trip to germany
going to write what happened before i forget
wed:
woke up at 4:00 in a panic. wasn't sure if was going to miss my connection flight. my taxi was late. he wanted to pick somebody up. stupidly i said it was ok. go to the airport, try to check in at united. no ma'am you don't check in here. check in at delta. no ma'am i'm not sure why you're here. you should be in united. get back to the united booth and nobody's there. the shit goes on for a while until i run towards the gate. in charlotte, i sprint across the airport because my airplane was leaving. i get angry at everyone for being so fucking slow. i get to atlanta and read "black swan green" i wait to get on the plane to dusseldorf. i sit next to a blonde 16 year old german exchange student flying home from san diego. he's not wearing deodorant.
thurs:
7:30 am get to germany. get in the taxi and look around. not much different than japan and some parts of the states like DC i thought. i get downtown and i'm dropped off at the hotel. mom greets me. my hair is pretty. that's because i never washed it. my dad was still working (he was on the phone to the office in taiwan). mom and i head out for breakfast. (dan was in munich on a business trip, he'd be back on friday) we walk around and come to this tiny tiny bakery in the alleyway. nobody speaks english but we get what we need. the bakery owner dragged a table and chairs for us to sit outside. everyone stops by to look at us eat. i watch the businessmen in suits on bikes whizzing towards offices. mom tells me about norway, sweden, finland, iceland, etc. we stop by a grocery store to get fruit, cookies and chocolate. the grocery store is in the basement of a department store, just like taiwan. we take our winnings home. it gets towards lunch time so my parents and i start making our way to apparently the best ramen noodle shop ever. dusseldorf has the highest number of japanese people in germany, about 7000 of them. inside and outside the store looked like it was straight from japan. misplaced in the middle of nowhere. japanese businessmen enjoying a beer and a smoke as they stood outside. we went in. it was interesting to hear the combo of german and japanese around me. i was so used to japanese and english. i suppose it happens with chinese people too in all the different china towns around the world. the food, the tea, is delicious. the background music were popular current japanese soap operas. we left to go make our way downtown towards an information center. as we walk down the street filled with japanese stores, mom and dad insist on going into a japanese grocery store, partly for business, partly for curiousity. it looks like any other damn asian grocery store. i begin to lose my patience as they linger for a few more minutes.
to be continued...
wed:
woke up at 4:00 in a panic. wasn't sure if was going to miss my connection flight. my taxi was late. he wanted to pick somebody up. stupidly i said it was ok. go to the airport, try to check in at united. no ma'am you don't check in here. check in at delta. no ma'am i'm not sure why you're here. you should be in united. get back to the united booth and nobody's there. the shit goes on for a while until i run towards the gate. in charlotte, i sprint across the airport because my airplane was leaving. i get angry at everyone for being so fucking slow. i get to atlanta and read "black swan green" i wait to get on the plane to dusseldorf. i sit next to a blonde 16 year old german exchange student flying home from san diego. he's not wearing deodorant.
thurs:
7:30 am get to germany. get in the taxi and look around. not much different than japan and some parts of the states like DC i thought. i get downtown and i'm dropped off at the hotel. mom greets me. my hair is pretty. that's because i never washed it. my dad was still working (he was on the phone to the office in taiwan). mom and i head out for breakfast. (dan was in munich on a business trip, he'd be back on friday) we walk around and come to this tiny tiny bakery in the alleyway. nobody speaks english but we get what we need. the bakery owner dragged a table and chairs for us to sit outside. everyone stops by to look at us eat. i watch the businessmen in suits on bikes whizzing towards offices. mom tells me about norway, sweden, finland, iceland, etc. we stop by a grocery store to get fruit, cookies and chocolate. the grocery store is in the basement of a department store, just like taiwan. we take our winnings home. it gets towards lunch time so my parents and i start making our way to apparently the best ramen noodle shop ever. dusseldorf has the highest number of japanese people in germany, about 7000 of them. inside and outside the store looked like it was straight from japan. misplaced in the middle of nowhere. japanese businessmen enjoying a beer and a smoke as they stood outside. we went in. it was interesting to hear the combo of german and japanese around me. i was so used to japanese and english. i suppose it happens with chinese people too in all the different china towns around the world. the food, the tea, is delicious. the background music were popular current japanese soap operas. we left to go make our way downtown towards an information center. as we walk down the street filled with japanese stores, mom and dad insist on going into a japanese grocery store, partly for business, partly for curiousity. it looks like any other damn asian grocery store. i begin to lose my patience as they linger for a few more minutes.
to be continued...