September 12th: A Crazy Ride to Ulm

I don't fly very often. Nor do I travel internationally often. Years ago, I flew to and from South Korea through Tokyo and Minneapolis and the flights and everything went smoothly. This journey, however, was not so smooth. Join me on my journey from Point A to Point B.

After a tearful goodbye with my dog at the house and a tearful goodbye with my mother at the Indianapolis airport, my adventure began. I quickly went and checked-in my bag, went through security, and waited for my plane to JFK. That was all fine.

I got to JFK, found my gate, and grabbed some food at McDonald's while I waited. I jumped on the plane and began the long flight to Berlin. The flight itself was fine, so I have no complaints about that. I got to watch three movies: A Good Day to Day Hard, The Great Gatsby, and The Internship.

Then things got a little more hectic.

After going through customs (which was one guy stamping my passport and sending me off), I had to make a confusing trek through (and outside) the Berlin airport. I got to what I thought was my gate, but actually was not, and had some time to spend. So I just listened to music and people-watched. My boarding pass said the plane began boarding at 9:15. So around that time, I stood up and went to "the gate" where there was a group of people waiting near "the gate," too. However, I quickly realized that none of them were moving and there was no announcement. I approached "the gate" and saw that it went back further into a small back area and a security check. I quickly ran back there, cut to the front of the line, threw everything into the bins, and ran to the real gate. I arrived at the gate at about 9:17, two minutes after boarding. But the joke was on me, the plane departed at 9:15, not boarded.

Suddenly I was in the Berlin airport without a flight. My heart began to race and I got incredibly nervous. What do I do? Where do I go? The woman at the gate told me to go to the Air Berlin ticket desk and to talk to them. I went to the desk, visibly shaken, and told her that I missed my connecting flight. The woman's name was Dianna. She told me that she would have to call American Airlines because my trip was booked through them. While she was on hold, I was rubbing my face and clearly nervous. We made eye contact occasionally and she gave me a half-smile. The kind of smile that is one half pity and one half wishful thinking. She was on hold for awhile, and gave me some options in case AA did not re-book me a flight. The next direct flight to Munich was in 8 hours and would cost me about 500 Euros. Not an option. I could also take a train from Berlin to Ulm, which would be cheaper, but would be about a 6 hour trip. Possibly an option.

After some quick-talking German on the phone, Dianna said that she got me a flight to Munich. However, I would have to transfer planes in Dusseldorf on the way. I thanked Dianna a million times. I also told her that my family's neighbor was supposed to pick me up at the Munich airport, but I had no cell phone or phone number, even. She asked for the family's name and address, which I happened to remember, and she quickly did a search and called them up. She reached my host mom and notified her about what happened. Dianna then wrote down the phone number and gave it to me. She also told me that I would have to go to customs baggage to get my checked back. Apparently if I don't make the flight, my luggage doesn't make the flight. She gave me very clear directions how to get there and told me that I would have to go to the check-in at the gate, check my bag again and get them to print my new boarding passes.

I thanked her a million times. While she was on hold or typing some information, we were talking about why I am here and where I am from. And told me she had recently visited friends in the US and she hated how often we say "awesome," which I personally found funny. In any case, we parted ways and I went to customs baggage. As Dianna had warned me, the building was outside and straight-up looked like an old military barracks. A small, metal building surrounded by barbed wire. I quickly got my checked back and went to the gate, waited for a bit, checked my bag and got new boarding passes. I talked to a nice man in line from Switzerland who was on his way to Shanghai for business. We talked for a good amount of time about travel and this-and-that. This time I waited at the REAL gate and grabbed a Coke from a vendor.

My layover in Dusseldorf was a little less than 40 minutes. However, my plane left Berlin a little late. My ticket said boarding began at 2:25 for Munich. As the plane touched down in Dusseldorf, I looked at my watch: 2:20. This meant it was crunch time. As soon as I could, I quickly walked off the plane and began running through the airport. I arrived at my gate a little winded, but on-time. I showed them my boarding pass and made it on.

I landed in Munich a little over an hour later. I was not sure who would be picking me up. Or where. Or when. These thoughts were going through my mind as I watched the luggage go around and round at the pick-up. But because of the way my day had been going, my luggage did not show up. I took a deep breath and went to the baggage claims desk. The woman there was nice, but the world's slowest typist. I gave her my luggage tag and she typed it in. Turns out, my bag didn't make the transfer in Dusseldorf. Which was shocking to me, because it had about as much as I did to sprint through the airport. (Sarcasm.) She wrote down the address of the family and told me that they would ship it to the house and that is should arrive tomorrow (which is today) in the afternoon or evening. I thanked her and left the secured area at the airport.

Then I realized I was at the airport and did not have any way of getting to the house. I walked around for a little bit looking for either the neighbor or a member of the family. After what felt like an hour, I decided to use my few Euro coins in a pay phone and call the number Dianna had given me. My time was limited on the phone, so I had to be quick. The oldest son, Michael, answered the phone. He told me that his parents were not home. I tried to be clear because of his limited English and asked him to tell his neighbor and/or his family where I was waiting. I told him I would probably call back in a little bit. I waited for awhile longer (I lost all track of time in that airport) and finally decided to call back. But I did not have any coins. I approached two women smoking outside of the airport, luckily they spoke English, and asked if I could make a quick call using a cell phone. They were happy to do so, and I called back. Michael told me that his father was picking me up soon at "information to the left." I knew where he meant. I thanked Michael and thanked the women. I waited for the dad for about 5 minutes before he showed up.

From there, I felt much more at-ease. He took me downstairs to the train station, bought me a ticket, and boarded the train one minute before it departed. The train ride took about 90 minutes or so. But we had a good talk on the way. About German culture and American culture and such. We were met at the Ulm station by the mom, younger son, and their first au-pair, who now lives in the area. We grabbed a meal at Burger King and went to the family's, and now my, house.

I am writing this after sleeping for a good twelve hours. No one is home (the boys are at school and the parents are at work) and I am exploring and looking around and waiting for my luggage. Hopefully I will explore my area a little bit tonight. But, we shall see.

This was a long post, so congratulations if you made it to this point.

"The devil himself had probably redesigned Hell in the light of information he had gained from observing airport layouts." - Anthony Price