I got to work at 7:00 this morning, later then I would have liked because I forgot my bus pass at home and had to miss the bus I wanted. At work today I worked away drafting up a part for the factory here. I actually spent the whole day working. That being said I did get off work at 13:00 so I guess it was not the WHOLE day.
After work I grabbed my backpack and my cloth bag with my compressed sleeping bag in it and got on the bus to the main train station in Dusseldorf. I had 40min to kill before my train left to Cologne so I grabbed a Döner at the local shop and sat in the sun waiting for the train.
Before the train that I wanted came another one (an ICE train) came to the platform. It said Cologne on it so I got on, I have this thing for ICE trains. Turns out that this train did not go to the station that I wanted in Cologne and I would have to take another train to Cologne Main Station. If I missed the connection then Bradley, my couchsurfing host, would be sitting at the train station and I would not be able to contact him. I got off the train and ran to the other platform caught the commuter train then got off that and ran to the train I would take to Manheim.
On this train I was sitting across from a guy who was doing very complicated looking integration at staggering speed. I inquired as to what it was about and I soon figured out that he is a professor researching string theory. Lucky for me I had just read the Wikipedia article on string theory. We spent the hour and a half ride talking about the 11 dimensions of space time as stated by the M-theory, the mystical Higg's particle and supersymmetry. I was surprised that I actually remembered what I had read. We parted ways in Manheim and I switched trains; onwards to Munich!
3 hours later my train pulled into Munich, I switched trains and was finally on route to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. An hour and a half later, at 21:00 I pulled into the station. I was happy to see snow on the ground, Ratingen has long been past the snowy part of winter. Brad was waiting for me on a bench in the station.
Brad is a Chef at the American run hotel in town. He is one of the many Americans staying in the Abrams, the staff residence of the hotel. Anyway, we shook hands and walked back to his residence building, the whole time talking about the US, Canada, Germany and all the fun little quirks that differentiate them. On route we picked up some beer at the gas station, and so the night began.
I checked into The Abrams with my passport, the place is guarded like a military base, and Brad proceeded to give me the tour of the place. Apparently it was an old Nazi hospital. It had wide hallways, medical-related murals painted on the walls above the stairs and in all probability the highest density of 'Proud Americans Live Here' doormats in Europe. The vibe of the place brought me back to residence in university, a bunch of 20 year olds living in a big building, the main difference is that these guys do not need to study and have a source of income.
Time to get our'pre-game' on, soon Brad's room was filled with an assortment of Americans drinking beer out of 2l glass bottles and having an all around merry time. The plan for the night was to go out to Music Café, a local disco. Brad and Lanea told me that it was possible to make it through the night there not buying any drinks (getting other people to buy them for you); I was not sure how that would work but the concept intrigued me.
A group of us walked to the club and the festivities began. Lights were flashing and sweaty people (some more so then others) bounced up and down on the dance floor. Sure enough drinks kept on coming my way. I would order a drink and offer to pay, then someone would say 'are you trying to insult me (by paying)' and soon I would have a drink in my hands free of charge. I was not sure why this was going on but it was nice. The night ended, as most great ones do, with a 3am trip to McDonald's. We got a ride back with the US Military Police. At some point during the ride I tried in vain to argue the superiority of the Canadian military, for some reason he did not believe me. He dropped us off and I was soon asleep on a spare mattress on the floor of Brad's room.
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