clock tore me from sleep the next morning. The train was at 10 o'clock, which gave me an hour to wallow in my foul mood. On top of this, I had started my period, which dragged me down even further.
When the sun is out, the ride through the Rhine Valley is remarkably beautiful. Today the sun had granted me this favor, and slowly I emerged from my wistful mood. The train I was on made its way leisurely through the cities of Bonn, Koblenz and Mainz, and I was able to enjoy the view of the hillside castles and vineyards. From time to time I dozed, and to my surprise, I dreamed of Norman.
In Frankfurt I changed trains and boarded the rickety local train to the airport. It was my first time in an airport. My folks had never travelled farther than Austria, and taking an airplane had never been an option for us. That's why I was a little frightened by the pandemonium that greeted me when I got there. I wondered whether I would ever be able to find Daniel amid such confusion. However, with the aid of the cell phone, we were in each other's arms in less than 15 minutes.
We had two hours to kill before Daniel had to go through security. We used the time to talk at length and joke around. I felt no trace of the abandonment I had felt the day before, and was simply happy to share the moment with Daniel. In my mirthful mood I chatted away as if freshly in love, and to be honest, that's how I felt at that moment. We didn't talk of anything deep, or of anything emotional for that matter. He spoke to me of his chips, which I still imagined looked like potato chips, although I knew by now that they were small black pieces of plastic with lots of little gold-colored legs. I sensed how proud he was to have been chosen to oversee this new assignment.
In turn, I told him about my internship in a Bonn clinic, and the new semester that was beginning the following week.
“Can't you move to Stuttgart and join me, when I'm back from this assignment?” he asked me quietly. “I miss you so much, I can hardly sleep.”
“I miss you too,” I said instinctively. “I'll think about it. They say the university down there is pretty good. And I'm sure if I try hard enough, I'll be able to get along with the Bavarians,” I said with a brave face.
Daniel laughed. I looked at him puzzled.
“I think you'll have a hard time finding a Bavarian. It's almost exclusively Swabians down there. I know the preconceptions the Cologne natives have about them, after all I'm from Cologne, too. But Stuttgart is really a pleasant and beautiful city. We're wrong about them.”
So we talked for a while, until it was time for him to board the plane. Before he left, I asked Daniel if he could explain the ins and outs of the airport, since to me it looked all but impenetrable. We went over to the check- in counter then made our way to the security checkpoint. We hugged for a few minutes, and then he was gone. I was alone again.
On the way home I couldn't hold back my tears and burst out crying into a handful of tissues. Until Koblenz, I was alone in the train compartment, and I drew the curtains closed so that no one from outside could see me. The conductor came by a couple of times and gave me a sympathetic look, but didn't say anything.
When I got back to Cologne, I took a detour through the old market place and treated myself to a dinner in a small café, before trudging back to my apartment. The stillness that greeted me was like a boulder landing on my head, and I decided to crawl into bed early. I spent the next two days preparing for the start of the semester. As I had already acquired the preparatory diploma, I now had to organize the internship, deal with the administrative formalities and discuss the seminars with my tutor. The absences that I had permitted myself during the winter semester would not go unnoticed for much longer.
On Friday afternoon Daniel called me from
When the sun is out, the ride through the Rhine Valley is remarkably beautiful. Today the sun had granted me this favor, and slowly I emerged from my wistful mood. The train I was on made its way leisurely through the cities of Bonn, Koblenz and Mainz, and I was able to enjoy the view of the hillside castles and vineyards. From time to time I dozed, and to my surprise, I dreamed of Norman.
In Frankfurt I changed trains and boarded the rickety local train to the airport. It was my first time in an airport. My folks had never travelled farther than Austria, and taking an airplane had never been an option for us. That's why I was a little frightened by the pandemonium that greeted me when I got there. I wondered whether I would ever be able to find Daniel amid such confusion. However, with the aid of the cell phone, we were in each other's arms in less than 15 minutes.
We had two hours to kill before Daniel had to go through security. We used the time to talk at length and joke around. I felt no trace of the abandonment I had felt the day before, and was simply happy to share the moment with Daniel. In my mirthful mood I chatted away as if freshly in love, and to be honest, that's how I felt at that moment. We didn't talk of anything deep, or of anything emotional for that matter. He spoke to me of his chips, which I still imagined looked like potato chips, although I knew by now that they were small black pieces of plastic with lots of little gold-colored legs. I sensed how proud he was to have been chosen to oversee this new assignment.
In turn, I told him about my internship in a Bonn clinic, and the new semester that was beginning the following week.
“Can't you move to Stuttgart and join me, when I'm back from this assignment?” he asked me quietly. “I miss you so much, I can hardly sleep.”
“I miss you too,” I said instinctively. “I'll think about it. They say the university down there is pretty good. And I'm sure if I try hard enough, I'll be able to get along with the Bavarians,” I said with a brave face.
Daniel laughed. I looked at him puzzled.
“I think you'll have a hard time finding a Bavarian. It's almost exclusively Swabians down there. I know the preconceptions the Cologne natives have about them, after all I'm from Cologne, too. But Stuttgart is really a pleasant and beautiful city. We're wrong about them.”
So we talked for a while, until it was time for him to board the plane. Before he left, I asked Daniel if he could explain the ins and outs of the airport, since to me it looked all but impenetrable. We went over to the check- in counter then made our way to the security checkpoint. We hugged for a few minutes, and then he was gone. I was alone again.
On the way home I couldn't hold back my tears and burst out crying into a handful of tissues. Until Koblenz, I was alone in the train compartment, and I drew the curtains closed so that no one from outside could see me. The conductor came by a couple of times and gave me a sympathetic look, but didn't say anything.
When I got back to Cologne, I took a detour through the old market place and treated myself to a dinner in a small café, before trudging back to my apartment. The stillness that greeted me was like a boulder landing on my head, and I decided to crawl into bed early. I spent the next two days preparing for the start of the semester. As I had already acquired the preparatory diploma, I now had to organize the internship, deal with the administrative formalities and discuss the seminars with my tutor. The absences that I had permitted myself during the winter semester would not go unnoticed for much longer.
On Friday afternoon Daniel called me from
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