My ridiculous traveling adventures have not ceased thus far. Last Friday morning I caught a train to Cologne, Germany to meet Clff, the only other WU student in my program. The train ride was 11 hours, though not unpleasant. I had a seat the entire way and a great book to read. Soon enough, a very delightful elderly couple took their seats next to me. We started talking about what I was doing in Aalborg and where they were from. They told me all the places I should go in Denmark and even taught me a little Danish. In fact, the husband made me try to read a Danish newspaper out loud--an embarrassing attempt. Every time an announcement was made, he would translate for me. As we crossed into Germany, the train stations got larger and more crowded. Though each time I was confused, there was someone there to drag me along with them and show me the way. Finally I made it to Cologne and as soon as I stepped off the train into a massive station I heard "Megan Buchanan please come to the something or other in the Main Hall" announced over the intercom. Considering I couldn't make out where exactly I was going, I just made my way towards the Main Hall in hopes of running into a familiar face. Luckily I found Cliff and his friend Andrew wandering around the main hall and was immediately relieved. Apparently my train got in 30 minutes later than they expected and were frantic, because there were others waiting for us somewhere else. My tardiness made us miss our train and we had a few minutes before the next one. So I stepped outside for a minute only to find myself face-to-face with an immense Gothic cathedral. It was a sort of black color and lit up by blue spotlights around the base and windows. I cannot express how much more magnificent a work of architecture like that is in person than in it is in a textbook. It was jaw-dropping and mind-boggling. So anyway, we caught our train and met up with Cliff's brother, Craig, and his girlfriend of sorts, Emily. Emily despised me from the beginning. Apparently my late train made her a half an hour late to a club that was serving free beer for 2 hours. So, she would have nothing to do with me. Needless to say, I had a great time at the club dancing and talking with a bunch of Germans who were very interested in discussing American politics..and Burning Man. Well, Emily ended up drinking more free beer than she should have, which made the walk back to the train station a painfully long process. When we got there drama exploded between her drunken self and Craig, leaving Cliff, Andrew and myself to play with my camera. Suddenly, Emily walked by and somehow managed to knock my two week old, $200 camera out of Cliff's hand. I watched it smash onto the ground and could only say, "well, it's definitely broken." Oh yes, I was fed up with this sassy, rude and immature German girl, but I wasn't about to start anything with her. The last thing I wanted to do was become a part of the drunken dramafest. In any case, I didn't need to. The other three took over, trying to convince Emily to at least apologize. She wasn't having it, but the situation became very heated and once again turned into relationship drama. I sat, pretty annoyed, upset, cold and wet with Cliff. We watched train after train go by, missing every one because the others refused to get on and Emily refused to let me stay at her place (the original plan). Around 4 am, compromise was made to a small degree and we were finally going to catch the next train. It ended up pulling up to the other side of the station so we had to run to catch it. Well, Emily and Craig decided it was okay to stroll, not run, to the train that wasn't waiting for anyone..and they missed it. Cliff, Andrew and I didn't know where we were going, had only a couple minutes left on our cell phone and ended up having to wait at another station where we missed more trains. Eventually we made it and the hardwood floor in the warm dry office (where Emily's mom works) sounded very inviting. Cliff and I slept for a few hours, got up and left. I wasn't about to spend more time with Team Drama and Cliff was on the same page as I. So, we wandered around Cologne for awhile and caught a train to Bremen, Germany. We arrived near dusk and headed straight to the cheapest hostel. We were told there were no rooms available, but a very cool Brazilian guy told us he had two spare beds in his room and we could crash if we wanted. Cliff didn't seem too keen on the idea, so we decided to seek out other options. We checked every hostel in the city and each one was booked or unavailable. At one point, we took the tram in the wrong direction. When we realized this we got off at the next stop, which was probably the darkest, most vacant and uncomfortable stop of the whole line. There was a very friendly bystander that asked us questions about Bush until the right tram picked us up. Feeling kind of down on our luck and realizing our train to Aalborg didn't leave until 4pm the next day, Cliff and I decided to get a hotel room (your advice was echoing in my head the whole time dad). Of course, every hotel in a reasonable vicinity was booked. Finally, we found one room that was only free because whoever reserved it never showed up. I laid down on the overpriced, not so comfortable hotel bed and almost instantly fell asleep. The whole next day, Cliff and I wandered the city of Bremen. It is fairly old-fashioned and delightful city. We ended up stumbling upon a music festival down one of the streets, where we had delicious German ice-cream and listened to a band cover bad American love songs. I did hear some great music, however. On the train ride back to Aalborg, we met a girl from Philly who had been traveling alone for over a month. Actually, she went to school at Reed and knows some WU kids and Senny Siegal (for those of you that know him). I practically interrogated her, asking advice and about her experiences. She had a lot to offer. All in all, the trip was once again a learning experience. At each trying moment we told ourselves how funny this would all be in a couple days, or what a great story it would be to tell. We were right and I really don't regret any of it.
I am now back in Aalborg and have had so many more adventures and learned so much more in the last week. However, I will save that for the next email, considering how long this one is getting. Here is my address:
Danmarksgade 49, 2 t.v.
Aalborg, DK-9000
Denmark
I really love snail mail! So, please please send me a letter...or some Mac and Cheese (I told my friend who really likes it I would get him some). Then I can write you back!
I hope all is going splendid.
Megan
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