Day 2: Paris, Froggy Airplane Issues and Arrival in Germany
You know, the 13 years of French that I took from 8th grade until my 7th year of college paid off. I excelled in the dialog with the chicks on the plane and breezed through any conversations with people in the airport. It was worth all the time and money I spent.
In all seriousness, France feels very natural to me. I need to spend more time than an occasional flight layover.

In the bus to the small Air France plane, there was an interesting mixture of French, German and American travelers. You could tell the difference at a glance, the Germans looked a bit strict, whereas the French looked a bit more laid back. The Americans talked loudly and asked absurd questions.

We boarded the plane and sat and sat and sat. Between mini-naps, the main stewardess chick explained that the electronics were broken on the plane.

Big deal, I thought, let's go anyway.

The stewardess butchered the German language, which is typical of Air France Stewardesses. (On flights to Poland, they don't even bother to have people that speak Polish.)

Earlier, in the airport, I bought a nice French Macintosh magazine which I read while they were deciding whether they could fix the electrical issue on the plane. We waited on the tarmac for over an hour.

Apparently, It really sucks to have an iPod in France. For unknown reasons, the French government imposes a tax on computer memory. So an iPod nano that costs 185 Euro in Germany costs ___ in France. Oh, and the French government is concerned that you might have the device too loud and "hurt your lattle Froggay ears," so they made Apple change the firmware to only allow you to turn the volume to a certain level.

I learned some new French words, like: "Internaute" and "Bloggeur"

ARRIVAL IN HANNOVER

I was a bit tired when I arrived in Hannover. I was convinced that I had left my cigarettes and other things on the plane. I asked a airline rep. She smiled thinking "You are a dumbass. Ordnung muß sein."

Peter greeted me as I left the baggage claim and zoomed us back to Ilsede. At "home," Peter and I relaxed and caught up on the year, talking everything from Politics to economics

DINNER

When Marita came home, ee walked to Julia and S¨ören's house.

It was very quiet and Dark. Even Marita commented on how dark it was. Had they turned off some street. lights in an attempt to save money?

My favorite part was passing through Gewalt Allee, or "Rape Alley." A paved, but unlit shortcut that takes you through the woods.

Later on, the family was amused at me bringing up the fear of getting raped in this Alley, in Ilsede.

Over dinner, I learned that Christmas is also stressful in Germany. They described all the preparations, how busy the supermarkets were, etc. "Take all the stress here and Germany and multiply that by 1.5... I think you'll find that number to be what we have in the States."

I was in bed by 9:30 as I was dead tired. It was so quiet and peaceful in "my" upstairs room. This is probably my 10th time visiting the Balkes and I have stayed in this room every time. It feels like home.
- posted by Matt @ 4:12 AM