Train Tracks

Yesterday, a friend who I have not seen for a very long time came by train, arriving in Regensburg.

Ironically at the same time, a friend who I will not see again for a very long time boarded that exact same train at the exact same moment, departing from Regensburg.

Bus Strike

Oh, criminy. Here is an e-mail I just got this afternoon.

Liebe Studierende,

es kann sein, dass morgen, 03. Februar 09, alle Busse in Regensburg und Umgebung streiken werden. Momentan ist es noch nicht sicher, aber es ist wahrscheinlich.

Bitte checken Sie die Homepage des RVV für aktuelle Informationen, heute abend und morgen früh.
http://www.rvv.de
Wenn gestreikt wird, finden sie dort Informationen.

Bitte bedenken Sie: wenn keine Busse fahren, müssen Sie zu Fuß, mit dem Rad, mit Taxi oder einem Freund, der ein Auto hat, an die Uni kommen. Planen Sie auf alle Fälle mehr Zeit ein, damit Sie rechtzeitig zu Ihren Prüfungen an der Uni sind!!

Which translates to:

Dear students,

it's possible that all busses in and around Regensburg will be on strike tomorrow, February 3, 2009. At the moment, nothing has been decided yet, but it is highly likley.

Please check the RVV homepage for updated information (this evening and also tomorrow morning):
http://www.rvv.de
If there will be a strike, you'll find information there (German only, I'm afraid).

Please consider that if there are no busses tomorrow, you either have to walk to university, ride your bike, take a cab, or go together with a friend who has a car.
You need to leave home a lot earlier so that you can be on time for your exams/classes.

Fortunately, none of my exams this week are tomorrow. I have an exam at 08:15 on Thursday. That would be highly unfortunate.

Also, it's bloody cold outside right now. Regensburg gets a fairly long, hard winter.

Seniors on Buses

It's customary here to offer your seat to an elderly person on the bus. (There are even ads above the bus windows that sport an amiable-looking girl with a speech bubble that translates, "I think it's a great thing to offer your seat to the elderly. You should do it, too!"). The problem I have found is when an older but not necessarily elderly person steps on. Normally, a very old person who has trouble walking and really does need it will give you the wrinkled but adorable smile of appreciation and a faintly lisping thank you as they wobblingly take the seat you offer, and then both parties carry on with good feeling.

But when an old German man or woman walks on who is vaguely between middle-aged and clearly-defined old, I find myself in a slight dilemma as I ponder the next step. If you stay because they don't look that old and seem alright, would that be the wrong choice? Would you actually be neglecting someone who actually needs it but is too timid to ask for a seat?

But then what if you ask, and the old lady is insulted and depressed by the fact that people are offering her seats on the bus now and her youth is so obviously dissipating? Is it better to offer the seat or just be willing to give it when it's requested?

You read this and don't think it's a big deal, but trust me, this occurs a lot when you take public transport every day. And you will think about it.

Shuttle: Munich to Regensburg!

Upon arrival in Munich, I was so worn out that lugging my 60+ lbs. of luggage behind me and navigating my way through the giant airport using only German to locate both an exchange station and the shuttle meeting point seemed like swimming down the length of the Amazon with a dead badger tied to my waist.

BUT I MADE IT. Despite feeling lost, lonely, helpless, weak, tired, and an overwhelming feeling of, "Quoi???," I made it. I exchanged enough to pay for the shuttle (€35) and finally found the shuttle meeting point. I was probably some 45 minutes late, with slight arrival delay and lost wandering calculated in.

The shuttle takes up to 6 people at a time in a van. So get this. Among the other passengers is a young German couple traveling home together, probably students. His girlfriend is next to him, I already made him and the entire group enormously late, I nearly got on before the driver said it was okay to, yet this guy politely opens the front door for me when we're all ready to board. That's manners. All I am is some confused foreign idiot tripping over the native language like a frog on stilts who delayed their trip going home by nearly an hour. And he still made sure to get the door for me and see that I was seated.

I just thought that was nice. There's a number of you boy-people out there who could definitely pick up something good from this.

Airplanes

To get to Germany next week, I'll be hopping three different planes.


:)

(I didn't draw this comic. Click on it to visit the original site.)