15th
September,2013
Karlsruhe,Germany
Well..
to begin with, there has been a huge packet of stories to tell, my struggle
with Language classes, and the subsequent struggle to order a hamburger in
McDonalds -_-
But
luckily,people are quite helpful over here, and finally I am learning to cook,
of course with the help of my other Indian colleagues, its not much work. The
least I can manage is to chop onions and potatoes well. One fine day, I went
out to explore the city on my own after the language class, the sprawling
palace, the serene streets, hustling bustling of the trams, and finally I ended
up in a bookstore with my earphones on.. a lady came to me , and I realized
that she was actually speaking to me, and I was being rude ignoring her. That
was when I opened my mouth finally to speak. I was a little conscious whether
she speaks English or not but I went ahead and asked.
“Do
you have English books as well?” She smiled.
“Of
course ,we have, in fact, we have two separate shelves for English books,What
are you looking for?”
Which
was when I realized that I need to buy the Tangram book for Learning German
level A1, of course she helped me with it and inquired about me a bit, where I came
from, and what I am doing here. I was impressed with her gesture and welcoming behavior.
Finally
after shelling out 16 euros for that colorful book, I went back to my room.
But
of course, I have my own share of adventures wherever I go. This weekend I happened
to visit a friend in Heidelberg, reaching there was pretty smooth because my
friend was well acquainted with the city, and the train routes, but while
coming back, he left me at the station and I boarded the train.
That
was a slow train,(slow according to Germany standards), but I managed to reach
in 40 minutes flat.I had to go to Karlsruhe Hauptbahnof, which is the last
destination. I again plugged in my earphones and got lost in my world, admiring
the architecture from the train windows. Then I fell asleep…
When
I got up, the train was deserted apart from another lady who was sitting to my
front. I stammered, and lost the track of time. The station was indeed,
Karlsruhe but all the doors were closed. For one second, I thought that now I will
end up in the yard maybe, but I asked that lady “Is this Karlsruhe Hauptbahnof?”
She replied “yes” and questioned me back “Will this go to Frankfurt?” , I was
too shocked to answer her, and I went to the door, when one guy signaled me to
press the button to open the door.I did that and landed safely on the station.
But
.. there were other things destined to happen.
Now,
I needed to take a tram. Using a tram ticket machine can be a little
complicated for dumb people like me, but as usual, there was someone to help.A
woman, who happened to know English quite well.She told me that “Even I am new
here, but I can help you”.
After
the ticketing was done, the machine showed 1.30 Euros, and a message “Exact
money please” . I put a 2 euro coin but it came back, then I put a 1 euro coin,
and was unable to find any change, that woman even offered 30 cents from her
side, but I realized that it will be too much of a favor, hehe..
S1
came… and I went in,stamped my ticket and sat down comfortably, then I realized..
“Wait
a second..” I had a tram route map in my hand, I realized that I boarded the
right tram but it was coming from MarktPlatz, not going to MarktPlatz. Three
stations in the opposite direction, and I got down and went to the opposite
platform, where again, a lady helped me with the directions. I smoked one cigarette
to help me relax a bit…Ghosh…!! How dumb could I have been!! I would have
reached the outskirts of the city.
Finally
I took the tram and got down at MarktPlatz, after having a burger and coffee, I
sat down again to smoke, with my packet lying at the table. This time a guy
came with 50 cents in his hand, and asked me in German “Kann ich einen kaufen cigarrette von Ihnen?”
(Can I buy a cigarette from you?) .
Thinking
it was too cheap to actually sell one cigarette, I offered him one for free,
and another old man, taking advantage of the situation, took 2 cigarettes from
me :-/
Finally
I decided to call it a day, and realized that it was too much adventure for a
day, and I better head back to my room and have tea.
Ich
liebe Deutschland !! J
