Oh hey, I'm in Germany.

After many many hours of train travel and hanging out in various cities (Paris, Köln [which turns out is the same thing as Cologne -- who knew?]), I have made it to Bonn, Germany. People here seem to be nice enough and willing to put up with my very minimal German. And a lot of them speak English too. Phew. I am sitting in a bagel café called Bagel Brothers Sandwich Restaurant. After haltingly ordering and paying for my Caprese bagel (it's amazing-- fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil, and balsamic vinaigrette on a parmesean/onion bagel), the guy at the register congratulated me. I guess it was a grand success. All five words of German that I shouted at him. But at least the language that I'm slipping into, when lacking a German word, is French. My foreign language/country brain is on? Bah, I don't know. It's an adventure at the very least.

I've been taking notes throughout the day on all these funny/weird experiences I've had. So I guess I'll copy them down:

Today, everyone has something very special about them. I am noticing smiles, walks, hands. How good.

I just met some Americans from Florida who are doing a post-college world tour. I told them about a cheaper place to buy coffee in the train station.

Also, today, everyone I see looks like someone from home. Guess it's little reminders that I'm not alone.

*The next page in my journal is a post-it note from Xiao Lu that she put on my door, saying she was sorry she couldn't get up at 6 am to send me off and that she will miss me. I love her.

A man-boy working at the café in the Paris Nord train station tried to tell me that there was no caffeine in tea -- and he didn't have decaf coffee available. I just wanted to take a nap later, people. Sorry 'bout it. But I found a table to sit at anyways, even though I hadn't bought something. The previous person had left their meal trash there, adn there was a used tea cup, which I was first grumpy about but didn't do anything about it. But a new girl started working and told me I couldn't sit there if I wasn't a customer and I pointed at the used cup on my table. "Mais, non..." JOKES ON THEM, SUCKAS. Too bad you didn't have any herbal tea or I *would* have been a customer!

The woman behind me on the train from Brussels to Cologne is doing flash cards for art or something and she keeps deeply sighing when, I assume, she gets something wrong. The couple across the aisle (who keeps making out and then looking at me because I'm accidentally staring at them) and I keep making faces about her.

In other news, I brought some stickers with me so I can write letters, and some of them got all wrapped up around my writing utensils. So now I have a pencil covered in hearts, and a Busey Bank pen with a parrot on it.

I also made a list of things I have spent my money on today:
-1€20 - sweet green tea in vending machine at Paris Nord which I drank at the café that didn't have anything decaf. I know green tea isn't decaf, but it's lesscaf, and it's got them antioxidants, so that's good at least.
-0€50 - in Paris St. Lazare to use the restroom facilities -- peeing is expensive here!
-3€00 - in Cologne for my first soy starbucks latte since America. And it was good.
-3€20 - in Paris for two metro tickets (round trip, since I'll also be taking the metro on Friday)
-0€80 CHRISTMAS SURPRISE
-3€20 - Caprese bagel at Bagel Brothers Sandwich Restaurant (+ internet and bathroom!)


Anyways, I'm off to go meet Lena now. Wish me luck in finding her -- I guess it's supposed to be easy but turns out I don't understand what the signs mean here. Oops!

Hope everyone is doing wonderfully today!

Note: There is some epic music up in this cafe. I think it was popular in the USA in the early '00s.