Firstly, the pictures accompanying this post aren’t from today. Today, we’re riding a bus for 6 hours, so count yourself lucky you don’t have to look at the road all day like I do.

Oh, it’s not actually that bad: I like long car trips, and this bus is approximately 10 times bigger than our motley crew requires, so space is NOT the issue. But I didn’t get on here to talk about this bus anyway, I got on here to talk about Germany!… obviously.

What to say? I couldn’t make a statement about all of Germany without feeling fraudulent, because A) I haven’t seen it all, and B) it’s a whole country. You can’t just throw around wholesale stereotypes of entire nations, I don’t think it makes sense. I sure wouldn’t appreciate it about the USA.

But you know, I HAVE found one universal personality trait among the German populace that I’d like to take a moment to discuss: They all act like people. Some of the couples hold hands, some don’t. Some strangers smile at you, some don’t. Most little kids are cute, hotel workers are polite, people on the street sometimes less so. It’s… recognizable. People are people! I find myself slightly surprised by this revelation, but I suspected it all along. It takes a lot more than 6,000 miles to iron out all of the wrinkles in the human spirit.

None of this to say I don’t feel like a fish out of water over here. I don’t speak German! Makes finding the bathroom a bit of a trick sometimes. Sure, most people speak English pretty well, but it’s a concession on their part, an accommodation of my ignorance. It’s a bit embarrassing and kind of a bummer.

But, even as an American tourist, deaf and dumb to the locals, somehow doomed to stick out in a crowd just because of my posture or my shirt-

Even then, I’m finding peace. Turns out, you can get comfortable with anything, even the ACTUAL feeling of being uncomfortable. Such are humans. We adapt, we improvise, we overcome. I’ve made it this far, and I’m not done yet.

All right, Germany, what else you got?

So, as a quick note, don’t count on the strict chronology of these posts. It turns out, WiFi is unreliable when you’re traveling about a million miles a day.

Anyway, right now I’m on a train with the gang, headed to Stuttgart (my phone just autocorrected that name so it better be right). I feel a bit like Harry Potter, a bit like Mr. Bean, but mostly like a kid from Kansas who’s currently stuck right in the middle of a foreign country.

All in all, the first impressions are fairly positive. I was pretty sure I would feel uncomfortable surrounded by people who’s language I don’t speak, and I DO, but it’s not like I didn’t see it coming. The time to fix that problem was 5 years ago, not yesterday. Turns out, Germans seem nice, or at least, as many people seem nice as they do in the States.

I guess that’s it for now. I could tell a couple stories about my experiences with the public bathrooms, but I haven’t the strength.

As you may be able to tell, I’m in an airport. You can’t feel the carpet or smell the cleaning solution, but you guys know what I’m talking about.

All airports are basically the same, in my mind. I know some people have certain airports they hate, and others they just won’t even fly, but to me, one giant building with white walls and respectable carpeting is about the same as another.

I will say, this airport we’re in is SMALL: It seems to have a grand total of 10 gates. This is good, because I got ahead of the game and lost my group within the first 10 minutes of walking past the baggage check.

It turns out I was just the most on the ball, everyone else wasn’t past security yet. We’re fine now, and I’m sure nothing else will go wrong for this entire trip.

(Also, the cat is Bootsie. He’s cool. Natalie’s daughter requested that we being him and take pictures. Don’t mind if I do.)

Hello, hello, is this thing on? I need to post something here because my fiancé’s friend insisted she was going to come read my blog. Leslie, this one’s for you.