I have never before flown for more than 3 hours. Actually I think the only time prior to this trip the furthest I have gone by plane was Florida. I was six, and my mom was like "Just go to sleep." And I did. I slept the whole way there, apparently... I do not remember it really... was a long time ago after all. Actually the only thing I truthfully do remember form that trip was hugging Micky Mouse, who in all probability was a guy sweating his balls off in a giant mouse suit, constantly teetering on the edge of madness. But, he did his job. I was happy. I think.
The flight over the Atlantic in and of itself is only eight hours. Due to the time changes though, my human body was awake from 7:30 on Wednesday morning and arrived to the school at roughly 9:00 the following morning in Darmstadt, Hesse. That is the federal state where Darmstadt is located in Germany. We were served what in America we would not really consider breakfast. But it was definitely breakfast. Sandwiches, Chili con carne, and assorted beverages. This was one of my realizations, breakfast does not need to consist of what in America we call "breakfast foods." Don't get me wrong, I love a good bacon and eggs on a Sunday morning as much as the next guy, but I just had a preconceived notion that this was a universal thing. Not always true. Just letting you know that, so when you do travel, it won't rock your reality of the world to the core.
I wanted to sleep, but they mentioned drinking beer, and I perked up immediately. So we went to a beer garden. So my host, and good friend, Christian took us there. Sort of. We wound up walking around looking for this place for like an hour. It was with good company, however, and the time was well spent anyway. Christian went to a different school that the rest of the students, So he was not familiar with the area where we were going, specifically. It was fun anyway, and made the beer even more enjoyable.
Beer deserves its own paragraph, and I am giving it one. I feel that my experiences with what I called good beer in Wisconsin cannot even be compared to the stuff that is in Germany. It is so rich and flavorful. It has a different consistency and a totally different effect on your body than beer here does. It is also very filling. The thought of drinking light beer, I think, makes them either laugh or cry. It is a heritage of Germany. Christian was telling me that most cities have their own breweries. And if you owned a bar in that city, you served that brewery's beer. It is a thing of pride. And I very much so enjoyed getting to know that part of their culture. Beer tastes, looks, and even smells better over there than almost anything I have found in Wisconsin. It was jut great. Also, at the beer garden I met Vivian. She was probably the person who helped me adjust to being away from home the most and also easily. We immediately got along like we'd known each other for a long time, at least I feel this way. We liked a lot of the same things, and I have many of inside jokes with her from just this one week. I am happy I got to know her through this program. It is also because of a bet I made with her that I will be learning German in less than or around 3 months and 25 days. Anyone who can aid me in this task, please do.
I have just realized that I want to tell every detail that my mind can retain and grasp from this trip. This may be an insanely long post, and I will have to definitely divide it into parts. Due to my jet lag, I have very little energy to continue telling about this trip, and this is only the first half of day one. I will continue after I find some energy.
After the beer garden, Christian took me back to his home to introduce me to
It cuts off mid-sentence? Did you pass out or something?
ReplyDeleteyeah... i did.
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