed with Laura, my aunt. My flight left at one. SO.
The flight to Chicago was a rather uneventful one. Nothing special. However I did only have about twenty minutes to get to the next gate to depart to London. That flight was surprised with a tailwind of about 100 mph, so we cruised over Canada and Greenland at around 600 mph. That was nice. We were delayed on the tarmac by about an hour, though, so it really only made up for that time. But that was nice. I had six hours between flights. I had to get from London Heathrow International to London Stanstead airport to fly on Ryanair (a very cheap European airline) to Frankfurt Hahn, Germany. Well as I left the airport (Hearthrow), the train was very fast and that made me happy. Then I took the Circle Line from London Paddington over to Liverpool Street Station. Three quid! (That's what they call British Pounds.) From Liverpool, I had to take the Stanstead Express train to the airport. However there must have been something wrong with the train. So it was about 50 minutes late. In the end, I had about an hour to get through all the security, and that's on an international flight! With the help of a very nice British couple, I was able to make the flight by about two minutes. Lucky! The Ryanair flight was surprisingly nice! I expected no flight attendants, crap seating, and a rotting airplane, but it was just the opposite. It was a very professional operation, and I felt very good about the whole Ryanair ordeal.
The flight was about an hour long, and flew into Frankfurt Hahn, which is an awful little airport nowhere near Frankfurt. When I got there, I started hearing some German! Woo hoo! The immigration line was very short and I liked that. Then I got up to the customs guy and handed him my passport, and he was the biggest jerk! He said my answers were all wrong! How can that be?! Well I finally got through all that, and got my HEAVY bag back. I then took a bus to the German city of Mainz. From there, I took a few trains to the city of Pforzheim, where my friend Mirjam lives. That was a hassle! One train was a bit late, and I had one minute to get to the other platform. I NEARLY missed it. But, I managed to jump on the train as it was almost moving, and slipped into a cabin. Then I found out that I had slipped into first class! The lady came for tickets, and I was sure that I was in trouble. Nope! She didn't even care. It was the last train for the night, and there were about 3 people on the train, total, so she just stamped my ticket and let me be. Quite nice! Mirjam picked me up from the train station and we drove to her house. I met her family and went to bed.
The next day, I went with Mirjam to school! What better place to learn German culture than in a high school, right? So I went and attended three classes. I was great in English! German was a little different, though. I thought I was great in German, huh? NO. When I'm matched up next to those kids, it's insane. Later that day, I went and found a little Internet cafe/bar and emailed a bit and chatted with the bartender. It was pretty cool, trying out my German on someone I didn't know. That night (Friday), we left for Hamburg. I met Mirjam's sister, Johanna, and Jo's friend, Sonja. Very nice, and about my age. We drove to Karlsruhe to pick up her older brother, Jakob. Also a very cool guy, who also lives very near me, in Trier. Then Mirjam, Edit (a Hungarian exchange student living with the Timms), Johanna, Sonja, Jakob, and Christoph, the dad, all drove to Hamburg. Her mom took the train, as she was working in a city with a big station (making it cheaper to take the train). We got to Hamburg at around midnight. It is a very large town with a huge port. We stayed at Mirjam's grandmother's house.
The next morning we woke up and I actually met her Grandmother. I didn't sleep so well, so I was awake around 6. I read the German newspaper and waited for the rest of the family. We had a very German breakfast and I met Mirjam's uncle, CT. He's a big German man with long hair and a full beard. He could play Hagrid from Harry Potter. Seriously. Wow.
Mirjam, Edit, and I took a bus to Blankenese, a suburb of Hamburg, where there was a very pretty little church. We were basically waiting for another bus, so we just looked around a bit. It was a very expensive neighborhood. I even saw a Ferrari! We took the bus to the Elbe River, where we caught a ferry into Hamburg. The ferry ride was pretty cool, and with our day pass for Hamburg's transportation system, it was also very cheap. It's a five-person day pass for 8 Euros. VERY good deal.
Hamburg is a very beautiful city with a lot of variety. I was quite impressed. Some parts of it are well over 800 years old. Others younger, others older. I found that Germans are very nice and helpful if you try out the language. The entire weekend was German for me, as the Timm family was quite adamant about my effort, and I am very grateful for that.
I saw a ton. I can't even list it here, but I will touch on a few things. We went to the lake in Hamburg, called Alster. There were about 500 sailboats out that day. I also learned that you have to have a sailing license to sail a boat in Germany. Interesting! We went to St. Pauli's and the Reeperbahn, which is Hamburg's famous red-light district. It was pretty much just that. Definitely not something one might see in Idaho. I also saw a few very cool churches done in, what I believe, Baroque. But I'm not sure. Either way it was very old and very pretty. Toward the end, the three of us went to a bar. I ordered a rather large Holsten Pilsner and drank it. It was quite good. We took the train back to Mirjam's grandma's house. We left Hamburg the next day.
After returning to Hamburg Sunday night, the next day I went to school again. Then that night (Monday) Jo, Mirjam, Edit, and I drove to a very old Monastery. It was very pretty and quite old. I believe from the 1300s. It was a bit rainy and cloudy, so it made the mystique all the more interesting.
Tuesday, I made my way to Trier. Johanna dropped me off at the train station and I was once again, alone.
As I reflect upon this weekend, I realize that travel is quite humbling. In the states, I am pretty smart. I can discuss anything, and I think I know a little about a lot. But when I get here, it's like I'm back in primary school. I have to ask how to say every 10th word, and I can imagine the frustration in the others trying to make points and get things across to me. I am very grateful for the Timms and their patience and hospitality. So now I am ready to start my academics. We'll see where this goes... Until next time,
From Dylon, With Love
Mom and I drove to Salt Lake City to depart at that airport. We stayed with Laura, my aunt. My flight left at one. SO.
The flight to Chicago was a rather uneventful one. Nothing special. However I did only have about twenty minutes to get to the next gate to depart to London. That flight was surprised with a tailwind of about 100 mph, so we cruised over Canada and Greenland at around 600 mph. That was nice. We were delayed on the tarmac by about an hour, though, so it really only made up for that time. But that was nice. I had six hours between flights. I had to get from London Heathrow International to London Stanstead airport to fly on Ryanair (a very cheap European airline) to Frankfurt Hahn, Germany. Well as I left the airport (Hearthrow), the train was very fast and that made me happy. Then I took the Circle Line from London Paddington over to Liverpool Street Station. Three quid! (That's what they call British Pounds.) From Liverpool, I had to take the Stanstead Express train to the airport. However there must have been something wrong with the train. So it was about 50 minutes late. In the end, I had about an hour to get through all the security, and that's on an international flight! With the help of a very nice British couple, I was able to make the flight by about two minutes. Lucky! The Ryanair flight was surprisingly nice! I expected no flight attendants, crap seating, and a rotting airplane, but it was just the opposite. It was a very professional operation, and I felt very good about the whole Ryanair ordeal.
The flight was about an hour long, and flew into Frankfurt Hahn, which is an awful little airport nowhere near Frankfurt. When I got there, I started hearing some German! Woo hoo! The immigration line was very short and I liked that. Then I got up to the customs guy and handed him my passport, and he was the biggest jerk! He said my answers were all wrong! How can that be?! Well I finally got through all that, and got my HEAVY bag back. I then took a bus to the German city of Mainz. From there, I took a few trains to the city of Pforzheim, where my friend Mirjam lives. That was a hassle! One train was a bit late, and I had one minute to get to the other platform. I NEARLY missed it. But, I managed to jump on the train as it was almost moving, and slipped into a cabin. Then I found out that I had slipped into first class! The lady came for tickets, and I was sure that I was in trouble. Nope! She didn't even care. It was the last train for the night, and there were about 3 people on the train, total, so she just stamped my ticket and let me be. Quite nice! Mirjam picked me up from the train station and we drove to her house. I met her family and went to bed.
The next day, I went with Mirjam to school! What better place to learn German culture than in a high school, right? So I went and attended three classes. I was great in English! German was a little different, though. I thought I was great in German, huh? NO. When I'm matched up next to those kids, it's insane. Later that day, I went and found a little Internet cafe/bar and emailed a bit and chatted with the bartender. It was pretty cool, trying out my German on someone I didn't know. That night (Friday), we left for Hamburg. I met Mirjam's sister, Johanna, and Jo's friend, Sonja. Very nice, and about my age. We drove to Karlsruhe to pick up her older brother, Jakob. Also a very cool guy, who also lives very near me, in Trier. Then Mirjam, Edit (a Hungarian exchange student living with the Timms), Johanna, Sonja, Jakob, and Christoph, the dad, all drove to Hamburg. Her mom took the train, as she was working in a city with a big station (making it cheaper to take the train). We got to Hamburg at around midnight. It is a very large town with a huge port. We stayed at Mirjam's grandmother's house.
The next morning we woke up and I actually met her Grandmother. I didn't sleep so well, so I was awake around 6. I read the German newspaper and waited for the rest of the family. We had a very German breakfast and I met Mirjam's uncle, CT. He's a big German man with long hair and a full beard. He could play Hagrid from Harry Potter. Seriously. Wow.
Mirjam, Edit, and I took a bus to Blankenese, a suburb of Hamburg, where there was a very pretty little church. We were basically waiting for another bus, so we just looked around a bit. It was a very expensive neighborhood. I even saw a Ferrari! We took the bus to the Elbe River, where we caught a ferry into Hamburg. The ferry ride was pretty cool, and with our day pass for Hamburg's transportation system, it was also very cheap. It's a five-person day pass for 8 Euros. VERY good deal.
Hamburg is a very beautiful city with a lot of variety. I was quite impressed. Some parts of it are well over 800 years old. Others younger, others older. I found that Germans are very nice and helpful if you try out the language. The entire weekend was German for me, as the Timm family was quite adamant about my effort, and I am very grateful for that.
I saw a ton. I can't even list it here, but I will touch on a few things. We went to the lake in Hamburg, called Alster. There were about 500 sailboats out that day. I also learned that you have to have a sailing license to sail a boat in Germany. Interesting! We went to St. Pauli's and the Reeperbahn, which is Hamburg's famous red-light district. It was pretty much just that. Definitely not something one might see in Idaho. I also saw a few very cool churches done in, what I believe, Baroque. But I'm not sure. Either way it was very old and very pretty. Toward the end, the three of us went to a bar. I ordered a rather large Holsten Pilsner and drank it. It was quite good. We took the train back to Mirjam's grandma's house. We left Hamburg the next day.
After returning to Hamburg Sunday night, the next day I went to school again. Then that night (Monday) Jo, Mirjam, Edit, and I drove to a very old Monastery. It was very pretty and quite old. I believe from the 1300s. It was a bit rainy and cloudy, so it made the mystique all the more interesting.
Tuesday, I made my way to Trier. Johanna dropped me off at the train station and I was once again, alone.
As I reflect upon this weekend, I realize that travel is quite humbling. In the states, I am pretty smart. I can discuss anything, and I think I know a little about a lot. But when I get here, it's like I'm back in primary school. I have to ask how to say every 10th word, and I can imagine the frustration in the others trying to make points and get things across to me. I am very grateful for the Timms and their patience and hospitality. So now I am ready to start my academics. We'll see where this goes... Until next time,
From Dylon, With Love
posted by dylonchord at 6:14 AM
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