Do you speak English?

Whew. In Germany!

I’ve just returned from my first German meal (which was actually at a Greek restaurant) (but actually actually it was Italian because I ordered pasta), where I washed it down with a giant Helles. It’s been a long and exciting journey so far!

Our flight from St. Louis to Chicago was horribly delayed, so Elizabeth, Lisa and I were transfered to Logan’s flight.  Although my finger-crossing for a first-class upgrade didn’t pull through, we at least had a direct flight to Munich.  Once landed and through customs we waited for our luggage, and after seeing the same hard red suitcase go around the conveyor belt a good 25 times, we realized our luggage wasn’t gonna show.  The good news is Lufthansa gets your luggage to you quick, so our checked stuff will show up tomorrow.  Probably for the best, though, because immediately after that, Elizabeth and I paired up and tried to tackle getting Euros, putting minutes on our phone, and buying train tickets to Vilseck all in one swoop–all a lot easier to do without giant suitcases. The phone minutes failed (we even had an army dude mess with it on the train later, no luck), but we got Euros and purchased train tickets and off we were! Except not nearly so smoothly.  We did a lot of “ummm, excuse me, do you speak English?” and we got a lot of “of course!” responses.  Almost every German we’ve met so far has pointed us in the right direction, or at least tried to help us figure out where to go.  We had to take three separate trains to get to Vilseck from the Munich airport, and with all maps and signs in German it was definitely a challenge.  At one point Elizabeth and I looked pitiful enough standing at the train station in Munich Central, eyebrows furrowed and faces pink, that someone came up and said, “do you need help, ya?”  Ha!

All was well once we arrived in Vilseck and met up with Elizabeth’s mentor teacher who took us straight to her (absolutely adorable bright yellow quaint freshly built) house where we showered, resisted naps, and went out to eat with her friend and friend’s son (3 year old lover of ice cream, who already knows my name! …except sometimes he calls to Elizabeth and I by saying, “hey teeeachers!”).  So: pasta, giant beer, lots of chatting.

Tomorrow we’re going onto the base and into school to meet my mentor teacher (hooray!) and figure out paperwork, military IDs, and where we’ll be living.

Short and sweet update, but I am le tired and my eyelids are heavy.  Wanted to let everyone know we’re safe and sound and excited to explore more of this town!  More detailed updates to come.

Gute Nacht!