When my accomplice Aidan advised me he could be spending the semester learning overseas in Marburg, Germany, I knew I needed to go to.
At first it felt like a distant dream — one thing I might get to “sometime in spring.” But after two-and-a-half months of early morning cellphone calls, images of cobblestone streets and tales about new associates, it was lastly my flip to cross the ocean and step into his new world.
There was one small drawback — I had by no means flown alone earlier than, not to mention to Europe.
My journey started with a nervous knot in my abdomen and an overpacked carry-on. To my reduction, nevertheless, I knew there could be a well-known face on my flight: my buddy Ellen.
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The small coincidence felt like a blessing. We obtained burgers whereas ready for the aircraft and she or he listened to my journey anxieties.
I simply occurred to get a row to myself, so I obtained settled in on the aircraft. I watched a few films and had a small nap. My anxiousness peaked once I awakened, so I wandered the aircraft to search out Ellen.
After discovering her, she got here to my row and we handed an hour or two with a Wes Anderson film. Before we knew it, the aircraft was descending into Frankfurt.
The second I stepped off the aircraft, actuality hit. Not solely was Aidan nonetheless at school and couldn’t meet me, I had one much more evident drawback.
I didn’t communicate German.
Ahead of me was a gauntlet: navigate customs, discover the practice station hidden someplace beneath the airport, purchase a ticket to Frankfurt’s principal station, find the appropriate regional practice to Marburg, journey it over an hour north, discover the bus system, meet Aidan throughout his quick lunch break to snag his residence keys then by some means make it to his place, all after almost 30 hours with out sleep.
I want I might say it went easily.
In fact, I missed about three trains, had two complicated conversations with cops and witnessed some unforgettable scenes within the Frankfurt(Main) Hauptbahnhof.
But each improper flip I took led me one step nearer. When I lastly arrived in Marburg, dragging my suitcase by way of cobbled streets, I noticed Aidan operating to the bus cease.
As drained as I used to be, I almost ran to him. That reunion alone made each chaotic second price it.
Once he completed his lessons for that day, my actual time in Germany started.
Marburg felt like a city out of a storybook, nestled into hills with steep stone stairways and towers peeking by way of timber.
Getting to see Aidan stay his life there — ordering meals in German and greeting his associates on the road — stuffed me with pleasure. I wasn’t simply visiting Germany — I used to be getting into his Germany.
One of my favourite discoveries was a neighborhood dish referred to as auflauf, a form of baked pasta usually in comparison with mac and cheese. The tomato model rapidly grew to become my go-to consolation meal.
Visiting his college, Philipps-Universität Marburg, felt surreal. It is certainly one of Germany’s oldest establishments. The mix of historical past and on a regular basis scholar life was hanging.
Nights in Marburg had been simply as memorable. We stumbled into an open mic evening at a jazz membership, the place college students crooned jazz requirements and German folks songs. I discovered rapidly how deeply beer tradition runs there — not in a big get together sense, however in a communal one.
I by no means knew how a lot group might come collectively over a Stein at a wood desk, resulting in laughter echoing from the stone partitions.
Of course, the citadel on the hill dominated every part. We spent hours wandering its grounds, ducking by way of archways and studying plaques in half-translated German.
Inside was a museum full of artifacts from Marburg’s medieval previous. Outside was a sweeping view of the city’s pink roofs.
Travel is usually described by way of landmarks and points of interest, however what made this journey significant wasn’t any single web site. It was the easy act of being invited into another person’s new life. I arrived exhausted, confused and terrified, however I left feeling nearer to each Aidan and the world he was rising into.
When it was lastly time to depart, I couldn’t hold myself composed on the airport. All the power I carried by way of sitting on trains, shopping for tickets and navigating language limitations unraveled the second I spotted I had to return house with out him.
I cried, not as a result of the journey was over, however as a result of I knew Aidan wouldn’t be ready for me again at house.
Though it was a tragic goodbye, I knew I might see him once more quickly. When summer season got here and he landed again within the United States I used to be proper: it was all okay.
Stephenson may be reached at [email protected].