Oimee’s celebrity appearance came to a whirlwind end today, as she hopped back on the plane to Dublin and I tripped back to the Hamburger Hof hotel (good hotel, guys- Oimee and I totally recommend). It was an epic struggle to find the train to take her back to the airport, as we stared with frazzled eyes at the signs at Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, and I would unhelpfully approach strangers, confidently ask the question auf Deutsch: “How do I get to the airport please? ” only to miss every second word they’d say because, by gosh them Germans talk outrageously fast!
“What did he say?” Oimee would ask leaning in to hear my translation, and I’d shake my head and shrug apologetically as if to say: “F*cked if i know”- then we’d nibble our bottom lips anxiously, approach someone else and try again.
As her train arrival time came dangerously close, we were finally rescued by a ginger haired fellow, who saw through my faux Deutsch: “Platform 103”, he said before sprinting up the escalators. As a train pulled up and Oimee and I were in the midst of a chakra-aligned embrace (well and truly ready to bid each other farewell), he suddenly appeared out of nowhere and said: “Not this one, it’s in 11 minutes!!” before turning to sprint for his own train across the way. We thanked him profusely, me clutching at his forearm and Oimee beaming broadly, and Oimee correctly deduced as we watched him go a second time: “He ran up to the station to check the time for us, Margs– he must’ve been really worried for us– and then he went to catch his own train!!” Some people are so kind.
A couple of hours later, I trundled back to the Hauptbahnhof and settled in for a two hour train ride to Freiburg. The scenery was summery and green and it was a real pleasure. The one thing I’d irrationally fretted over in Sydney was: “How am I gonna get my suitcase up on the overhead shelf by myself?” But, you see, the architects of those ICE trains created a gap between the train seats and so I just had to shovel it into the gap! I was so relieved that I took a picture of it.
Once I got to the school, I had to sit a grammar test and talk to a kind and sympathetic lady who assessed my grammatically incorrect German. She smiled encouragingly and laughed when I said “I really really hope I get in the morning class so I have the rest of the day off everyday!” She said my chances were good, and I whooped excitedly.
My room is lovely and neat and I’m not allowed to do laundry in it– thems the rules. I promptly did my laundry, and it’s drying on my Korjo clothesline– don’t tell anyone. I also bought a bunch of groceries for dinner and because I’m sleepy and couldn’t bring myself to be peppy in the communal kitchen (jetlag, okaaay?), I fashioned a knife from a breadstick, buttered my rye bread and ate it together with some delicious brown rice mix that I got from a grocery store called Penny’s. Then I slurped down a spoonful of Nutella for dessert– zee best.
Learning officially starts tomorrow.