The few days leading up to departure day I was dreading the thought of a 9 hour plane ride. When I arrived at the airport to check in a few hours before my flight my anxiety just intensified. I have to say that Continental Airline must not be known for their customer service. When I went to check-in for my flight on the self check-in computer in the terminal it kept telling me that my flight did not exist. I asked two ladies that were behind the counter for help and they basically ignored me for a good five minutes before telling me to go find someone that was wearing a blue vest for help… they were wearing blue vests! When I realized that they were going to be no help I went and searched for someone else in a blue vest. I found two different people in the check-in area and when I asked each of them for help they both told me to ask someone that was behind the counter. Seriously?? So I went back to the ladies behind the counter and once again asked them for help. They gave me a really annoyed look before finally calling someone to come help me. I am pretty sure that the little old man who came over to help me was the only nice person in that entire terminal. It took him about 15 minutes but he finally figured out what the problem with my flight was and then he sent me on my way. I thought that I must have been through the worst part of the departure phase until I got on the plane. Our plane was an hour and half late on leaving. First, the plane was overweight and they took thirty minutes taking cargo off the plane until the weight was right. Then, the water pressure on the plane went out and that took another thirty minutes to fix. As if all of that wasn’t already bad enough when the plane was taking off the lady sitting beside me started to throw up into a bag. Great way to start my European adventure!!
The bus ride from the Frankfurt airport to Bonn was a whole new experience. A lot of people fell asleep on the bus but I was too amazed by the surroundings to sleep. I noticed right away many differences between Germany and the U.S. First off everyone seems to drive hatch backs and NO ONE drives trucks. The largest car that I saw on the road was the equivalence of a small SUV in the states. Second off everything in Germany seems so much greener and healthier than in Texas. Germany seems much more concerned with the health of the environment; I saw wind turbines everywhere along the 2 hour ride to Bonn. Third, all of the buildings here are really old and have a lot of old world charm. They aren’t all made of metal, glass, and concrete like many of the buildings in American cities.
When we finally arrived in Bonn it was time to meet our host families. I was both nervous and excited. I wasn’t really sure what to expect about my family or the house I would be living in for the next three weeks. I have always heard that houses in Europe are not like houses in the states and I was right. My host family’s house was not as spacious and open as most American houses. Instead of having all of the living space on just one or two levels, there were four levels to the house. The bottom level was a basement which is where the laundry room was located. The main floor housed the kitchen, living room, the main bathroom, and one bedroom. The third level had two bedrooms and a half bath and the top level had one bedroom. The kitchen was about half the size of the average American kitchen and the bathrooms were really small. The backyard was to die for though. It seems like it went on forever and there were potted plants everywhere you looked. The host family that I was placed with was the Koch family. My host family consisted of my host mom, Hilda, and her 19-year-old daughter Sharlata. I was placed in this host family with Michelle. Hilda cooked us dinner on our first night and we ate out on the back porch. The weather was beautiful and I was amazed at how late it stayed light outside. The next morning we all woke up and Hilda took me, Michelle, Elena, and Andrew downtown for the day. She showed us how to use the bus system and which buses to take to certain places. We walked along the Rhine River and went to a small festival. Then we went downtown and ate lunch and went to another festival. The whole day was very enjoyable and I really liked seeing the city of Bonn.
No comments:
Post a Comment