Day 131 - Monday, July 28, 2008 - My Trip to Germany
Day 131 - Germany Chapter 1
Anyway I woke up at 4:45 am at the internet cafe and checked out at 5 am. It cost only 1300 yen for the time I spent there. I then went for my suitcases which were locked up in the weird high-tech locker thing. I got out the first one OK but the second one was giving me a little problem. This locker thing had only Japanese writing that I didn't understand and so all I did was touch some buttons and Walla!!! the box opened up finally. I then went to purchase the ticket for the airport limousine (Bus to the airport). It took about 50 minutes to get to the airport and cost only about 1400 yen... This taxi man yesterday did want to charge mi 15000 yen ... He probably was half asleep or drunk when he gave me that price...No way I was going to pay that... It's a good thing I decided to stay at the internet cafe...
Ok so I got to the Osaka airport about 6:30 am when nowhere was opened yet... Then the people started to enter 1 by 1. I was not spared of the stares in this big airport either as I was the only one in the entire airport with my skin color :) . I eventually went to buy some food though because I was starving. After eating I changed out some yen into Euros then went aboard my flight to South Korea. While heading towards the line of people going on the plane, this Korean lady that was talking on the intercom thing gave me a NASTY stare when I walked passed her... I have no clue why...
So now My task is to recognize my couch surfer friend...It would be much easier for her to spot me though among the sea of Germans ;)... So I went through customs who didn't even ask me who I will stay with or their address, UNLIKE THE USA!!! Anyway as soon as I picked up my luggage, I was looking to see if I could recognize the lady and suddenly I saw this bright smile, and I said to myself, "That must be her".... she was very tall. She then drove me to her place via the autobahn .... which is this highway with NO SPEED LIMIT!!!! (I uploaded a video of a part of it)... As soon as she hit the highway, it was none stop speeding... I almost had a heart attack. She was flying on the highway and the worst thing was that many other cars were even flying past her... I am still wondering how fast they were going. It took about 20 mins to get to her house... She showed me where I would sleep with access to a shower and a computer... I was so tired that I went to bed...
Ok so I must apologize sincerely for not updating for the past week and half. But the hotel I was at in Germany had only 1 FREE computer to use internet. The others you will have to pay some exorbitant fees.
Anyway I woke up at 4:45 am at the internet cafe and checked out at 5 am. It cost only 1300 yen for the time I spent there. I then went for my suitcases which were locked up in the weird high-tech locker thing. I got out the first one OK but the second one was giving me a little problem. This locker thing had only Japanese writing that I didn't understand and so all I did was touch some buttons and Walla!!! the box opened up finally. I then went to purchase the ticket for the airport limousine (Bus to the airport). It took about 50 minutes to get to the airport and cost only about 1400 yen... This taxi man yesterday did want to charge mi 15000 yen ... He probably was half asleep or drunk when he gave me that price...No way I was going to pay that... It's a good thing I decided to stay at the internet cafe...
Ok so I got to the Osaka airport about 6:30 am when nowhere was opened yet... Then the people started to enter 1 by 1. I was not spared of the stares in this big airport either as I was the only one in the entire airport with my skin color :) . I eventually went to buy some food though because I was starving. After eating I changed out some yen into Euros then went aboard my flight to South Korea. While heading towards the line of people going on the plane, this Korean lady that was talking on the intercom thing gave me a NASTY stare when I walked passed her... I have no clue why...
The plane took about 2 hours to get to South Korea where I waited for about 1 hour to go on the flight to Germany. Went on flight to Germany and sat beside 2 Polish ladies. I am supposed to spend over 24 hours in Frankfurt which is not my final destination. My final destination is Leipzig which is in eastern Germany. But I already sorted out how I will work this issue out. For the past 2 or 3 weeks I was using an incredibly awesome website by the name of http://www.couchsurfing.com/ where you can search for people and stay at their home for free.
I agreed to stay at a lady's house who I already called from Japan to confirm that all is well. While I was on the plane before take off, I made sure to call her again and ask for her home address, just in case the German customs people decide to give me a hard time. I couldn't hear properly on the phone what she was saying so I put on the Polish girl to make her take down the information... This was about 1 pm in South Korea but 5 am in Germany. On this flight to Germany from Korea there was no night... The flight took about 10 hours to Frankfurt, the plane landed at about 5 pm German time which would be 1 am Korea/Japan time.... So I experienced a part of today twice ... eg. In the plane I experience 5pm - 1 am (Korean/Japan time) and also 5pm - 1am (German time).
So now My task is to recognize my couch surfer friend...It would be much easier for her to spot me though among the sea of Germans ;)... So I went through customs who didn't even ask me who I will stay with or their address, UNLIKE THE USA!!! Anyway as soon as I picked up my luggage, I was looking to see if I could recognize the lady and suddenly I saw this bright smile, and I said to myself, "That must be her".... she was very tall. She then drove me to her place via the autobahn .... which is this highway with NO SPEED LIMIT!!!! (I uploaded a video of a part of it)... As soon as she hit the highway, it was none stop speeding... I almost had a heart attack. She was flying on the highway and the worst thing was that many other cars were even flying past her... I am still wondering how fast they were going. It took about 20 mins to get to her house... She showed me where I would sleep with access to a shower and a computer... I was so tired that I went to bed...
I then woke up and she prepared pasta and we chatted for a long while. She teaches both English and History at a High School. She also explained the German school system to me where they begin High school at GRADE 5.
There is 1 thing bothering me though. The airline I should take tomorrow (LUFTHANSA) is going on STRIKE!!! what a time to choose !!! The thing is not all the staff going on strike but guess which people nuh?? The mechanic people who mus fix di plane ... DEM MADD!!! So X kept checking on the internet if my flight was ok... God bless her soul... Ohh did I mention that her mom was on staff there??? What a Coincidence... Mi Dios es Marveloso!!!
Comments
very good