One of the best parts about studying abroad this semester is that I am half a world closer to my Uncle Bill and his family. It has probably been about 3 years since I have seen my cousins, and I was determined to make a trip to come see them. The planning started out so smoothly. We picked the weekend, we booked the reservation (which we chose a German holiday weekend; worst idea ever and we had to do some rearranging), and we made it to the train station on time for our day of departure. However, everything after that just went down hill. My friend, Katie, came with me so that I would not have to travel alone. We checked our tickets, found the right gate and time, and we boarded our train from Schaffhausen to Zurich. Unfortunately, somewhere in there we made a mistake because we didn't make it to Zurich in time to catch our next train. I literally have no idea how that happened, but it did. So what was supposed to be an 8 hour trip, slowly turned in to a 15 hour trip of just flat out ridiculousness. We were supposed to get there at 17:45, and I was so excited to have my evening with my family, but with our one mistake in the beginning our new arrival time became 00:20. We had 7 train changes and a bus ride to Lille on top of that. It was never ending. I will say that Katie and I finished both of our sandwiches, both cans of pringles, and a package of chocolate cookie deliciousness, that being said without a lick of shame. It was a LONG day.
Finally, we reached the train station in the wee hours of the morning, and Katie and I began looking for my aunt who was supposed to be picking us up. Ten minutes passed, twenty minutes, thirty minutes and there was no sign of her. I know my Aunt April, and she is not late, so I just knew she had to be around the station somewhere. I was beginning to get a little nervous because it was one in the morning, and we were in a very alive city that was filled with drunkards and VERY attractive men :) The latter part I did not mind too much, but I was still anxious to find my aunt because I was tired and cold. By some grace of God, Katie and I hit a hotspot of wifi, and I connected with my iPod. I used that opportunity to first facebook message my aunt, but then I skyped my mom in hopes of somehow using that to get ahold of my aunt. So here is where the story gets good. I skyped my mom, who called my mammaw, who called my cousin Megan, who got ahold of my Aunt April. Just a recap: I was skyping my mom who was talking to me and then my mammaw on the phone, my mammaw was on the phone with my mom while also being on the phone with my cousin Megan, Megan was on the phone with mammaw while also being on the phone with my Aunt April, and my Aunt April was on the phone with my Uncle Bill. We definitely got a good use out of all those technology devices, and mind all of you that we were connected all the way from Missouri to France. That makes for one heck of a phone call connection. While all of that was happening we were trying to stay put in the hotspot and my iPod was close to dying, and we were still trying to find my aunt. It took around ten to fifteen more minutes, but by two in the morning we finally found her. I was more than ready to be in a warm bed asleep, and I was so thankful to God for the use of technology because if we didn't have that, I have no idea how I would have found my aunt. We did make it to her house, which is GORGEOUS, and by three in the morning I was safely tucked in bed all warm and cozy. Needless to say it was a forever long day, and I was more than ready for it to be over with. At least now I am prepared on what to do if I miss any trains on my upcoming trips; that's the positive side to this story. Stay tuned to hear about my travels with my Aunt April and Katie! Til Next Time.
No comments:
Post a Comment