Arriving in Esslingen

[stevenpiziks]

We rode the train to Esslingen. This was a six-hour deal, but I like traveling by train. Way more room and less stress than flying, more comfortable than by bus. The only problem we had was how to stash the luggage. German mass-transit is wonderful about a lot of things (cleanliness, ease, speed),  but they can’t seem to figure out how to design a train car with adequate luggage space for travelers. We had 26 people, all with two bags. There was literally no room for all the suitcases in the luggage racks, and we were forbidden from using the open area between the cars. In the end, we stashed bags behind seats and piled them in an extra seat that we’d bought for someone who ended up canceling. This also meant figuring out some serious logistics—the trains stop for three minutes at each stop, and if you and your luggage haven’t de-trained by then, you’re off for the next city.

We ended up doing a fire brigade. When the train stopped, a bunch of students debarked and the remaining students literally threw the suitcases onto the platform to them. We barely made it!

At Esslingen, a handful of students met us with SM, one of the teachers I knew. Joyful reunion! Then we gathered up our stuff and hoofed it about half a mile through hot, sticky sunlight to the school, where the rest of the families awaited us.  More joyful reunions! (Remember, the students all knew each other from the American end of the exchange.) The parents had brought a potluck supper and we had a little welcome party in the school’s cafeteria.

Here, I met JK for the first time in person. JK (I use initials because many Germans are more leery of social media) and I had been corresponding for several months by email. He was supposed to come to the American exchange to stay with Darwin and me, but he got injured and couldn’t fly at the last minute. (This is how we met and befriended CE, his substitute.)

Anyway, Jan and I got to meet and it was a fine thing. We got on quite well.  

The party ended early—everyone was tired and wanted to get home.  I saw the students off and hopped into JK’s car. In JK's apartment in Stuttgart (a short but winding drive away), I got the chance to settle in. JK is a biology teacher and a comic book geek (yay!), so the apartment is filled with exotic plants, fish tanks, and other interesting animals (including poisonous frogs, geckos, and a variety of insects). The apartment building overlooks the valley where Stuttgart lies, and the view of the mountains is striking in every way. On the balcony in the morning, we eat a breakfast of bread, cheese, and tea and listen to the church bells in the distance. You don’t get more German than this!