I miss America!

Oh people….where do I even begin?  I guess maybe I should start off with why I’m in Germany.  Remember when I interned with Deutsche Welle during May term?  Well, Deutsche Welle is hosting the 2012 Global Media Forum in Bonn, Germany and Wartburg was invited to be VIP guests.  With me here in Germany is Travis Bockenstedt and President Colson (or P Col).  Penni Pier was supposed to join us but due to an injury she was not able to attend L.  So that is why I’m in Germany until Friday!

Now, let’s start with the traveling.  Yesterday (Saturday) I drove to Travis’ house in Cedar Rapids.  I got there at 11:40am and our flight from Cedar Rapids to Chicago was at 1:14pm.  Well, Travis was running late because he was having computer problems…luckily (and I mean luckily) the Cedar Rapids airport is very small….so when we were leaving his house at 12:25pm he wasn’t panicking (but believe me, I WAS!!!)  We got to the airport at like 12:35 and we had to lug all our luggage (we each have a suitcase, I had my backpack and a purse, Travis has his “murse” (man purse), we have another suitcase with camera equipment, a huge banner in a big tube, and a tripod in a big case)….soooo we had to carry all that into the airport.  Travis checked in first and his bag was heavy (51.5 pounds) so they made him take things out (really?! Yes….)  Then we found out it costs $70 to check a second bag….we were both planning on checking the tripod and the banner cause we thought it would be free…but nooooo.  So I still had to carry on the banner…more about that fun filled adventure from hell later.  Travis’ comment was “can’t my 51.5 pound bag be a little heavy when my $70 bag weighs nothing?”  Yeah….they weren’t having it…..Then I went to check in while he was rearranging his stuff and it said it was too close to boarding to check me in….by this point I was FREAKING OUT!  They finally got me checked in and we had to book it to security.  When we got to security apparently I didn’t make it through the normal scanner so I had to have a body pat down….and to answer the question on facebook, “did they buy you dinner first?” no, no they did not!  THEN I had to have my palms tested for chemicals!  I was like COME ON!!!  I thought for sure we were gonna miss the flight.  We basically ran from security to our gate and luckily it hadn’t even boarded yet!  We got there about 4 minutes before we boarded!  So it was WAY too close for comfort!

Now, as some of you may know, I’m not a big fan of flying.  Once we are in the air I’m fine, but taking off and landing freaks me out….it just doesn’t make sense to me.  So getting on a tiny lil airplane in Cedar Rapids for a 45 minute flight was not fun for me.  But we made it to Chicago….and the 5 hour layover began!  Wooooo!

First we ate lunch, then we decided to organize the camera bag since we just kinda threw everything in there when we were at Travis’ house.  That took an hour and a half…I wish I were kidding.  It was like a freaking puzzle….and we are comm arts majors….we don’t do puzzles.  So that killed some time.  Then we just kinda people watched….or I did while Travis was on the phone with the stupid Sprint people.  A few observations….1. having a Harley Davidson fanny pack does NOT make it okay to wear a fanny pack….2. there was a small child pretending to be a puppy so her mom would give her cookies….I decided that is going to be the ONLY way my children get treats….3. small child “Dad, can you open this for me?”  Dad: “What do you say?”  Small child: (turns around) “Grandma, can you open this for me?” hahaha….4.  saw a leash kid.

Well after our super duper layover it was finally time to board our plane for the 8.5 hour flight!  Of course Travis and I did not have seats next to each other (what a silly concept) and the plane was completely booked so they would not let anyone change seats.  So here’s what went down….I have this stupid awkward banner….let me describe this for you a little bit…it’s in a case that is about 4 feet tall and like a foot wide…..soooo it’s awkward (and HEAVY!) to carry.  When we were about to board the plane we asked a flight attendant what we should do with it….she said ask someone on board…..so when I got on I asked the first flight attendant what to do with it….she said take it to the front of the plane in business and put it in a closet…sooo I went to the front of the plane and they told me to take it to the middle of the plane cause they didn’t have closet space…soooo I took it to the middle of the plane (where my seat was) and they said they didn’t have any closets and to take it to the front of the plane….I told them I was just there and they sent me to the middle of the plane….so those people said to take it to the back of the plane….I took it to the back of the plane and the very rude flight attendant was like “well there are no closets back here, I don’t know what you should do with it.”  At this point I was 2 seconds away from having a panic attack.  Then she went to the middle of the plane and started yelling at me to bring it to her.  Well that would’ve been easy, except there were a TON of people walking to the back of the plane to get to their seats…so I was stuck.  They finally all sat down and the captain started making announcements that we needed to leave and everyone needed to be seated.  Andddddd this is when I started crying….it was awful…I was freaking out and Travis was already at his seat and the flight attendant was being mean and people were staring at me…..it was bad.  We finally got the banner to fit in the over head thing and I was able to find my seat.  Did I mention it was awful?  K good. 

The flight was long…..really long.  Luckily, it had been a long day so I was able to get a little sleep.  But it was so crowded and pretty uncomfortable so I didn’t actually sleep much.  And I only got up and walked around once (I know, I know…my mom is probably yelling at me right now) but I was the window seat and I didn’t want to bother the 2 guys next to me to get up….so I just sat there.  Blahhh.  We did get dinner, a snack, and breakfast….so I was pretty pumped about that.

Once we landed I reconnected with the stupid banner and found Travis.  My first words to him were “Wartburg can pay the $70 for us to check this freaking thing on the way home.”  He just laughed.  I wasn’t laughing though!  We got off the plane and had to take a 15 minute bus ride to the terminal/gate/baggage claim thingy.  We for sure thought our luggage wouldn’t be there…but it was….thank God.  After that we went to the train station (at the airport) and had to get on the train to go from Frankfurt to Bonn.  That was a 40 minute train ride and the train was actually really nice…it was very smooth and very quiet.  Once we got to Bonn we had to take a taxi to our hotel.  And my next adventure begins….

The hotel……… I swear…..this hotel should have an instruction guide just so I know how to do things!  Travis and I got our rooms and we’re only like 8 rooms apart from each other.  I walk in and start flipping on all the light switches (which aren’t really switches but gold rectangles…) and no lights were coming on.  So I went to Travis’ room but he didn’t answer his door so I went back to mine to try to figure it out.  7 minutes later….(no exaggeration)….I found a card slot right by my door…I put the room card in it and like magic all the lights turned on…I just shook my head.  Then I went to take a shower…..again….instructions would be nice…..it took 5 minutes to figure out how to turn the shower on.  Ahhhhhh I miss America.  Let me describe the shower a little bit….there’s a short piece of glass right by the shower head…but the rest of the tub is open…no curtain, no glass, nothing…..and the walls in the bathroom are mirrors….so you watch yourself shower…it’s really weird and awkward….I miss America.  We did get chocolate on our pillows….and the 2 beers in the fridge are free……so that’s a plus! 

After we cleaned up we went downstairs and met President Colson and a few members from Deutsche Welle.  They took us to the conference center where the media forum will be taking place (Monday-Wednesday).  We set up our booth (the stupid banner, a tv playing the video we produced, and some Wartburg swag…I’ll post pictures later).  When we were done with that me, Travis and P Col walked back to our hotel (in the rain) and then we got coffee and talked for awhile about what we want to get out of the next few days.  German coffee is so strong….there’s not enough cream and sugar for me to enjoy it!  After that Travis and I decided to get dinner cause P Col had some fancy schmancy VIP dinner to attend.  A guy at the hotel gave us a recommendation of a little Italian café about 5 minutes away so we went there.  It was really good!  And very inexpensive, so that was awesome!

Since we’ve had a long few days with very little sleep we decided to call it a night.  Remember, it’s only 1pm for you…but it’s 8pm for us!  So getting used to this time change might take a little time!

We are meeting P Col for breakfast at 8:30am and then we will go register and start the conference!  Tomorrow we will be taking a lot of field trips instead of actually attending forums and being in the booth.

So, that has been my first experiences in Germany.  I didn’t mention this but this is completely new to me….I’ve only been to Mexico and Canada outside of the US….so I’m not used to this at all!  But it’s a new adventure….so hey….I’ll give it a chance!  Not having my phone is driving me crazy too….I feel naked!  We get one free hour of internet in the hotel a day, so that’s good fun (luckily it’s only like 2 dollars for an hour…so if I go over it’s no big deal).  Oh, and neither Travis nor I know any German….so this should be fun…..

More tomorrow! J

Shelby*