I have finally arrived in Passau and am now with the A&M study abroad group! Passau is a small town in southeastern Germany. It is actually right on the border of Austria (one hill separates us from Austria right now!). The town consists of 51,000 residents and 9,000 students. When we walked around the town today, you definitely could just feel how much smaller it is than Halle. There is not really a downtown market like area, but there are beautiful cathedrals, fun shops, old streets, and nice restaurants!
But, how exactly did I arrive here?? Well, I arrived by train. Not just a train, but three, which meant two train switches. Theresa was so sweet and wonderful on Saturday morning! She drove me to the main train station at 5:30 in the morning to catch my 5:58 train to Fulda. I got breakfast (which included cereal and a banana!), hot tea, and a lovely gift of chocolates before I set out on my solo trans Germany adventure. Theresa showed me how to figure out how to get into my correct wagon before I boarded my first train. When I got onto the train quickly (those suckers take off in quite a hurry) we thought I might be in the wrong wagon, but we didn't have time to change wagons. Turns out I was in the right wagon and easily found my seat. The first leg of my journey lasted for two hours, so I enjoyed looking at the German countryside and reading Vogue until around 8:20 or so. The first switch I had in Fulda went pretty well. I found my platform easily and what I thought was my wagon....apparently it wasn't. At this point, I am already sick of my luggage and am feeling awkward hauling it down the narrow train aisles. So of course, hauling it 5 train wagons/ cars up the train out of the first class wagon was not enjoyable! i knew I needed to be in wagon 4, but apparently there is a first class wagon and also a second class wagon. Of course, I was mistakenly in the second class one. A nice man helped me with my luggage through a few cars, but finally, the train people just said to sit anywhere since I was getting off in like 18 minutes anyways. The next stop was another adventure. I had to change platforms again, so I hauled my luggage down the stairs in search of platform 5. I easily found it, but there was a platform 5a and a platform 5b. I had no clue which one to go to, and only 5 minutes until my train was leaving. So, I did the logical thing and asked a train employee for help...what a mistake! All I needed to know was if I needed to go to platform a or b, but that was apparently too complicated. The train man spoke some English, but apparently not my English. I told him I needed to know which platform and for the 9:34 train to Worsburg. He then said, the 9:43? And i said no, the 9:34. Then he pointed me to a chart on the wall. I had not a clue as to what the German chart said, so I just stared awkwardly and showed him my ticket. He then said something like "Oh, the 9:34 is about to leave!" and then ran off up the stairs (the stairs for the 5a platform) to halt the train. He blew his little whistle and just shooed me onto the train. I had no clue what wagon I was even on! So, my luggage and I just made our way slowly up the train. Luckily, we were only 3 wagons away. Well then, once I found my seat some man was sitting in it. I just kind of stared at him and he pointed to three other open seats and said I could sit there, so i did. I sat by a nice looking old lady in a seat I hoped I wouldn't get in trouble for being in. When the ticket lady started coming around to check our tickets, I thought about pretending to be asleep, but I just couldn't do it. Luckily, as long as I was in the right wagon, my seat didn't matter. 3 hours and a little nap later, I was arriving in Passau!
It took all of my remaining strength to haul my luggage down and then up the stairs at the train station. At this point, I have already planned what all I will be mailing home after my two weeks in Passau before we go traveling around Europe. And I also have blisters forming on my hands from hauling the dumb suitcase with its lame two wheels. A note to all international travelers, a four wheeled suitcase is a must because it can easily slide through narrow walkways and aisles. Another train man asked me if I was ok as I tossed my duffel bag down the steps and across the gap from the train to the platform. Apparently I was a bit shaky. I said yes as I feebly pulled down my suitcase. Europeans are not near as quick to help a damsel in distress as Americans are. And based on history and myth, I expected Europeans to be much more accustomed to such chivalrous actions. I have decided to never again travel with so much stuff in a foreign country without someone else to help me! (Unless I become a power lifter between now and my next international trip).
Residenz and checked in to my room...or was it??
Dr. Robertson, my professor knew I would arrive in Passau about an hour before the rest of the group, so he told the hotel manager to expect me early. The staff of the Residenz is super nice and very accommodating for us. I was sent to room 101 and was so excited to chill, relax, and unpack before my roommates arrived. Just as I finished everything, I got a knock on the door and was told that I had been told the wrong room. I was really supposed to be in room 110 and the two guys that were supposed to be in room 101 were here and ready to move their stuff in. So, I hurriedly repacked my stuff and proceeded to my REAL room. But, it wasn't ready yet. So, I just hung out with people in the hallway for a bit until it was. I proceeded to unpack and finished just as Riley and Andrea (my roommates) walked up.
Once settled in, everything in Passau has been going so well! Last night we met our German friends who are also on the program. They are students at the university here in Passau all in political science and super eager to get to know us. They gave us welcome bags and then we had dinner together. One guy, Robert, is just so awesome. He is so considerate and eager to help us. He is one of the few Germans who hasn't been to the States before, but he is still fluent in English. I also met to really nice girls, Valerie and Jenny. Jenny doesn't drink either,, so it was especially nice meeting her :)
After dinner, we went to a German rave! Before you start to freak out, please throw away all American rave stigmas in your mind. It was actually up on top of a mountain in this giant field area in the woods. It is apparently the biggest party of the year annually organized by a student club on campus. The event was much like Island Party actually, just with alcohol. It started at 5 o'clock in the evening. People were just hanging out, talking and sitting around outside. Then the music started playing and people just danced in big groups. There wasn't any typical American dirty dancing with people grinding and being all disturbing. Apparently Germans only dance like that late at night if they are really drunk. I stayed until about 9:45 or so, but then went down back to our hotel with Clara and Riley. We made a good choice to leave early because after we got back, it started to pour down rain with a thunderstorm. It sprinkled a little on us earlier, but we enjoyed dancing in the rain. Everyone that left later had a terrible time making it back down the mountain in the storm, and the pitch darkness with stumbling drunk people. We temporarily lost some people, but they eventually made it back in one piece.
Today, after sleeping for 12 and a half hours (the trains really exhausted me), we got some authentic Italian pizza and then walked around Passau with Robert and the rest of our group. He took us all over! It was so much fun. We went to the St. Stephen Cathedral and the St. Paul cathedral which were both built in the medieval times around 1000 A.D. Since they are much more south and closer to Italy, they were some of the oldest built by the Catholic church and very elaborate. The St. Stephen cathedral has the worlds largest organ in it which has 2 to 3,000 pipes in it. Later on in our stay here, we may go to an organ concert there!
Our group is so great! Us girls all get along well and have fun taking pictures. There are no cliques or issues as of yet. We all enjoy each others' intellectual conversations and had fun getting Turkish sandwiches and gelatto together outside. One interesting thing we learned is that most all shops in Germany are closed on Sundays. It apparently is a national law or something.
Tonight we went to an Irish pub down the street from our hotel which is on the Danube River, to watch the USA in the world cup tonight. They won! We ended up staying there talking for like 5 hours! And i actually got a fairly regular Caesar salad!! It was quite fun and we had a myriad of good conversations about things from politics to work and dating.
It rained again this evening, but I kind of am enjoying the rain in the evenings. Though it makes it pretty humid all day long.
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