Bitte, Entschuldigen Sie die Chaos!

Dear Home,

I'm here! After a 9 hour flight, a very short trip on public transport, and about an hour and a half wandering through a small German village, I made it to my final destination. The title of this blog is a sign that I found whilst wandering and it seemed fitting of my current situation. It means, "Please excuse the chaos!" and the sign was a humorous posting outside of a yard with childrens' toys in it. However when I found it, it was just too ironic to be taken as coincidence.

So here's how it went down. Today is officially the 30th of June and it is about 5:15 p.m. in Germany which means it is about 10:15 a.m. in the States. Dad dropped me off at the airport "yesterday" on the 29th at 3:15 p.m. (Chicago time). The flight went well. I met a very nice young German couple traveling with a baby and a business woman who works with Abbott Diagnostics in Frankfurt. The woman was very helpful in helping my practice German and was very interested in my project. (Big confidence boost when she complimented my speaking skills.)

On the plane, my seat was the 2nd to last row (window seat) in a 62 row plane (Boeing 747). I was glad to be in the way back because the seats had more room and we were near a place to stand and stretch your legs. My seat mate was a woman traveling with her two kids and husband back home to Germany. They are American and lived in Alaska for a long time but her husband got transferred to a military base near Frankfurt. She was very nice and we talked about a lot of stuff.

The flight wasn't horrible but anytime I go up that high, hands, feet and jaw start to swell and I can always feel the remnants of my surgery a few years ago. Not horrible just uncomfortable.

We landed in Frankfurt at about 9 a.m. German time and the weather was very beautiful. Sunny skies and about 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

I took the train from the Airport to Mühlheim which was easy enough to navigate once a made sure that the train I bought a ticket for did indeed get to the little town. Mühlheim is a small suburb of Frankfurt. And I mean small. It is quaint and has nice streets and shops but I knew right away that if I were to live in Germany in would not be here. Frankfurt is definitely more my style.


So I got off the train and had the option of turning to go to the left side of the tracks or the right side. I chose the left. I wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere so I didn't stop to ask for directions to Mainstraße, which is the street where my apartment is. As I'm walking, I notice that the streets are becoming more and more industrial looking and less and less "Altstadt-y" which is what I wanted. After about a half hour, I decide that I probably am not going to find Mainstraße by myself and should probably ask someone. I asked a police officer who was very helpful, some locals at a pastry shop who didn't even think the street existed but were nice all the same, and an auto-dealership man who was the final boost I needed to realize that Mainstraße was all the way on the OTHER side of the train tracks.

Hooray! So another half hour later I found myself in the Old town. (Keep in mind that it is about 80 degrees now, the sun is directly over head, I'm carrying all of my luggage which is very heavy and wearing a sweater for some reason.) It's a bit toasty and I probably looked it.

So I'm walking through Old Town and I make note of all the Bakeries and Markets that I find so that I can come and get groceries later. A few locals with directions later and I find myself at the apartment. It is family owned and the lady who runs it, Frau Heiduschka is very nice. She has done a lot to make sure that I am comfortable. Including lending me her adapter when I realized that mine didn't fit in the socket.

After I checked in and unpacked, I immediately took a shower to try and cool off. Then I went shopping. As I'm walking back from the grocery store, I realize that I'm in trouble because 50% of what I bought is beer and wine. It looks like I'm living on Brotchen und Bier for the next week! (Don't worry mom, I did buy sausage, fruit, and yogurt too.) I also stopped at a small cafe for an espresso pick-me-up and Strawberry kuchen. YUMMY!!!

I finally get back and it's about 1:30 p.m. which means that most businesses are closed still for lunch so I can't get an adapter, which at that point I still needed because I hadn't been able to charge my computer to tell my mom that I'm not dead. So I took a nap, only to be awoken by Frau Heiduschka holding her own adapter in her hands. WUNDERBAR! And now I'm hear writing to you all.

In my VERY short time hear I've noticed three things: 1. Germans are generally fairly helpful, especially if you begin by speaking German to them. 2. Germans are generally fairly private. I keep walking past people and giving them the standard Chicago head nod and smile and they look at me like they appreciate it but don't expect it. Except for two young German men that I passed while coming out of the train station. They gave me a very energetic "Morgen!" and looked me up and down. Me thinks they were friendly for a different reason other than pure chivalry. and 3. I love it here! It's very laid back and I can't wait to go into Hanau tomorrow. I think that I will spend tomorrow there and in a few days go to Heidelberg for the day.

That's all for now though!

Tschüs!

Emily