I haven't put up anything too recently. I've been living, eating, sleeping, and dreaming Camp Adventure right now. We're in orientation here in Stuttgart Germany this week and that always tends to be one of the more stressful weeks because of jet lag, needing to plan out the whole summer, meeting lots of new people, and acclimating to a new environment and culture. So this week so far has been a bit stressful and it's only been 2 1/2 days. We also know that laughter helps alleviate stress, so, here's hoping a few fun little stories about the first day in Germany can do that for a few folks. 🙂
My plane arrived on time on Sunday. Which blew my mind away since it was a Delta flight. Even more shocking after being delayed about half an hour because of the on flight entertainment malfunctioning. Get off the plane in a timely manner and head to customs. I'm not sure why, but they decided to only have two customs agents working out of 1 booth. So I'm maybe 60 or so people back. It's pretty slow going and the line keeps getting longer and longer until it probably reaches 200-300 people for the one booth. Pretty much a madhouse. Eventually someone decides it would be wise to open up a few more booths. When they did that, it got really crazy. Everyone bum rushed the to the front like a bunch of teen girls trying to snag Justin Bieber tickets. Most of the people in front of me ditched that line, so I moved up by about 30 or 40 spots by doing nothing. Not too shabby. As I get closer to getting through customs, a German policeman (polizei) comes out from somewhere and is slowly walking around staring at people, making an attempt to be intimidating I'm sure. He decides to lean up against some gate in between a couple of the booths. The gate detaches from the floor and swings out sending him sprawling to the ground. Thankfully I was a little too shocked to laugh at the spectacle of it all. The only thing hurt by the way was his pride just a bit.
Fast foward a couple of hours. I made it out of the airport and onto a van that was taking me to the Holiday Inn to pick up my rental vehicle for the summer. A brand new Puegot. Incredibly fancy with more things than I know what to do with in there. The thing about rental cars in Germany, is you get them with about a quarter of a tank, so the first thing that gets done is filling it up with gas. Hello Aral gas station.
68 Euros later I've got a full tank. Probably pushing $100. I go in to pay the cashier. Give him my card. He swipes it. Swipes it again. Swipes it a third time. "I'm sorry, your card is not working." I stare at him as if he just told me he was keeping a lion in the back of station. "Ummm, are you sure it isn't working?" He's sure. "Do you have an ATM? Maybe I can just pull money out from there." There is no ATM. No ATM??? "Is there an ATM nearby?" Apparently there is just one down the road at another gas station. "Can I go see if it'll let me pull out money?" Hahahaha. NO. So, I'm at a German gas station, just pumped about $100 worth of gas, and I've got about 20 euros on me in cash. Fantastic way to start out the day. At the point I was seriously considering asking him if he'd let me leave a suitcase at the gas station for collateral while I left to go find money. Finally, I called my project director who was at the airport still, only about 20 minutes away. Explained the situation and was told that Chris would come drive out and help me out. So for the next 20 minutes, I awkwardly sauntered around the station "looking" at things and avoiding eye contact with the several shirtless men who came in for their Sunday morning beer run. Finally Chris makes it and helps me out. I'll never live that down with him. We get a couple of personal pizzas, microwave them, and eat them there in the gas station since we've got time now. Finally I get on my way to Stuttgart.
This is the point where I should probably mention that the car I'm driving is a manual shift. I've practiced for all of the maaaaybe 45 minutes on driving one in the States before picking this thing up. Hello German Autobahn! Amazingly enough, I only stalled once on the Autobahn when we hit some stop and go traffic. After two hours of semi-successful driving, I made it to the front gate of the military base. I pull up and stall out about a car length from where I should have stopped. No one's behind me. Let them know I'm on the access roster since I just arrived and I get the go ahead to pull into the base. Restart the car. I stall it. Stall again. Again. Again. Again. Again and so on. I kid you not probably 10 times in all. I was a nervous wreck dying on the inside. I don't remember how many times I apologized while sitting there. I'm sure at one point without thinking I slipped in a few "lo siento"s for good measure. Cars are now lined up behind me. Finally, I get going, however in the process of moving forward I actually peeled out right there at the main gate. Waaaay to make an entrance. I think the only thing that was missing at that point was "Jesus Take the Wheel" by Carrie Underwood coming up on the radio. I would've hopped over into the passenger's seat in a heartbeat. I start looking for the hotel. Don't see it where the guy told me it was. I drive around base trying to take deep breaths after my experience at the gate. I can't find the hotel. Pretty much lost. So, I pull into the gas station. Yea! Another gas station! Go in and ask where the hotel was. It was right inside the gate. If it was a snake it would have bit me. Probably twice. Okay, go back to the car. I pulled into a parking spot. Now I get to try and back on out. Cars on each side. I figured my chances of hitting something at that point were pretty good. I start backing out, pretty sloppily and it finally stalls. But it's enough to turn and move forward. I peel out once more for good measure and to my relief get to the hotel. All of this in a span of probably 4 to 5 hours. Oh Germany…
And thank you God that I'm still alive and kicking. And that everyone around me is too. And that the car still works…
P.S. I've practiced a bit more and it's getting better. Heh.
