Three Days, One Entry

5/22/2011 - 5/24/2011
Farchant to London

If I try to do one post per day, I'm not going to catch up, so here are three days in one post. So much happens in a day, which means that I feel like there's a lot to report AND I'm really tired at the end of the day, and eyeing my computer with trepidation. So.

Sunday was I.S's niece's confirmation, as previously mentioned. I.S and K got all dressed up, but I didn't pack accordingly. I was invited to the confirmation, of course, because I.S. and her family are gracious like that, but I.S. also mentioned that I could do some exploring on my own, and that's the option I took. I.S. and K dropped me off at the bottom of Wank mountain, at the gondola station. I bought my ticket and gondola'd up. The views were predictably spectacular (see Facebook for photos). I just sat and looked, for a long time. And then some more. And then I walked over to the restaurant next to the top of the gondola, and bought a coffee, and sat and looked some more. And then some more. Seriously, I did a lot of gazing, and I still felt like I couldn't get enough.

Eventually, though, I decided to hike down. I had bought a ticket up and down on the gondola, because I wasn't sure I'd feel like hiking down, and I figured it'd be more expensive to buy two one-way tickets. But once I was up there, I really wanted to try hiking down, so down I went. I passed people fairly often. It wasn't packed by any means, but I probably saw another person or people every ten to fifteen minutes, on average. After about 30 minutes or so, I passed a man and a woman, and the man asked me how much further it was. When I told him, he explained that it was taking them longer to hike up than they'd anticipated. I gave him the good news that they were almost at the top, and asked how long they'd been at it. When he said about 2.5 hours, I looked at the time, and realized that I.S. just might start to worry about me if I didn't show up for several more hours. This was about 1:30 -- they'd dropped me off around 11.

I texted I.S. and let her know what was up. She responded and reminded me I could take the gondola back down from the mid-point. Hmm, I thought. Is she trying to tell me something? Does she want me to take the gondola back down? I was pondering this when I found the sign to the gondola mid-point. I looked at it. I looked at the trail. I looked at the sign. I looked at my phone, trying to discern I.S's intent from the words. Then I took a deep breath and plunged on down the mountain.

After a while it started raining. It probably rained about half the time I was hiking. It was a light rain, and I didn't really mind, but apparently at I.S's family's house it came down pretty heavily. I.S. became concerned. As I was just about down the mountain, I got another text from her. Was I alright? I was, I texted back, but I had forgone the mid-point. I hoped she didn't mind. Moments later my phone rings, and it's I.S. Uh-oh. Am I in trouble?, I wondered She just wanted to be sure I was ok, she said.

Later on, I got the timing from her end. From my end, I got her text, responded to it immediately, and she called me just a minute or so after that. From herend, though, she texted me, waited 10 or 15 minutes, didn't hear anything, and then called. She got my return text after I had already gotten to her family's house and had been there for a while. These technologies, we imagine them to be instant, but they are not.

So, I arrived at her family's house, and everyone's there, dressed for the confirmation, and I look like a drowned rat because I've been walking in the rain for two hours. I'm sure I made an excellent impression on I.S's extended family. She gave me her mother's shirt to wear since mine was wet, gave me a towel, and I looked marginally more presentable. And, of course, her family is incredibly kind and gracious. I.S even saved me some crepes.

Ok, so that was kind of a long story. Here's a short one: The next day I got up really early and K gave me a ride to the train station in Munich and I took the train, the plane, another train, and two taxis and eventually landed in my resting place for the next four weeks in northern London. Today we went on a sightseeing tour in London. I haven't had fish and chips (and likely won't, given that it's got fish in it), but I've had bangers and mash and it was delicious. Tomorrow evening I'm going to try to get to Seido Chiswick.

It's a little known fact that whenever President Obama visits a country, he selects 20 social work students as a sort of informal advance team. I got to be on his team in England.