Beginning the Long Adventure

Well, so much for my blogging streak.  I had a feeling it wouldn't last long...

And so begins a new chapter in my adventure-book.  As you already know, I had delayed my arrival from the expected date of Friday, June 1, for a combination of logistical and personal reasons.  I have many close friends in the Princeton class of 2012, as well as those who have already graduated and would be returning for Reunions weekend.  It was therefore very important to me to stay for the Commencement ceremony, even if it meant I was arriving in Germany nearly a week behind schedule.  Reunions was a whirlwind of activity, as expected, between fulfilling my working obligations to the Department of Public Safety (which provided me housing through the weekend) and saying hello/goodbye to many good friends.  I also managed to squeeze in all three Star Wars movies (the original trilogy, of course) since I had *gasp* not seen them in their entirety and was putting my serious fan boyfriend to shame.  All too soon it was Monday night and we went to the Senior Prom together, an affair which was altogether too loud and chaotic for my tastes.  By a great deal of finagling I had obtained my high school prom gown from home for the occasion, and by some miracle it still fit ;)  Afterwards we were invited to an "after-party" which was really a cover for an engagement celebration as one of our mutual friends proposed to his girlfriend immediately following the prom.  I spent my last night in the United States reflecting on all of the friendships made and the people I would miss the most.  There wasn't too much time for contemplation, though, between packing or storing every last thing, rushing off to the graduation ceremony (where I sat in the back with a graduated friend and strained to catch a glimpse of seniors I knew) and taking final pictures and saying last goodbyes afterwards.  Both sides of my boyfriend's family came to town for his graduation and I had a wonderful lunch with them before his mother, aunt and uncle were supposed to drive me to the airport.  As we were on the way his uncle claimed to need a nap and strongly suggested that Joe drive me alone to the airport - neither of us believed that this was more than an excuse, but rolled our eyes and acquiesced.

Looking back, I laugh because instead of being filled with sweet goodbyes, our conversation revolved around the most practical ways to keep in touch and which books we wanted to read together over the coming months - nothing his relatives would have been embarrassed to hear, but I was still grateful for the opportunity to spend a few more precious minutes with the person who has meant so much to me over the past year.  At the airport he dropped me off at the gate and we shared a final, quick hug before I loaded myself up with my various bags (no simple feat, considering that I had to pack for 7 months spanning three seasons, which translated into a backpack, carry-on suitcase, internal frame pack (bought especially for this trip with a mind to explore the UK on foot) and my monster black suitcase, veteran of many miles.  I waddled my way to the check-in counter and forked over the extra $70 for the additional checked bag (considering the gear I needed/extra space vs. the cost and time - not to mention address uncertainty - of shipping the pack internationally, it seemed worth it, and I'm planning to jettison enough of my stuff to not have to bring 2 checked bags back), then continued considerably more quickly to the security check.  I breezed through without a problem and was soon sitting by my gate with plenty of time until boarding.  I slightly regretted not spending more time with friends before rushing off to the airport, but had any part of the process not gone so smoothly I would have been in a quite different situation, so better safe than sorry, I suppose.  I boarded the plane around 7:45pm, Eastern Standard Time, planning to sleep for the majority of the flight's 6.5=hour duration.  As soon as I saw my seat and the hyperactive four-year-old in the one beside it, I knew those dreams were unrealistic.  Fortunately, I like children.  A lot.

The child was actually quite amazing.  His grandmother, as I presume the wrinkled woman sitting on the other side of him was, spoke only Portuguese as far as I could tell, and didn't seem to understand much English.  The boy, on the other hand, was perfectly bilingual (on a four-year-old level) and I think he entertained me as much as I did him over the long journey.  His favorite games turned out to be "off" (alternately switching on and off the seat-back monitors in front of us), "trapped" (using the flight safety card to 'trap' me in my seat), and insisting that the land before takeoff and after touchdown was "water".  He especially enjoyed a "Cars" coloring book and puzzle, which I also did until he started dropping the pieces of the puzzle off the sides of his tray table and they proved singularly difficult to retrieve.  (I was shocked, however, at how easily he reassembled the remaining pieces of the puzzle - or perhaps it has been too long since I have been around children...)  Eventually he settled down to watch "Toy Story" and I selected "War Horse" from the available entertainment options, a movie I had been looking forward to watching for quite some time.  Though the cinematography was impressive and the storyline (what there was of it) revolved around a horse, which always gets points in my book, the plot was fragmented and made little sense, and overall I found it a quite silly movie.  The little boy eventually fell asleep, of course, but soon became quite agitated at his inability to lie prone in the airplane seat and began thrashing violently, trying to find a comfortable position.  I emphasized with the little guy as I found it difficult to sleep myself, only managing to nap for about 30 minutes around sunrise (still around midnight EST).  Both supper and breakfast were provided, so at least I wasn't too hungry... I saved the plasticware for later, knowing that such things always come in handy.

We landed in Lisbon, Portugal at around 8am local time, which translates to 3am back home.  I blearily wandered around the airport for a few minutes to get the lay of the land before I curled up on a comfy-looking bench and caught up on a few hours of that elusive sleep.  Finally about 90 minutes before my plane was scheduled to leave I awoke and found out the gate, but when I got there the announcement read that the plane was running about 30 minutes late.  I grumpily made my way to a currency exchange office to change the remainder of my change into Euros at an extortionate rate (however, better than I would get in America from all I've read) and proceeded to a souvenir shop to commemorate my brief stay in a new country with a useless bit of kitsch (not completely - I bought a multicolored pen of not-terribly-sturdy construction emblazoned with the Portuguese flag, which will hopefully last longer than I anticipate it to).  I passed the remainder of the excruciatingly-long layover picking at the trail mix I had packed and people-watching, which wasn't so bad.

When I finally boarded this last leg of my flight and was greeted by the obligatory safety briefing first in German, it was like a breath of fresh air.  A smile broke upon my face unbidden - after all of the Portuguese which I couldn't even pretend to understand, to hear something that I could make sense of made me the happiest I had been since I got out of the van at the Newark Airport.  It went beyond that, however.  Call it intellectual stimulation, the exercise of understanding a language which is not my mother tongue, or familiarity, or what have you, but both when I first heard German and when I first stepped out of the plane, it felt strangely like coming home.

I caught another couple of hours of sleep on the plane to Dusseldorf and was pleasantly surprised by yet another meal on the mere 3-hour flight.  I deplaned without any problems and collected my baggage, once again looking quite a sight hauling two suitcases and wearing a backpack on both my back and front.  When I emerged from customs I was pleasantly surprised with a large colorful sign which read "WELCOME ERIN MILLS TO GERMANY" held by two smiling, gorgeous young blonde women.  I strode confidently up to the pair and introduced myself in German, at which they exchanged a startled glance and exclaimed, "We didn't know you spoke German!"  I was just glad they were there to meet me, since they had emailed a couple of weeks before my departure and in all of the hectic busyness I had not found time to reply with my flight information.  We then proceeded to the parking garage where we played Tetris with my bags until we fit the entire mass into the trunk and backseat of a tiny two-door Ford model which I've never seen in the US (something that small would never sell over here).  I clambered in the back with my luggage and for the next hour I exchanged pleasantries and got to know Sara and Daniela, my "Doubles".  These were students at TU Dortmund taking a class on International Industry and Business, with a focus on the United States.  For the second half of their semester, the 22 of them were split up among the 10 Ruhr Fellows and assigned to be their guides to all things German.  My newfound friends also provided me with a gift to welcome me to their country - a heavy bag which contained a cute pillow, gummies (Germans are OBSESSED with gummies, a trend I have yet to pick up), assorted Germany fan paraphernalia (I assured them I supported Germany in the Eurocup, the international soccer championship that has all of the continent up in arms - or at least flags and other extravagant displays of national pride) including a lei, scarf, wristband, and two pins sporting the German black, red and gold.  Finally, rounding out the lot was a bottle of beer - of course.  This is a German fetish which I am much more eager to explore now that I am legal in my own country and have had some opportunities to test my reaction to alcohol in much safer and more controlled situations than a bar in a foreign country. But don't worry - I'm much too paranoid about the potential consequences/value awareness of my surroundings too much to really go crazy here :P

Eventually we arrived in Dortmund and located the Carl-Duisberg Centrum (CDC) which is to be my home for the month of June.  The wonderful girls helped me get settled in my room, even lugging my obscenely heavy bags to the fourth floor (American fifth - Europeans count the ground floor differently) since the elevator was out of order.  They next whisked me off to a supermarket, since the following day was a holiday and nothing would be open for me to obtain food for myself.  Fortunately there are two large grocery stores about three blocks from my dorm - including an Aldi, which I am familiar with from last summer in Clausthal.  Upon discovering that I already had an international cell phone (still the same hideous pink replacement I got after my purse was stolen in Russia in August 2010, if you recall), one of my doubles handed me her old SIM card and we headed to the gas station across the street from the CDC to load it up (Europe is much bigger on pay-as-you=go than America, for which I am grateful).  They then said goodbye after arranging to meet the next morning and show me around the town and the university a bit.  My next priority after my Doubles finally left was to get online and signal my safe arrival to friends and loved ones.  Internet here in the CDC is only available in common rooms, one on each floor, by Ethernet cable (provided, though my gracious boyfriend has lent me one for the year).  This means that my iPod must go back to being a musical entertainment device instead of a mini-computer, which makes things like daily Bible reading a bit more complicated (i.e. I actually have to keep track of what I've read and what to read next myself, just like they did in the old days :P) The network is extremely limited and slows down noticeably with every computer which hooks up - the working limit seems to be three or four laptops, depending on the demand being made by each one.  Sometimes the server goes down altogether suddenly and without explanation.  I was quite disappointed and unsure whether Skype would be ruled out for June, if not the summer, which I dearly hoped wouldn't be the case (speaking to people face-to-face, as it were, does wonders for the homesickness!).

It being already nearly 10pm, I was exhausted so after setting a quick Facebook status (the lazy way to let everyone know at once) I headed back to my room to finally sleep in a bed - and was confronted with a locked door!!  The key we each have at the CDC opens three doors: the outside door, the door to your suite (generally a single and double room with a shared bathroom), and the door to your bedroom.  When I went to the computer room it was only for a few minutes and I left my key on my desk in the room, thinking that my roommates had already left for the night.  One of them must not have left until after I was already in the computer room, and locked the door behind her.  I had no idea when they would get back, but from what I had heard it wouldn't be until quite late.  What was I to do?  I was too exhausted to think straight - after trying the door mindlessly for a minute or two, hoping I had just missed something, I asked a passing student for help.  When she found out that I hadn't met my roommates yet, but thought they had left for the night, she told me that my only recourse was to call the Hausmeister.  I was terrified at this prospect and completely embarrassed that I had been in the house for not two hours before messing something up, but I had no other option.  I timidly crept down to the first floor and rang the bell to the private suite - soon he came to the door and gruffly asked what was the matter.  When I sheepishly explained that I had left my key in the room and now the door was locked, he headed upstairs without another word and unlocked my room with his master key.  He responded to my grateful apologies and exclamations with only a gruff "IMMER Schlussel mitnehmen!" ("ALWAYS bring your key with you!") before heading back downstairs.  My embarrassment soon gave way to relief as I made a beeline for my bed and made a happy end to my first day back in Germany.