Look Who I Found! Frau Dagmar and her family!

My time in Hamburg had been fantastic, however I had a rendezvous with my host family in Cologne in the mid afternoon later on Sunday. I parted ways with Nic, Timo, and Elliot in the morning and got on a train which carried me 4 hours southwest of Hamburg to Cologne. Along the way I made a 2 hour pit stop to meet with Frau Dagmar and her family for lunch. I had befriended Frau Dagmar over Facebook at the suggestion of a close family friend, Ms. Annalee, who had met Frau Dagmar while on vacation several years ago. Through Facebook everyone had been able to keep in touch over the years and still remain in connection, up to the point that I was able to make my second friend in Germany...without having actually met!

I pulled into the train station in Frau Dagmar's city and did a little bit of searching until I saw who I thought was Frau Dagmar. My guess was confirmed when I was enveloped in a huge hug! Her husband, Herr Bernhard and children Pascal and Janet, were there to greet me too. We went to a nearby restaurant for lunch and spoke in German for the better part of 2 hours. We busted some of each other's cultural myths (Fact: Germans do not actually prefer warm beer to cold beer) and had a lot of fun! I told Frau Dagmar and Herr Bernhard that I am from New Orleans (for convenience), at which point I was asked about Hurricane Katrina (Orkan Katarina). In the US, when you tell someone you are from New Orleans, most people ask about Mardi Gras or Bourbon Street. Here in Germany the more frequent question is about Hurricane Katrina. Kind of interesting, huh? I told them over lunch what it was like to experience a hurricane. They were very interested in learning about preparations and recovery efforts during hurricane season. It was nice for me to share something about my culture, while also learning a lot about theirs. Here is a picture after lunch, when we were on our way back to the train station.

I am extremely grateful for their hospitality and open arms. Frau Dagmar, thank you for everything! It was a pleasure meeting you and your family! I look forward to visiting their city again in the future and blogging about it.

When I got back on my train, I had a two hour ride ahead of me and all of my luggage to keep an eye on. Unfortunately for me, the cab that I happened to walk in on was completely full with no extra space for luggage. So here I was in the train dragging two pieces of luggage behind me, kicking two pieces of luggage in front of me in the very narrow aisles of the train. Each time I passed a row of people, my bulky luggage would hit them in the shoulder or chest (when I say narrow aisles I mean narrow). I did a lot of apologizing. A line started to form behind me of people I was holding up....first it started with one guy, then it grew to three.....and then it was suddenly 10 people strong and I wasn't even halfway through the cab where I could take a resting point. When I say I was probably the most hated guy on the train, I mean it. I finally pushed through, got to the end of the cab, kicked all of my luggage to an empty space and let the line of people behind me through. At this point I am out of breath , sweating, and not in the best mood. But I guess things have a funny way of changing direction sometimes. Where I have settled seems to be an okay spot. Sure, I'm standing, and I might have to stand for the next two hours, but at least I'm on the train! I notice a girl opposite me who appears to be in the same situation--she is here in the back of the cab with all of her luggage, standing. I decide to strike up a conversation (in German, of course). We exchange names and then get to the point in the conversation where I say "I'm from America, I've been in Germany for 3 days, and I know some German, but am still learning". Her eyes light up. "Do you have any German study material with you," she asks. I take out my 500 handwritten flashcards out of my backpack and say "yeah!" She takes them from me and starts quizzing me! Within 10 minutes of this happening, our train makes a stop at a big hub, where about a third of the people get up and leave. Uli and I scramble up the front of the cab to see if any seats had been vacated, and sure enough two seats side-by-side became available. We run to the back of the cab to grab our backpacks and then sit down in our newly claimed seats. For the rest of the train ride Uli and I talk back-and-forth about university studies, jobs, German culture, American culture, and the World Cup in both German and English. I wouldn't have guessed that the train ride would have taken a turn for the better if you had asked me when I stepped foot in it, but I am sure glad it did! The time passed very quickly after meeting Uli.

When the train arrived in Cologne, Uli too had to get off. She helped me find my host family in the train station before she headed out to grab a bus. I met my host father there in the station and then said bye to Uli. It was one of those friendships that started and ended all in a brief time period. It's weird how things like that go--just when I needed someone on the train to not hate me I find someone willing and able to help! 

Next post I'll talk about moving in with my host family and the start of my immersion course. So much has already happened I can hardly believe it!