Arrived

Well, I'm finally here, and I gotta say the Verizon reception is absolutely terrible..... Sometimes the bad jokes are the good ones, right??

I just got to Cologne, and I don't want to stay in this hotel very long, so I'll give a short list of observations / short stories..

In Washington DC , in the international terminal, typed on the ATM screen was "Dip your card for service." Yep, no clue..

I flew from Munich from there, didn't sleep at all as it was only 4pm Chicago time when the plane took off, and read the whole way. Two words to describe the airport in Munich -- modern and pristine. Very nice airport. Even the tables in their much cleaner food courts have some pine cone decoration in the center. (The uploaded pic is from there.)

The Munich Airport has lines of coffee machines against the wall across from their food courts where you can get free coffee. I didn't know how to use them, however. I was just kind of half heartedly watching the "coffee area" from my gate to know people were getting it for free. So I approached the scene, took a cup from the stack of cups that was on the shelf and placed it under a dispenser of one of the machines and pressed the button. (There was only one button.) Nothing. I looked around a bit, no one appeared to be paying attention, and this time I pressed and held the button for a few seconds. Still nothing. One more quick push. Nothing. At this time, I started to fidget awkwardly knowing people were watching me trying to work the machine and it was becoming painfully obvious I didn't know what I was doing. I picked up my cup took a step back and stared hard at the machine. I then made eye contact with a guy watching me from a few feet behind, and he gave me this bewildered look like I just place a hot dog under the dispenser and looked at him to see what to do next. It was then I realized there is a five second or so delay, and then the coffee dispenses.. I quickly recovered, put my cup back under the spout, and got a half cup full.

I was a little annoyed with the fact that every announcement in German was repeated in English -- both in the German airports and on the planes. Even on my intra-German flight Munich - Cologne, the German announcements were followed by the English. I was also working myself up to use the German I've been practicing religiously for the past few years. My first opportunity was on the Munich to Cologne flight when the attendants were walking down the aisle offering refreshments. As I saw her approach, I was getting excited/nervous like a 5 year old about to sit on Santa's lap for the first time.. This is a language I've studied so hard as of late , and now I can finally use it. She finally got to my row and I almost bursted out with my order before it was even my turn. After she took the order of the passenger next to me , I was sufficiently worked up and yelled "COFFEE AND WATER, PLEASE!!", in German. It was borderline abusive. She responded in English which took some of the pressure off. My next attempts should be better. : )