The Trip

Now that I've settled in and gotten to know the town a little bit, I think it's time to kick off this blog, beginning with the trip here.

My first flight was from Tulsa to Dallas. It left at 10:05 am, so we got to the airport around 8:30 (we = me, Mom, Dad, and Erick). Since the line at security wasn't that long, we decided to wait and chat a little while before parting ways. It wasn't as tearful as I had feared, probably because a lot of the emotional stuff happened the day or two before.

Anyway, the flight to Dallas was relatively uneventful, and I had no trouble finding my way to my new gate for the flight from Dallas to Frankfurt (it was in a different terminal and I had to take the SkyLink and everything. I was proud of myself). Anyway, I got to the gate and realized I had nearly 3 hours before my flight started boarding, so I decided to walk around and explore the myriad shops located conveniently close-by. I browsed a little, but not much, being somewhat hampered by the necessity of dragging my carry-ons around with me everywhere (even the restroom, lol). After about half an hour of touring, I decided that, for lunch, there was no reason not to go to a sit-down restaurant rather than the food court type area (it would feel much nicer for only a little more). So I went to TGI Friday's, where I had my last truly American meal for 6 months (airplane food doesn't count) -- that is, a Cheesy Bacon Cheeseburger with french fries and a Mountain Dew (it had both cheddar and fried provolone, yum). That left me with a little over an hour, in which I bought a box of Mike & Ikes for the plane, read the last chapter in Wheel of Time Book 10, and changed over some currency ($150 to 100 euros).

The flight to Frankfurt was rather long, but there were movies, pre-recorded TV shows, and games (including Tetris), so it wasn't too boring. The plane was only about half full, and there was no one in the seat next to me (I had a window seat in a 2-seat section--the plane was arranged 2-5-2 per row), so I was able to move up the armrest and half-lay down to sleep rather than having to just lean.

The airport was not hard to navigate (at first), and I had no trouble getting to baggage claim (though the line at the passport check was REALLY long), finding my bags, and getting through customs. Then it got hard. I'm pretty sure I had to wind through half the airport with my cart of luggage, following signs to try and find the train station. On a side note, you actually take the carts ON the escalators, with the front wheels on one step and the back wheels, like, 2 steps down, which really threw me off at first. Anyway, one I found it, I couldn't find Stuttgart on the list of destinations. Turns out, there are TWO train stations, one for "Regional Trips" and one for "Long-Distance Trips", though heaven only knows how I'm supposed to know what's "regional". I proceeded to follow the signs to the long-distance train station and purchace a ticket to Stuttgart for 56 Euros (a bit more than I had expected). I had an hour before my train left. I decided to go ahead and find my platform, not knowing how long it would take. It didn't take long, but I couldn't really go do anything else, because I couldn't leave my massive cart o' luggage. So I sat in the non-heated train station for over 45 minutes waiting for my train, starting to feel a little cold and lonely (having not talked to hardly anyone for over 10 hours, almost 12). Then I had to get my luggage on the train. Fortunately, some other people helped me. However, there wasn't any designated place for luggage, so I had to just awkwardly leave it in the little car-connector area.

At this point I was starting to feel rather tired, but didn't want to fall asleep for fear of missing my stop. In any case, I made it to Stuttgart (the main city in Baden-Wurttenburg, the German state I'm staying in). Some other people helped me get my luggage off, and this time I had to figure out how to drag it without a cart (which I managed by stacking the carry-on suitcase on top of one of the others, though it got heavy really quickly). I was able to get my ticket to Schwabisch Hall with an automatic ticket machine, which I was kind of proud of. This train station was the point where things stopped being posted in English as well as German. Anyway, I had hardly any wait between buying the ticket and the train's arrival, so there was no more waiting in the cold. A nice lady who even spoke a little English helped my on with my luggage and showed me a seat the flipped up to allow for luggage, strollers, etc. This train had a lot more stops (the ticket was much cheaper, though, at 13 Euros), and I really did start drifting off a little, despite my best efforts, and waking up just in time to see the name of the train station. This, however gave me so little time that I almost missed my stop--that is, that the door on the train almost closed before I could get off. The same lady helped me get my luggage off.
Getting off the same train, I met another student going to the Goethe Institut. Her name is Kate, and she's from Minnesota. We were both rather relieved to find someone who could speak English (i.e. - someone that we could talk to with ease), and we decided to split a taxi to the Goethe. I was excited about this because I wouldn't have to figure out how to load my luggage onto a bus.

Finally, we made it to the Goethe-Institut, took placement exams, and then a van took us to the Wohnheim (a dormitory/apartment type thing). We live in the same Wohnheim, but in different rooms, and are in the same class, so it was nice to have someone that we at least kind-of-knew at the beginning.

So, all-in-all, my travelling went technically rather smoothly, but got stressful, exhausting, and lonely toward the end, which I suppose is only normal. Believe me, things have gotten much better with some rest. More to come.