"Experiences in Frankfurt" a Frankfurt am Main Travel Page by emoja

ouch. i got in so early, the hotel wouldn't even let me check in. so i ended up walking around for a few hours. i ran into a young man named anis, who showed me around the immediate vicinty of my hotel (my father taught me well - no way was i letting a stranger escort me too far from what was familiar...)

anis couldn't speak english well at all, so i had to pantomine all my needs. i pantomined "where can i get on the internet?" and he showed me to a hostel with internet access. i pantomined "where can i use the bathroom?" and he showed me to a bathroom with a toilet that consisted of a hole in the floor. needless to say, i ended up using the bathroom at the hostel.

i took a full day tour of the Rhine with seven other people - they were from the US, Singapore, and Mexico. it was a wonderful mix, although the American woman got on my nerves... we were eating lunch and everyone who came into the restaurant would say, "Guten Tag!" very cheerfully to the entire room. after a few times of hearing this, the American muttered: "How come they can't just say 'hello' like that rest of the world?"

there went all my hopes and dreams of making a new friend ;-)

because i was travelling alone, i didn't want to be out too much after dark. so instead of travelling to the train station at night, i went early and waited five hours for my overnight train to prague.

while there, a very dirty, homeless man carrying a stuffed trashbag started talking wildly to me in german. i couldn't understand a word, but i sort of nodded at him and looked away a lot in order to discourage him. he was gesturing frantically, i thought he might be mentally ill or something.

but then he asked me if i was from germany. you know how sometimes you instinctively know what a person is asking, even if it's in another language? well, i shook my head 'no,' and then he asked me - in perfect english - "where are you from?"

well, me and that guy ended up talking for hours before my train arrived. we talked of politics, travel, and the black power movement of the 70s - he even raised his fist in the air in the classic black power salute! we hugged goodbye when my train came, and he kissed me on the cheek. i waved at him from my sleeper as the train pulled off.

lesson learned - don't assume anything about a person if you can't understand their language. who knows - that guy could have been breaking down quantum physics to me in german and just been excited as all get out about it.