Day 5: Goodbye
I had to leave around 11:00 a.m. on a train for the Netherlands, so we rose early and kept breakfast short. We also stopped at Peter's parents one last time so I could say goodbye. They gave me a souvenir glass with the Mannheim coat of arms on it; I thought that was very kind and generous. From there Peter and I went to the grocery store so I could buy some German wine (I really liked the mitteltrocken riesling I had at the Skyline restaurant) and chocolate. One interesting difference in shopping was the fact that outside the shopping carts are chained up and you have to deposit one mark to retrieve a cart (you get the mark back when you put the cart back). Another thing I noticed was a McDonald's across the street with a drive-thru, and the drive-thru sign said "McDrive" on it. I thought that was cute.
After the store we went to the train station. Peter bought a postcard for the SED Center which we co-wrote and mailed off to Washington. We also stopped at a snack bar so I could get some sandwiches and a drink for the train ride. I ordered my food in German, and the worker actually turned to Peter and said in German, "does she live here?" Peter explained that I didn't. "She speaks very well," said the worker. I replied, "ich habe ein sehr gut lehrer" (I have a very good teacher). Though my "teacher" later informed me that I should have said "einen sehr guten Lehrer." See, there are grammar rules called cases which change the endings of adjectives...eh, enough about that. Last stop was at the magazine stand for a copy of Brigitte, a "Magazin für Frauen" (a magazine for women, similar to Glamour or Cosmopolitan). Of course I barely understood a word of it, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a copy of a style magazine with a name so close to my own on it. I'm just vain that way.
At last, Peter and I found our way to the platform my train to Cologne was leaving from. (I would change trains there and in Utrecht before arriving in Zoetermeer where my friend Tanja lives). I don't know why I found myself feeling so sad about leaving; I knew I'd be back in Germany in a few days for my friend Cathrin's wedding near Bonn and that I would be meeting Peter and Stefan in Paris the day after that to spend a couple of days together before I headed down to Barcelona. Maybe I was German in another life and it really was home for me. Maybe I got caught up in the beauty of the castles and the buzz of fine bier. Maybe, as the song goes, I lost my heart in Heidelberg. Whatever it was, I hope I get to go back and experience it again in a couple of years.