Erin Explores Travel

On January 1st, at around 7 am, I arrived in Frankfurt Germany. The flight was long and I did not get very much sleep. Unfortunately, there was a crying baby just one seat over. On top of not being able to sleep, my touch screen kept messing up, so it was difficult to watch movies or listen to music. One time it got stuck on the music and it was too loud for me to listen to. Then it got stuck on country! I ended up just taking my headphones off and waiting until the screen finally started working again. Then I was able to change it to a movie. Luckily, the snacks were good and for dinner I had tortellini.

Landing in Germany 

Once arriving at the airport, I was getting my passport checked and the guy spouted some big long sentence off in German.  I was like “I’m sorry, I don’t speak German.”  He was like “Why not?” very seriously.  I just smiled and was like “I’m going to learn; that’s why I’m here, to study.”  He then let me through, thank the Lord.  I was totally freaking out! Then I wasn’t sure which belt my suitcase was going to be on so I stood at one for a while and didn’t see it and then moved to the next and still didn’t see it, so I was standing between them looking at both of them.  I’m sure people thought I was crazy!

I finally got my back and headed to Terminal 1, where we were supposed to meet.  It was easy to find because there was a train that took me straight from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1.  I couldn’t figure out where I was supposed to meet the driver though; my map didn’t make much sense, luckily one of the ladies at the info desk knew a little English, because I only had like 5 minutes until we were supposed to be picked up!  I got there and called the driver and he said he would be there in a few minutes.  The guy walked in, took one look at me and held the EBS sign up right in front of my face and I just smiled and I think I was like “Yay, I’m in the right place!”  It was funny.

The Ride to Oestrich-Winkel

The driver helped me get my luggage out to the van and 3 other students were already in there, Sonia, Andrew, and Kyle. The ride from Frankfurt to Oestrich-Winkel was great!  We talked about where we were from and all that. Luckily, the driver knew very good English and so he was like a tour guide and told us a lot of useful information.  Kyle was your typical American stereo type; therefore the ride was quite enjoyable.  Those of us in the back were laughing almost the entire way.  At one point, he asked the driver, “So what’s the best kind of German beer?” We all started busting up laughing.  The driver was like “You are a funny guy!” with his German accent; it was great! Once we got to Oestrich-Winkel the driver dropped us each off at our homes.  He dropped Kyle off second and he was just standing there staring at us like which way do I go and he put his hands up and shrugged his shoulders and the driver was like he’ll figure it out and drove off!  It was hilarious!

Arriving at My Flat 

He dropped me off next and unlocked the first door for me and then left. I walked up the stairs of the corridor to my flat and then couldn’t get it unlocked! I stood there for like 20 minutes and the lock just kept spinning around and around.  I started crying because I was tired and freaking out because I couldn’t get my door open.  I finally realized that you have to pull the door towards you and then unlock it.  I finally got in, looked around and then put my stuff away.  Then I just laid on my bed and cried some more. I didn’t know what to do, where to go, or how to get there and I didn’t want to go alone.  The only place I knew where someone lived was Kyle, and even there I just knew the general area not the flat number.  I tried to see if there was any Wi-Fi around and was able to tap into one and skype with my mom for a few minutes, but the connection was bad and she could hear me, but I couldn’t hear her.

Walking Around Town

After several hours, my roomie arrived around 5 pm or so. Her name is Sharon and she is from Uganda. When her family left, we decided to walk around even though it was still raining. We walked to the store down the street called “Schlecker”. The lady was very rude and didn’t know any English, so we just left. We kept walking and ran into a guy on the street that knew very little English, and he pointed us in the direction of “Rewe,” one of the grocery stores. We finally found it and walked in only to find Alcohol. I mean the entire place was filled with it and there was no food in sight.  Eventually we found some Coke products in the back corner, but it was a very small selection. We got some Coke and Sprite, and then headed outside again. Then we met a guy that new English quite well, and he told us that there was another branch of Rewe around the corner that had food.  We headed over there and then back to the house. On the way back home, we stopped back at Schlecker to get toilet paper and I wanted shampoo and conditioner so I could take a shower. Our first night in Germany was definitely an adventure! It was rough, but luckily I knew it could only get better!