The Mishaps
This is probably the most entertaining part of my time in Germany. I think it is important to highlight everything that happens to me- both good and well, not so good. For some odd reason I always find myself getting into tricky situations, but always somehow having things work out. I hope that these stories are not only comedic relief for you, but also teaching points. I want these stories to teach you that it’s ok for things to not go according to plan, but also there are valuable learning experiences along the way
You Gotta Learn to Adapt:
In Europe, and the rest of the world, electrical outlets are different than those in the United States. In Germany, the outlets for plug are rounder and cylinder shaped than flat like the ones we have back home. Now I knew this coming into Germany, and my parents had given me an adapter that would allow my US chargers to plug into the German outlets. Now, not only do Germans use different outlets, but they also use different electrical currents. The German current alternates at a different voltage and isn’t constant like the American one. Feeling somewhat prepared, I set off on my journey not too worried about it. I charged my laptop and phone at the airport, and figured worst case scenario, I could always charge it at the airport or on the train in Germany. After buying in-flight WIFI on the plane and using it to watch movies and text my friends, I realized that by the time my flight landed, I was running a bit low on battery. My phone was at about 30% and laptop 50%.
Upon arriving to Germany, in the Frankfurt airport, I soon came to realize that unlike the American airports, there wasn’t a single outlet I could find, those handy charging stations seemed to only be a US thing. Not having much choice, I decided to ration my battery and just charge my things when I got to my place in Heidelberg. I made it to my place ok and began to “charge” my things. It wasn’t until I plugged in my laptop into the adapter that I realized it had stopped working. The charger would charge, and then stop, charge and then stop- flicking on and off with the alternating current. At first I didn’t know this and I just thought my laptop charger was broken. I actually realized this while setting my laptop up for a zoom meeting with my supervisors, and by the time the meeting was over, I had about 10% battery left on my laptop, which soon died thereafter. I don’t remember much of the day, besides getting my bearings and getting settled in. Now the interesting thing is that the adapter had worked for my phone earlier to charge it a bit but had officially broke by the time I tried using it for my laptop. Thinking the adapter still worked for my phone charger, I wasn’t too stressed when my phone got to about 15% at 11:30 at night in Heidelberg. I DID get stressed however, when I went to charge my phone and nothing happened. It’s a very unique type of panic that sets in when you are a teenager alone in a foreign country and your only source of contact is about to die in a few minutes. I had to be strategic about what to do so I used some of my remaining battery to anxiously call my parents in and tell them my situation. Now in Germany, Best Buys, Targets, and Walmarts don’t exist, and no one I know has ever had to buy a charger in Germany so I literally had no idea what to do or where to go. I did however, send a calm email (I was frantic) to one of my supervisors telling them about the situation. I then turned my phone on airplane mode and went to bed, hoping in the morning that I could find a place to put in google maps in the morning. I was woken up to the sound of a phone in my room ringing (which literally sounds like sheet metal being ripped apart by a grizzly bear) at what is about oh I don’t know 4am EST, the time zone I was still accustomed too. I answered the phone but no one said anything so I had no idea what that was about. Later however, there was a knock on my door. Wondering who it could be, I opened the door, seeing my supervisor with a bunch of Mac and iPhone chargers in her arms. As it turns out, she had emailed everyone in the lab, telling them of my situation, got a bunch of chargers from them, then found out where I was living (somehow) and brought them to me. Know I am extremely grateful for what she did, however kind of embarrassed by that being my first impression to everyone in the lab. Regardless, none of the chargers actually worked because my laptop and phone models are different. She then told me to go to Rossman down the street because they have chargers, and it would be a safe bet (Rossman is like the German CVS). Needless to say, she was right! I walked to Rossman, found the chargers I needed and lived to tell the tale. I guess if you are ever in Germany and need apple chargers, go to Rossman and thank me later
M Stands for Mandeln (Which Means Almonds in German)
Before I get into this one, I just want to say that I haven’t even told my parents about this because if I did, I think my mother would fly to Germany and drag me out by the ear.
In Germany, something called Müsli is very popular. It’s essentially a type of oatmeal with dried fruit, oats, seeds and, a lot of nuts, that you eat usually cold with milk, like a fancy cereal. Now its worthwile to mention that I have some food allergies, more specifically nuts to which I am so allergic that the allergist won’t even test my allergy because my reaction to the test alone is so bad. I carry and epi-pen and even had to sit at the nut free table at lunch for all of elementary and middle school (NOT happy about that). Anyways, I was grocery shopping during my first week here and coming across the Müsli aisle, I figured why not get some to try. I found one that looked pretty good. I read the ingredient label which had the usual stuff and, on the bottom, said “Kann spuren von Erdnuß” which means “may contain peanuts.” I however, though Erdnuß meant almonds, and I usually eat stuff that says may contain whatever, because it doesn’t actually contain whatever it may be its more a liability thing. So, thinking it said, “may contain almonds” (which it didn’t it said may contain peanuts) I bought it anyways because no other nut was listed as an ingredient. Fast forward to like a day later, I decide to try it. So, I pour a bowl and take a few bites. It was pretty good but something in it tasted kind of weird. I looked closer on the box and there was a picture of something that looked a lot like an almond, right there on the front of the box. Thinking to myself that’s not good I spat out my Müsli in the sink (kinda gross) and took a closer look at the ingredient list. There were the familiar things like “Haferflocken” which means oatmeal and “Blaubeeren” which means blue berries, but then I came across the word “Mandeln.” Hm, that must be some kind of grain I thought to myself, so I pulled out my good friend google translate just to be sure, typed in “Mandeln” and what would you know “Almonds” shows up in big letters on my screen. Now, just after having eating probably enough of something that you are allergic to send you into shock, a weird feeling sets in. My mind was racing about what to do, I hadn’t had a reaction yet, but I figured it was only a matter of time. I debated literally checking myself into a Hospital, but I had no idea how to do that, so I decided against it, and you’ll never guess what I did instead. That’s right, nothing. Well actually at first, I decided to go outside in case I did go into shock or something because then someone could call 911 (the number is actually 112 in Germany, but you get it). So, I walked outside, but then realized that my EpiPens were back inside, so after making a quick pros and cons list in my head, I decided to go back into my place and stay with my EpiPens. I spent the next hour googling how long it takes an allergic reaction to set in, because I was wondering if I was out of the woods. It looked like it could be anywhere from minutes to hours after eating something you are allergic too, so I still had a while to go. So, you know what the quickest way to pass time is? Sleep. Do you know what the probably worst possible thing you can do is while you may have an allergic reaction? Sleep. So, what did I do? I drank a bunch of water and took a two-hour nap. Waking up still alive and breathing, I realized two things. One is that the travel gods spared me big time on this one and the other is that if I ever see the word “Mandeln” on a vocabulary section of a German exam, I definitely will not get that wrong.
