Destination: Deutschland

One-and-a-half hours in a car, eight hours on a train, nine hours on a plane, a couple Ubers, taxis and nights in different cities and we’ve finally made it to our (temporary) final destination: Köln.

Neither Johnna nor I could fall asleep on the plane, so by the time we got to our AirBnB around 13:00, we were running on roughly 24 hours without sleep. We forced ourselves to stay awake to try to recalibrate our sleep schedule—Germany is seven hours ahead of Missouri after all—but we only made it to 19:00. Surely we were tired enough that we would have no problem sleeping through the night. Right?

Well, don’t call me Shirley.

Midnight rolls around, Johnna wakes up, stubs her toe waking me up and there we were, wide awake in the middle of the night. We finally were tired enough to fall asleep again around 4:00 and thankfully, we didn’t wake up again until 9:00.

Let’s recap our journey.

Clinton, Missouri

2. September 2019

After we got the last of our belongings packed up, we loaded up in the car along with my mom, dad and sister and made the hour-long drive to Peculiar, Missouri, where we would be staying the night at Johnna’s sister’s house to catch a train in Kansas City the next morning. To say the least, it was not an easy car ride to sit through, each one of us knowing that things were going to be very different when the car stops and Johnna and I get out. We distracted ourselves from this thought for as long as we could by talking about what we are excited for and reminiscing about the past. As much as we all wanted this moment to last forever, the car finally stopped and it was time for Johnna and I to get out. Through tears, we exchanged hugs and loving words and turned to the next stop in our journey.

Peculiar, Missouri

3. September 2019

When we walked into Johnna’s sister’s house, we were greeted by friends, family and food. We spent the evening eating hotdogs and pinwheels, playing board games, chit-chatting and talking about our plans for the next 10 months. Once again, time is relentless and it was time for friends to go home, then Johnna’s mom. Once again, through teary eyes, we said our goodbyes and reassurances and she left. We unfolded the bed in the couch and set our alarm for 5:15 the next morning.

Johnna woke up about 45 minutes before the alarm and couldn’t fall back to sleep due to anticipation and excitement. She woke me up around 5:15 and we folded the bed back up and got ready to go. After saying goodbye to my brother-in-law and nieces, we packed up the car and headed for Union Station in Kansas City to catch our train that was scheduled to depart at 7:30.

Kansas City, Missouri

3. September 2019

Johnna’s sister parked the car and we unloaded our bags. It was the final goodbye. We all walked toward the exit of the parking lot, took pictures, gave hugs, then that was it. We walked toward Union Station with our home, our family and our friends behind us. It was hard saying goodbye to everyone we love, even if it’s only for 10 months, but in front of us was the opportunity of a lifetime.

Johnna and I have only been to Union Station in its museum capacity, so we didn’t even know which door to go in. Once inside, I had to ask someone, “Uhhhh…where’s the actual train station part?”

We made our way upstairs, walked a while, turned a couple times, and finally made it to the ticket desk where they took our bags and told us the train was about a half-hour late. He directed us to the waiting room where Johnna sat in the only remaining chair and I sat on the floor next to her. After a while, people stood up to go get in line for the train. We waited in line for about an hour before it even started moving. The train ended up being over an hour late, but we finally made it on. The train departed around 9:00.

Previously, my only real experience with trains was from when I went to the United Kingdom a few years ago and from Silver Dollar City. Needless to say, I went in with pretty high expectations. If you’re unfamiliar with how Amtrak operates, they only own about 623 miles of track across the US. Everywhere else—including our route—is owned by either Union Pacific or BNSF. This means that any time a freight train is close, Amtrak has to yield, leading to delays. Unfortunately, we had to yield several times, making our 7.5-hour train ride much longer than it should have been. The worst part is that even though we were stopped several times, not once was there a train robbing skit to help pass the time.

Aside from all that, the ride was pretty interesting. We sat across the aisle from a homeless guy from Los Angeles who was traveling to Chicago for a job opportunity with a carnival ride company. Unfortunately, he enjoyed showing off his taser to the person next to him and smoking in the bathroom against federal law, but with all the yielding going on, it certainly helped with the boredom factor.

In all seriousness, I really did enjoy the ride. We got to see three WWI biplanes flying in formation, we saw the flooding at the Missouri River, we saw a golden toilet in Walt Disney’s hometown and lots of beautiful landscape that you don’t get to see by car.

Chicago, Illinois

3. September 2019

At long last, we arrive at Union Station in Chicago two hours late. We made our way to the baggage claim, mentally prepared ourselves to continue and we stepped out right in the middle of downtown Chicago. Horns were honking, police were in the street yelling, pigeons were at our feet. Johnna and I were pretty exhausted from the train ride and were more than ready to get to our hotel. We hired an Uber to take us to our Holiday Inn just northwest of Chicago, right next door to Chicago O’Hare International Airport in a village called Rosemont.

We experienced two things for the first time: Uber and Chicago traffic (during rush hour thanks to our train being almost two hours late). Coming from a pretty rural town where the only real thing to worry about on the road were high schoolers rolling coal in their lifted trucks, this was quite the ride. After a 40-minute ride with a man who had a direct interest in getting us out of his car as quickly as possible in order to maximize his earning potential for Uber, we finally made it to the hotel.

We were far too exhausted to go far for dinner, so we ate at the Italian restaurant that was built-in to our hotel. We paid $40 for two bowls of spaghetti, went upstairs and called our parents to let them know we made it, then fell asleep.

Rosemont, Illinois

4. September 2019

We had a full day to kill before our flight at 19:30 that evening. When we woke up, we called the front desk and asked for a late checkout. The latest they could let us check out was 13:00, so that would have to do. In the meantime, we went to eat breakfast at the McDonald’s across the street, then decided to go to a nearby park until we had to check out of our hotel. Once again, we hired an Uber. This time, the ride was shorter and much less eventful. We get to the park and start walking around the trail of the lake.

We saw some ducks.

And we took some portraits.

After a couple hours, it was time to head back and check out. But not before the fire alarm.

After walking down nine floors, we got to the bottom and were told it was a false alarm. So we made our way back up, packed up and checked out.

Not wanting to carry our luggage around all day, we decided to go ahead and go to the airport, so we hopped on the shuttle provided by the hotel. We got to the airport right around 13:00.

Chicago O’Hare International Airport

4. September 2019

We couldn’t check our bags until 16:00, so we searched far and wide for a seat. After finally finding two adjacent seats, we sat around on our phones and just observed for a while. An international airport is probably the best place to people watch. You see funny things and weird things, separation and reunification, and if you’re lucky, you can have a conversation with someone you would normally never cross paths with.

As 16:00 approached, we decided to move closer to where the line for our airline would be. We found a spot and were soon joined by a man from New Zealand who was visiting his brother, along with his mother. They told us a little about their lives and we told them about what we were up to. They were both incredibly friendly and it was very nice to talk to them to help pass the time. When the conversation came to a lull, we noticed people had started lining up in front of our airline, Icelandair. We said our goodbyes and wished them well on their 16-hour flight back to New Zealand.

While in line, we began talking to the people behind us, a father and son. Johnna was talking about why we were going to Germany and by an incredible coincidence, the son we were talking to was also traveling to Germany to teach English on the exact same Fulbright grant Johnna has. I’m no statistician, but two people on the same grant, at the same airport, standing next to each other in line for the same airline, going to the same destination on the same day several days before we actually need to be here seems pretty unlikely. So we talked and bonded.

Once we made it through security, Johnna and I plane-watched for a bit then met back up with him at our gate. We sat across from each other on the seats at the gate. As he and Johnna were talking, the lady next to us turned and excitedly asked them, “Are you guys Fulbrighters!?”

Shocked at the even slimmer odds of meeting a third Fulbright recipient at the same airport on the same airline on the same day, they said yes. This lady had taught English in Germany through Fulbright 13 years ago. She began telling Johnna and our new friend what they could expect from their experience teaching in Germany, what to look out for, what to do, how to connect to the community and all kinds of other useful information.

After talking with them for a while, and a 45-minute delay, it was finally time to board around 19:45. Upon boarding, we were handed a bottle of water and took our seats in the exit row where we we were each greeted with a nicely-folded blanket and pillow. We were both very excited to fly. Thankfully, despite the delay, the flight was expected to be on time for our layover.

While we were booking our flights, we were excited to try Icelandair. We’ve heard good things about it and we really liked the idea of a layover in Iceland. It was also cheap. When we booked the tickets, we didn’t put 2 and 2 together. We were flying at night. To Iceland. And we were sitting on the left (AKA north) side of the plane.

We were unexpectedly surprised by the Northern Lights! I grabbed my camera and did my best to take a halfway decent photo through the plane window. The red on the left side of the photo is a light from the plane. Johnna and I glued our eyes to this incredible display until the sun started rising, overpowering the natural glow of the aurora. This experience alone made all this travel worth it.

Reykjavik, Iceland

5. September 2019

Unfortunately, our layover in Iceland was only an hour. Johnna and I both have wanted to visit Iceland since before we were married, but for now, we could only enjoy it from the tarmac of the airport. We had little time to spare and barely made it onto the shuttle that took us to the plane for our second and final flight to Düsseldorf.

Düsseldorf, Deutschland

5. September 2019

Our flight to Düsseldorf was much less eventful, but also much quicker. We got off the plane and had two hours until we had to catch our next train that would take us to Köln. We took a taxi from the airport to the Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof (train station). While we were there, Johnna got some food and we sat around until our train left at 13:30.

We made our way to Platform 16 and got on the train for the half-hour ride to Köln. This train experience was the polar opposite of what we experienced in the United States. This train was fast, powered by electricity, yielded to no one and the train station was modern and highly efficient.

When the train arrived, we rushed to get ourselves and all our stuff on and find a seat. If there was no rush, you were getting left behind. Everything is on an extremely strict schedule. Half-an-hour later, we arrived at the Köln Hauptbahnhof and rushed off the train. We had a 20-minute walk to our AirBnB.

Köln, Deutschland

5. September 2019

Johnna, myself and 45 kilograms (~100 pounds) of luggage made the excruciating trek from the Hauptbahnhof to where we were staying near the city center. Our legs were dead, we were incredibly tired, dehydrated and wanted nothing more than to rest. We got to our AirBnB, received our key, and finally got a chance to rest. We stayed awake until 19:00 in an attempt to recalibrate our sleep schedules and, for the most part, it worked despite waking up at midnight. Thankfully, we were able to fall back to sleep to prepare for our first full day in Deutschland.

-Kyer Lasswell