Germany 101

Hi all!
It is 9 pm here on Friday evening. My watch says that it is 3 pm where most of you are. (Arizona people aren't included in that estimate.) :-)

The boys and I had a very "easy" trip here. The flight was somewhat uncomfortable as I have never sat in such small seats nor had such narrow aisles before. It was difficult to get comfortable after several hours. The boys heard the stewardess tell someone that this plane has the smallest seats/aisles and it will be retired in September. If I were any wider, I don't think I would have fit! I had a young teenage boy (smaller than my boys) next to me and I still felt like I had to sit with my elbows scrunched in. (And I was on an aisle seat!) When we arrived in Amsterdam we had a moments hesitation on how to proceed. It took our luggage a little while to come off the belt and since the computer said it was all unloaded, we wondered why we only had half of it. However, several other people were in the same boat so we continued waiting and eventually the conveyor belt spit it out.
We then walked through the gate labeled "customs - nothing to declare". There wasn't even anyone there to check anything! We just walked out. In general, we found the security in Canada and Holland much more lax than it is in the USA. I jumped through more hoops to get from Detroit to Florida last year than to get here!
We knew we needed to get on a train and the boys wanted to head down to a certain track but I convinced them that I wanted to talk to a human first. We went to the wrong window but he kindly directed us to the correct one. All we had to do was tell him we wanted to get to Bremen, Germany and he got to work plotting the best way for us to go. Once he had 2 possibilities, he checked with someone else on which would be best for unfamiliar with the system foreigners and told us how to do each step of the way. He circled the times, tracks, and stops on a piece of paper and pointed us in the correct direction. He also validated our Euro rail pass and gave us instructions for its use. Within minutes (and several pictures later) we were on a train.
We made 2 transitions to other trains. One got a little hairy because the boys were starving and there was a Burger King there so I stopped to get them something to eat before the next several hour train ride. The Burger King people were very slow. (I think it was still breakfast time for them so they had to make the boys' sandwiches and fries.) As a result, we had to rush for the train and it involved crossing the tracks (a first for us) but the train came before we got across. We made it, but barely! Then we couldn't find the name of the place we wanted to get to so we didn't dare get on. I tried to follow a guy to the door of the train to ask him but he was too fast. A woman sitting near the door noticed our hesitation and came to the door. I asked her if this train would take us to Munster, Germany. (We were still in the Netherlands I think.) She said yes so we hopped on and away we went. The next transition we knew would be tight but we were prepared and it went fine except that we weren't 100% sure we were in the right spot. A kindly gentleman who said he spoke a "little English" assured us that we were.
Once we got off the last train I was in the middle of saying to the boys, "OK, this is the only iffy part. Somehow we have to find dad or connect with the University of Bremen." when Len walked up! He said he had arrivied at the train station 4 minutes before and decided to try this track first in looking for us! Wow! Was God ever watching out for us there!
We all hopped on the train that goes through the city (like a bus). When we wanted to get off, the door wouldn't open! We rode to the next stop standing by the door with an old woman. At the next stop, Len asked her "How do you open the door?" She didn't answer and didn't do anything either. All of a sudden, a man came running up to catch the train and the door opened for him when he was on the outside. The old lady and we quickly rushed out as he ran in! We just had a little further to walk to get back to our apartment!

Our apartment is very nice and overlooks a river from our bedroom and the living room/boys' bedroom. Actually, we are on a little peninsula that sits between the Weser River and the Kleine Weser River. There is a pirate ship across from us as well as several other boats. Barges come and go as well. There is also a church right across the river from us that is pretty to look at and to listen to the church bells.

Len and the students had a little more eventful trip than the boys and me. Their plane was delayed in Detroit because the back door wouldn't close. when they got it closed, the engine wouldn't start and they had to put a new starter on. Instead of having a long layover in Amsterdam, they had to run through customs to make their connecting flight to Germany. They made it but their luggage did not. They all arrived tired and without their "stuff". Len got them into their rooms and then headed for the train station to see if he could figure out when we would arrive. (And I've already told you about that miraculous meeting!)

When we put our luggage into the room (while some very envious students watched!), Len and I walked to the store to buy some food. That is an experience when you can't read the labels! We hope we bought caffeinated coffee and not decaf! We bought a dressing for a salad that was white figuring it might be like ranch or caesar dressing. It wasn't but it was ok. The students had shopped earlier while Len came to meet us and they invited us to join them for spaghetti. We bought stuff for a salad and some bread and cookies to contribute to the meal. We bought stroop waffles (our favorite) and "American cookies" (which were chocolate chip cookies.) The milk comes in boxes and is not refrigerated in the store. Tomorrow night we will all go out for supper and between now and Sunday, we wil buy some food for the main meal on that day. We did buy cereal, bananas, bread, lunchmeat, mayo and mustard for breakfasts and lunch.

After our delicious dinner, Len returned to the airport to see about their luggage. He was told that they had delivered it but no one answered the door. He finally got confirmation of where it was and returned to the apartment to wait for the driver. I (Ann) went to wake up the students to tell them when it arrived and to come down and get it. I accidently woke up 2 Oriental men by knocking on the wrong doors. Oops!

The boys conked out very early after taking showers. They've only had cat-naps in the last 24 plus hours. Jacob fell asleep on the final train and we had trouble waking him up.(Much to the amusement of the passengers around him!)
Well, time for me to hit the bed also. I'm sure it will feel great!
Ann