Journal 38 "Damn it, I got on the wrong train" Saturday: Today I woke up, the first time at 6am, to wake Chris up so he could get ready and get to his 730am train on time. Chris left really early to be able to get to Berlin by nighttime. I got up a little while later and got ready to leave for Frankfurt. I walked down to the train station and called Ulrike from there to let her know what time I was going to be arriving. She said she was going to be a party that evening and would try to find someone to pick me up from the train station. So I went to the track listed and waited for the train. A train pulled up, fairly close to the time mine was supposed arrive, so I got on to ask if this was the train to Zurich. The girl I asked got up to ask someone else, he had headphones on so she asked another lady who said "No". She hit the button to open the door to left me off the train, but the train started moving right then. Well, guess I'm on this train now, I wondered where I was going. The lady, who spoke no English, told me in Italian the the stop I could get off and switch to the train to Zurich. So I sat and watched the mountains for the 20 minutes or so I was going to be on this train. I finished off the last of my licorice that I had. I got off at Bennila-something and figured out which train I had to take to Zurich. I needed to be about four tracks over; and the train was leaving in two minutes - I ran. I got on the train and sat down with another guy who was wearing a ski jacket and carrying a backpack like me. I was relieved to be on the correct train, and sat down for my 3 hour journey. The ticket guy came through and was checking everyone's tickets for the trip so I got my pass out to show him, but he didn't check it. He wasn't going to check the guys next to me either; but he offered it anyway. The train conductor walked away and the guy just kind of looked at me and laughed. I said "Speak English?" and he said "Yeah, a little". So we talked about a few different things after that. He told me he was from an area near Zurich, and that he had just come from visiting some friends in Southern Switzerland. This guy was also able to speak German, Italian, French, and some English - it was about then that I felt really bad only knowing English. The guy was really cool though, he gave me some mandarin oranges to eat, he actually insisted that I take them. We talked off and on the whole way to Zurich. In Zurich I called Ulrike from my cell phone to check in. I said was going to Stuttsgart and connecting to Mainz. She said I should have taken the train to Frankfurt instead, and connected. It was right then that my phone cut off and the train pulled out of the station. So I sat on the train to Stuttgart and waited. When I arrived there I bought a Coke to break my 10Euro bill and get change for the phone. I called Ulrike again and let her know when I was, and what happened, and that I was going to get the train to Frankfurt that left in five minutes. She told me the train I would need out of Frankfurt and the station to get off at; she also knew the track number in Frankfurt (thank god). I then got on the train to Frankfurt; it was the fourth train I'd been on that day. I sat down and was then told, in german, that my seat was reserved by this lady talking to me. I got up, looked for a seat that wasn't marked reservat (or however it's said in german) as I walked through the cab. An older lady started talking to me in german, I didn't understand so I smiled and left to go to the next cab. I asked the conductor I saw, after he closed the doors as we pulled away, where I could sit. He told me that I could sit anywhere that wasn't marked with the reservation sign. So I walked back into the cab I was previously in and tried to find an unmarked seat. The same lady started talking to me again; and so did the young guy across the aisle. I smiled and said "I'm...sorry... I don't... speak German...". "Oh! Ok. You can sit anywhere you like. They're all marked reservation; but just sit there until someone tells you they have it reserved." they both said. "Oh. Haha, you speak english. Thank You." and I with that I sat down. It was about two hours or so to Frankfurt. I got off in Frankfurt and slowly made my way toward Track 2 to get my next train. I walked around the station a bit and then boarded the train because it was damn cold out. I sat and finished reading "My Beautiful Laundrette"; a book we had in english class that Jill took off our assignment list halfway through the quarter. About an hour or so later I arrived at Itchstein, where I was going to call Ulrike. As I got off the train I put on my gloves and beanie, and then started to look around for a phone booth. I started walking toward one when Ulrike walked up, "John?!?". "Heyyy! How are you??" I said. She asked where my friend was, and I said that Chris had went up to Berlin to see his girlfriend, and that I was sorry I didn't mention that on the phone. She laughed and said she wasn't sure if it was me because she was looking for two guys and not just one. We got in the car and Ulrike asked if I was tired, I said "No", and she said "Good, cuz we're going back to the Christmas Party, if that's ok". I said it was perfectly fine with me; and we laughed at the idea that I'd be the only one there who doesn't speak any German. At the party, as I walked in, I immediately recognized Roger (Ulrike's husband) even though it had been about 10 years since I'd seen him. I was introduce to a few a people as I sat down. I met Tatiana, Marcus, and Marcus. Marcus said "We both are named Marcus. In Germany, we don't have very many names." Right after that, Marcus laughed. The party was fun. I ate dinner, which they though was not nearly enough food. I swear to god I've gained weight in Europe with everyone always having me eat more than I normally do. The party was for Roger's Soccer team; I was immediately welcomed by all of them and invited to do shots of Schnapps with them - they were amazed that I didn't drink, told me "it's just water", and waited to see if I would try it. I sat and talked with Ulrike catching up on stuff and telling her about my family. Around 12:00 or so, when it was about 20F out, I was invited to play soccer with the team. So, I did. We were actually playing a drinking game. The game was to kick the ball and hit only the top bar of the goal; if you missed the bar then you took a shot and tried again. One of the guys got hit with a mandarin orange that was thrown from the porch by the other guys on the team watching. He got pretty pissed off and left the game; it had hit him in the face. After the game they brought out golf clubs and tried to hit balls across the frozen field. They were really surprised when it was my turn and I knew how to hit a golf ball - accurately. I went in after a little while and talked to Ulrike a bit more. We left the party around 1am or so to go back to their village. I was shown my room, I changed, and went to sleep.
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