How do you navigate in a foreign country with poor language skills? The answer is NOT ALONE. And NOT AT NIGHT.
This past weekend, I traveled to stay with my friend a few hours from my city. The plan was on Friday afternoon I would hop on a train and meet her at a stop in her small city. This didn't work out, at all. I got to the main station around 3:45 and bought a train ticket leaving around 4, and I was supposed to arrive at my friends stop by 5:30. After I had my ticket, I realized I had no idea what Gleis(platform) to go to. So I went back, printed out a timetable and went to basically every get until I found the right numbers. I got on the train and started going. I was talking to my friend during this, and I told her my train number and she said something along the lines of "That is the train going in the opposite direction" Oh. Ok. So I got off at the next stop, and called my friend. I spoke to her host mother, and she told me what train to get on. My phone battery died just then, but I thought all was ok, I was on the train(which I had to sprint to to make) and I just had to wait. So I waited and waited....and waited and finally at about 6, I turned my phone back on and with 3% battery left got a text message from my friends host family saying "Ok good you are on the train! Get off at the Koeln Hbf and get on this train." I hadn't gotten off at Hbf. I had been on the wrong train for 2 hours, going the complete wrong direction from where I was trying to go. I had enough battery then to called my friend's hosts and explain what had happened. They then agreed to pick me up in a city about an hour from their city. I went to the service center and bought a new train ticket, this time for an ICE train, which is much nicer, but also much more expensive. This train went directly to Andernach, the city where they would pick me up, but I was already so far, the train was not set to arrive in Andernach until 8:30.
I was able to get on the train and charge my phone battery to avoid any other problems. The train was behind schedule though, so I got to Andernach around 9 o clock. I felt so horrible because my friends host family had left their home to pick me up in Andernach at 5:45. When I finally arrived however they were very nice and understanding about it, and the host father actually found it quite funny.
After the horrible trip there, the weekend ended up being very fun. I got to see a lot of friends, the beautiful city of Koblenz, and learn a lot about the German train system.
It is very confusing when you don't really even know in what direction you are supposed to travel in. So my advice is don't travel alone without a map, and always charge your cellphone before traveling.
This past weekend, I traveled to stay with my friend a few hours from my city. The plan was on Friday afternoon I would hop on a train and meet her at a stop in her small city. This didn't work out, at all. I got to the main station around 3:45 and bought a train ticket leaving around 4, and I was supposed to arrive at my friends stop by 5:30. After I had my ticket, I realized I had no idea what Gleis(platform) to go to. So I went back, printed out a timetable and went to basically every get until I found the right numbers. I got on the train and started going. I was talking to my friend during this, and I told her my train number and she said something along the lines of "That is the train going in the opposite direction" Oh. Ok. So I got off at the next stop, and called my friend. I spoke to her host mother, and she told me what train to get on. My phone battery died just then, but I thought all was ok, I was on the train(which I had to sprint to to make) and I just had to wait. So I waited and waited....and waited and finally at about 6, I turned my phone back on and with 3% battery left got a text message from my friends host family saying "Ok good you are on the train! Get off at the Koeln Hbf and get on this train." I hadn't gotten off at Hbf. I had been on the wrong train for 2 hours, going the complete wrong direction from where I was trying to go. I had enough battery then to called my friend's hosts and explain what had happened. They then agreed to pick me up in a city about an hour from their city. I went to the service center and bought a new train ticket, this time for an ICE train, which is much nicer, but also much more expensive. This train went directly to Andernach, the city where they would pick me up, but I was already so far, the train was not set to arrive in Andernach until 8:30.
I was able to get on the train and charge my phone battery to avoid any other problems. The train was behind schedule though, so I got to Andernach around 9 o clock. I felt so horrible because my friends host family had left their home to pick me up in Andernach at 5:45. When I finally arrived however they were very nice and understanding about it, and the host father actually found it quite funny.
After the horrible trip there, the weekend ended up being very fun. I got to see a lot of friends, the beautiful city of Koblenz, and learn a lot about the German train system.
It is very confusing when you don't really even know in what direction you are supposed to travel in. So my advice is don't travel alone without a map, and always charge your cellphone before traveling.
