The journey to Eislingen

Here's what I have: it's actually a bunch of posts on the breaks I had on the way here--but I put it all into one. Why not?

Plane 1: MKE nach Newark.
Traveling is, for me, an altogether solitary activity. Each has his agenda that is unique to him, though our paths cross along the way... We share the experiences of the action itself: cars, trains, airplanes, the general act of removing oneself from "home" to go somewhere else, etc. But our destinations are always different-- even when the cities themselves are the same. Some of us are running, some are reaching, some returning, and others wandering; everyone is going, though. My ears are popping thousands of feet above the earth and the clouds surround me like marshmallow UFOs. I can hardly believe this is my life and that my home is about to change once again. I keep wondering if the marshmallow UFOs are going to shoot down the plane and I will wake up once again in Waukesha. Wah, wah, wah.

A sudden yawn has just created that startling release of air pressure that returned me to the world of hearing--though probably only temporarily. (Airport #2: Newark. The perfect site for some good old fashioned people watching.) On one side of me is a group of middle-eastern-looking men, and on the other four white, upperclass-American-looking men. The group to the right of me doesn't even attempt to hide the racism spewing forth. Take a guess at which group it is...

Airport #3: (train station.) My hands are covered in blisters from lugging nearly 200 pounds (yes 200) of crap that I own around. Why do we all have so much shit anyway? If I had a do-over I would make some serious cuts and just buy what I need. I'm starting to wonder whether I really need ten sweaters and all those books I couldn't bear to leave behind... Hind sight. So it goes.
The train leaves in an hour, so until then I'm enjoying a good sit before the bustle continues. One hour ride to Stuttgart and then forty minutes to Eislingen, where Tina and Dagmur will pick me up.
I already made a friend, by the way. Johanna from Heidelberg. She will be hearing from me since a) Heidelberg is awesome and b) I don't know any other people my age.

Train to Stuttgart gets more exciting each minute as flat Wisconsin-esque lands slowly roll into hills that look more like mountains as each kilometer passes. Some Germans gave me dirty looks with all my obnoxious luggage, some took pity (poor thing look), and one was even nice enough to help. Cheers to a rough journey almost over...or almost begun?

Endlich...Eislingen. Tina, Dagmur und Leni picked me up. Tina is Peters wife, the random family friend of friend connection; Dagmur is the teacher I will be working with; Leni is my landlord. My place is great--Huge windows, bright walls, tile floors, nice kitchen, washing machines (including a dishwasher), bed with huge pillows (if you know me well, you know how much that means to me), and even equipped with the basic necessities of life. Its about 50 degrees here, though, so I could go for a couple more degrees (but I cant get too needy, I suppose).
I went out to dinner with the above mentioned people plus Peter and minus Dagmur. We had the typical German cuisine: Italian food. Gotta love it. I feel like Ive been adopted. Tomorrow Peter is going to pick me up and bring me to the next town to figure out a cell phone and internet (in case this mysterious connection craps out), and then I will go become a resident of Eislingen.

Pictures to come. Im already struggling to keep my languages straight, so good luck comprehending future posts.


Herzliche Grüße aus Eislingen.
Sara