I got into the Basel airport and marched through customs. They stamped my passport without any question. (Unlike the canadian boarder guard who questioned me about how much money I had.) Then I went to find an ATM, but it wouldn't take my credit card. I thought I had my pin wrong, so I just kept trying. Then I tried to buy internet to call my mom and it wouldn't take my card, either. Finally I found a currency exchange office that was still open and hopped on my flight into Freiburg proper. Monica, my best friend from Junior year, has spent her Senior year in Freiburg where her father is taking sabbatical. She met me at the bus station.
"M!" I yelled to her.
"Désolé," she said in French, "I didn't recognize you."
I hardly recognized her either. She'd grown out her hair since leaving Interlochen, to fit in better in Germany. I'd stood in front of the mirror one day and chopped my hair off.
"I'll take your suitcase," she said,"
"I don't have one," I said, "And I think I overpacked."
We walked through the drizzle back to their apartment. It looked just like something you'd see in Ikea. We ate (what seemed like a very authentic dinner) of salad, vegetarian schnitzel and funny pasta, with white wine, of course. We sat on their balcony, from which we had a beautiful view of the black forest and the steeple of the Munster cathedral. Then, near midnight, we went to the bank where I got money from an ATM and then we got gelato. The pistachio was very good!
M and I left early the next morning. I wanted more time in Freiburg, too bad my flight had been canceled. Freiburg was the most beautiful town I've seen, with the mountains of Vancouver, the trees of Interlochen and the old buildings of Minneapolis.
And all the signs I couldn't understand.
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