Back Home

I use the word "home" to describe many places, but in this case, I mean Kandern home. After quite the adventurous travel day on Saturday, I made it safely back to Kandern. I'm enjoying being back in this community with so many amazing people that I am blessed to know. I'm currently trying to process what I learned and experienced during my time in Dresden, as well as trying to step back into life here. Today my brain and body are feeling the intensity of the last four weeks. I am realizing that our minds and bodies don't always make these transitions as quickly as we think they should. I need to remind myself that I am not superwoman. :) I need to allow myself grace. Thankfully, I have people in my life to remind me of this. :)

For those of you who care to hear the story of my latest travel adventure, please continue reading. :)

Some of you know that I have a history of interesting travel adventures within the US, but thankfully my experiences outside the US have been much smoother. I find the European travel systems to be very efficient and dependable. I love German trains. Very rarely do you have any problems, delays, etc. with the trains.

Saturday was supposed to be an "easy" trip. Two ICE (fast trains). One connection in Frankfurt. No big deal. However, it ended up being 1 RE (slow) train, 1 IC (medium) train, and 3 ICE (fast) trains.

The details:

When I arrived at the Dresden train station Saturday morning, I noticed "something beachte" (i.e. - German words I didn't understand) next to my train on the schedule board, but I didn't think anything of it. Then, when I got to the platform, I was surprised to see a red RE (slow) train instead of a white ICE (fast) train. But the info on the screen was correct. So I approached the DB (Deutsche Bahn) man standing on the platform and asked him (in English, because I knew I wouldn't understand his train vocab) what was going on. He told me that all of the ICE trains were "in the depot" and that I would need to take this "replacement train" to Leipzig and get on another "replacement train" to Frankfurt.

Now, I know I have a history of sometimes panicking and overreacting at these situations. But I didn't. I calmly got on the train. As the train made it's way to Leipzig I wondered what was really happening. "Are all the fast trains in Germany on strike? Am I going to have to go all the way to Basel on slow trains? Am I going to get there before Sunday night?" and "Who am I going to call if I don't make it to Basel in time to catch the last bus back to Kandern?" I have a cell phone that I use for emergencies and during English Camp, and I realized that I have very few numbers programmed into it. Oops. But I decide to just wait and see what happens - I knew eventually I would figure out more of what was going on.

In Leipzig, we all get off the RE and onto an IC (medium fast) train. The train is PACKED. FULL. Normally, that does not happen. I think they usually kick people off. But under the circumstances, they let us cram on. It took between 3 and 4 hours to get to Frankfurt, and I stood for about half the time.

In Frankfurt, I was thankful to see ICE trains. I thought to myself "Ok, the hard part of this trip is over. I am only about an hour behind schedule. Things should go smoothly from here and work out." I thought I could let my mind relax and not be on overdrive, trying to figure out all the German announcements. I knew that I had to get on one ICE train and then change to another in Mannheim. Which I did. And that was the point where I thought I could truly relax.

Oh no. Of course not. Then they made an announcement (in German) that "Today, this train will be ending in Offenburg." I understood that, and that I would need to get on another train. However, it was not until the same announcement was displayed on the monitor/screen that I understood that I needed to switch trains in Karlsruhe. I was thankful to have caught that important detail the second time around!

While I was waiting on the platform in Karlsruhe, I noticed that the screen had a special announcement about Offenburg. I didn't understand the key German word, and I was afraid that this train would end in Offenburg too, and that I would be stuck. So I approached the friendly DB man standing on the platform. He was hesitant when I asked him if he spoke English. But I asked him if the train was stopping in Offenburg or ending in Offenburg. He hesitated and didn't answer, and I decided that wasn't important anyways. So I asked "I need to get to Basel. Is this train going to Basel?" He said yes. I smiled, said "thank you," and with much relief, got on the train.

I had to switch seats once on this train because I misunderstood the sign and had been sitting in a reserved seat, but it all worked out. I was very thankful to get to Basel only an hour and a half later than originally planned. Which means I made the last bus back to Kandern. And when I got on the bus, some of my fellow North American single gals were also on the bus, so it was fun to catch up with them.

As much as it felt like a crazy day because my senses were on high alert trying to figure out what was going on, it could have been much worse. Evidently the situation was that they were servicing/inspecting/doing something to the ICE fleet of trains over the weekend.

Not to overly spiritualize things, but as I stood on the platform in Karlsruhe, I thought about how that day was a lot like life. (Probably I made this connection in my mind because of everything I have been processing recently.) I just kept listening to what the DB people told me to do, and I took it one step at a time. That's how my life is - I just keep following God one step at a time, as He shows me what that next step is supposed to be. And I shouldn't worry or be stressed because, thankfully, as dependable as DB usually is, God is even more so. He NEVER fails. Praise Him for that!