Last weekend a group of friends and I went to Bruges, a relatively small town near the coast of Belgium. It was quite an adventure getting to and from the village but the stay there was amazing. Let's start on the way there. The morning of our trip to Bruges began with an AIB excursion to Cologne which went nicely. We got to see the cathedral, explore El De (an SS prison and questioning location during the Third Reich that has now been transformed into a Gestapo Museum), and eat a wonderful lunch. I ordered what I assumed was lemonade in German, but instead it was a lemon flavored non-alcoholic beer. It tasted interesting in a good way, but was not among my list of favorite drinks. While in Cologne, I realized I had forgotten to pack my passport for my weekend trip across country lines to Belgium; however, I asked some of the supervising AIB members and they told me I would be ok because passports are not usually checked when crossing borders in between EU countries. So, I proceeded onto my Flixbus for the trip that night with no problems.
When we arrived in Bruges it was 2:15 because our bus was an hour late. We got off the bus, dazed and half asleep still, to find that we were in the middle of what we thought was, well, nowhere. We only saw one building that did not have any lights on. From what we could see, there was no official bus station or hub of any kind. Later we would come to find out we were incorrect, and we were in fact right next to the main train station, but that's just how this trip seemed to be going. Luckily, we caught a ride in a taxi with an incredibly nice driver from the bus stop to the hostel we had booked for the night, Snuffel Hostel. Ironically, this taxi did not have any markings whatsoever on the outside of the vehicle to show that it was a taxi so my friends and I were a bit hesitant to enter the car, but we figured the small chance was worth not wandering around on the streets of a foreign city for an extended amount of time in the middle of the night. The taxi driver took up to Snuffel, and dropped us off and stayed for a while to make sure we got inside safely. That was easier said than done. We had previously emailed the hostel informing them that we would be late and checking in later than the recommended hours, but we were sent special instructions and told this was no problem. When we arrived at Snuffel, we saw there were people inside and we figured they would be able to help us with the instructions because we were still unsure. We had been instructed to find a big green gate on a street we did not know (and at the time we didn't even know the address was an address because we didn't know the word for street in Flemish) so we attempted to enter the hostel to get help from the three people we could see inside. We tried the door, then rang the bell, then knocked. Through all of our efforts we were yelled back at that we were 2 hours too late for check-in. The best part was when one of the men inside proceeded to turn off all of the lights inside the bar/check-in area and stand in a line with the other two people inside staring at us and pretending not to be there. Eventually, with the help of our taxi driver we were able to be let into the hostel, but the people inside had no knowledge of the instructions given to us and weren't even sure if there was a room available for us anymore. Long story short, we ended up debating with and explaining to a confused Belgian man for about 15 minutes before he lead us down a street and found a green gate he didn't know was at all associated with the hostel. By this point, the man was happy he was able to help us, but frustrated and confused with why we were so late and how the keys got there and why he had no knowledge of this as an employee. We finally got into the room at Snuffel and settled around 3. We were exhausted but so much adrenaline was pumping that it took us a while to get to sleep. Oh and we were sharing the room with two guys probably around 25 who slept in only underwear and liked to wake up in the middle of the night and walk around in just their underwear.
Our adventures while in Bruges were wonderful. We thoroughly enjoyed the city, walking almost 10 miles the first day we were there. We walked along the canals to the city gates, explored a path that had four enormous old windmills on it, and then headed towards the city center for lunch. After lunch in the city center plaza, we explored churches and shops and small roads until we had had our fill for the moment and went back to conquer another crisis at the hostel. As a result of the tardiness of the bus the previous night, we decided that our initial plan of return to Bonn was not the best. Originally we had planned to return to Bonn at 4:30 am, which would mean arriving at our house for bed around 5:10-6 am if the bus was on time, which it was not likely to be. We decided to cancel this bus trip and use the money to schedule an earlier bus, but the Flixbus website did not agree with our decision. We were able to cancel the bus, and receive a voucher for the money we had spent, but between the four of us, 7 cards, and a call to parents with an additional two cards, we were unable to schedule a return bus. When we got back to the hostel on Saturday afternoon, we called Flixbus and talked to a representative who was able to schedule a bus for us for an additional fee of course. We asked her why it had not worked for any of us an had produced "unknown error" messages each time; her reply was "Well that just happens sometimes." Those were some of the most frustratingly simply and useless words I have ever heard. So now, with a return bus scheduled, we headed out into the city again to eat Belgian waffles and drink Belgian hot chocolate from a place the hostel had recommended. They were so delicious! I don't know how a waffle can be both gooey and crisp but they achieved it and the warmth spread through my body and warded off the rain that had continued all day so far. We ended the night with some Belgian beer at the bar underneath Snuffel Hostel and talked about politics, conspiracy theories, religion, and anything else on our mind.
On Sunday, we woke up and explored a park. Spontaneously we all decided to go to the beach and see the North Sea, so we walked to the train stop, hopped on the train, and rode it to the last stop. On the way to the train stop a bird pooped on me. Knokke was a beautiful city and we got to walk along the beach and onto Getty rocks. We had lunch at a cute cafe close to the beach where I had the best crab sandwich for only really cheap. We got back on the train, headed back to Bruges in time to find our Flixbus stop and await the bus.
When we attempted to board the bus back from Bruges to Bonn, the drivers asked to see our passports. My attempt to show them a copy and my drivers license did not suffice and they would not let me on the bus. I argued and pled but they kept saying "no passport no bus". Their English was not the best. Camella tried speaking to them in German, but they only explained that we were crossing boarders from Belgium to Netherlands to Germany and they used the word "polizei" or police. Darby showed them the papers informing them that we were in a study abroad program in Germany and were allowed to be there without a visa, but as these papers look official and are written in only English, the bus drivers did not know how to read them and just looked and handed them back. Meanwhile, I was calling Dr. Wasser to get a better idea of how I should handle the situation. Camella asked if I could ride the bus to Brussels and then exit because I would not be crossing any sort of borders. However, as we made delayed the drivers more and more, they eventually let me on the bus. I was sure they would kick me off in Brussels, but they did not. Next I was sure, it would be the border with Netherlands, but again they didn't. Finally, when I crossed the Netherlands border and then the German border, I rejoiced! That was an incredibly stressful situation that I will make sure not to repeat by taking my passport on all my long trips from now on. Once we were in Germany, my friends and I laughed hysterically about the stress for a long time and reflected on just how crazy our trip had been. But, for our first time planning and executing an excursion and given how many obstacles we faced, I think we all learned a lot about ourselves under pressure and stress and how we respond individually and as a team. Also, we learned better how to travel and handle unforeseen consequences and make back up plans. I think the obstacles on this trip helped me grow and may be the first catalyst for my "hero's journey change" that Dr. Wasser keeps discussing. For now, I am back home safe in Bonn and have had a wonderful week. I'll report more on the programmatic and scholarly activities soon. Tschüs!
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