A short, round German woman walked up to me, and started speaking to me.\u00a0 In German, naturally.\u00a0 I don’t know why, but I thought she was asking me how<\/em> to use the machine, and I tearfully explained that I didn’t have a clue how it worked.\u00a0 She asked me where I was going, and I replied, “K\u00f6ln”.\u00a0 She moved in front of me, and bought tickets for herself and her husband.\u00a0 I tried to watch, to see how it worked, but the problem was really that I didn’t know what kind<\/em> of ticket to buy.\u00a0 Introductions were made; her name was Susanna.\u00a0 She told me they had bought a 5-person ticket to K\u00f6ln, since they were going there, too, and I could just come with them.\u00a0 So for about 1 1\/2 hours, I was adopted by Susanna and her husband.\u00a0 I followed them around the train station, first at D\u00fcsseldorf airport, then at D\u00fcsseldorf Hauptbahnhof, and, finally, at K\u00f6ln.\u00a0 They were very sweet, and I felt so grateful to not have to do anything more than just follow them, that I almost started crying, again.\u00a0 They even helped me with my beastly luggage, on and off the trains.\u00a0 At last, we all debarked at K\u00f6ln, and I took a taxi to my hostel.<\/p>\n Laura was already there, had been for about an hour or so.\u00a0 We spent 3 nights at the 404 Hostel in Nippes.\u00a0 The bathroom is freaking huge, and the bathtub, for some reason unbeknownst to us, was filled with rocks.\u00a0 And cacti.\u00a0 The pale rocks spelling out “404”, well, they glow in the dark.\u00a0 The first time I saw that, I was half asleep, and I almost flipped out.\u00a0 (Laura, beware!\u00a0 There is something glowing menacingly in the bathtub!)<\/p>\n K\u00f6ln itself was just grand.\u00a0 We walked along der Rhein (which, by the way, is disgustingly polluted), and visited the Chocolate Museum, the Dom, and the Roman-Germanic Museum.\u00a0 The best part, though, was meeting up with Westrey!\u00a0 She is doing an internship in Germany, in K\u00f6ln and Leipzig.\u00a0 The three of us wandered through the Belgian Quarter, had a beer, and visited the Dom.\u00a0 Three small pieces of UPS reunited in Germany.\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n So, I’d like to pretend that there is a good reason for such belated posting, but, really there isn’t.\u00a0 So don’t mention it, again.<\/p>\n Jet lag is brutal.<\/p>\n Jet lag is brutal. <\/span>Spending 18 hours on planes and trains and in airports is brutal. <\/span>Being awake for 33 consecutive hours is brutal. <\/span>Having your hostel roommates stay up late and then also wake up early (in the process keeping you up late and then waking you up early) is really, really annoying. <\/span>Particularly when you are recovering from jet lag!<\/p>\n Laura and I spent 3 nights at the 404 Hostel in K\u00f6<\/span>ln. <\/span>The bathroom is freaking huge, and the bathtub, for some reason unbeknownst to us, was filled with rocks. <\/span>And cacti. <\/span>The pale rocks spelling out “404”, well, they glow in the dark. <\/span>The first time I saw that, I was half asleep, and I almost flipped out. <\/span>(Laura, beware! <\/span>There is something glowing menacingly in the bathtub!)<\/p>\n K\u00f6<\/span>ln itself was just grand. <\/span>We walked along der Rhein (which, by the way, is disgustingly polluted), and visited the Chocolate Museum, the Dom, and the Roman-Germanic Museum. <\/span>The best part, though, was meeting up with Westrey! <\/span><\/p>\n IMG4061 sub 0908<\/em><\/p>\n in front of the dom Sub 0909<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 22. September 2012 Jet lag is brutal.\u00a0 Spending 18 hours on planes and trains and in airports is brutal.\u00a0 Being awake for 33 consecutive hours is brutal.\u00a0 Having your hostel roommates stay up late and then also wake up early … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/files\/2012\/09\/IMGP4061-300x224.jpg\")
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