Family Reunion

Before I tell you about my first week of school, I need to tell you about my family reunion.

THE TRIP--

The trip there was long and embarrassing but I made it. The the night before I left I had a chat with Christian (my cousin) and he said, if you want we can pick you up in a town right after you get off the train, and it will be easier, because you wont have to use the bus system to find your way here. In my infinite wisdom that I've aquired over the past month of navigating the public transportation system, I intelligently remarked that I was now a master of public transport, and I could find my way all by myself. He thought it was a bad idea, but eventually gave in and gave me good directions, and a phone number at which I could call him at if i got lost.

Now in my own defense, the first couple legs of the trip (the majority) went fine until I was waiting to get on the last train, and I forgot what my stop was. Silly me for listening to all my dads stories about Herisau, Appenzell, Wald Shonengrund, and many more little towns that dad always related to WHERE CHRIS LIVED. Now that my train was coming, I litterally couldn't remember which one my family actually lived in and I didnt have enough time to figure it out, and I couldn't ask someone, because no one spoke English or French. I decided my best bet was to call my cousin and simply ask for the name. So I pulled out my cellular device, and scrolled through my contacts until I got to C and there was "Christine Sugnux", "Combox" and "Corentin" but no Chris, I was flabbergasted. Perhaps when I was typing it in, instead of pressing "save" I pressed "cancel", or maybe when I was changing through the three phones I've managed to break since I got here, it was lost. Either way it was no longer here, and I needed it.

I decided my best bet was the copy of the phone number on my email account. Well that's a relatively easy fix, all I've gotta do is log on the the free WiFi in the train station with my iPod, scroll through the emails, and... Wait a second, I forgot. I am in Europe where WiFi is scarce, and when you can find it its very expensive. my only other option is to call my host brother, who is still asleep at home, and tell him how to log onto my g mail account, find the phone number and read it out to me... entirely in french. It was a good exercise and I am better for it, but it took roughly thirty minuets to negotiate, and when I got done, my battery was dying and my train was strolling down the tracks. I had just enough time to call My cousin twice, and he didnt answer either time. I found out later that that was a freak accident, and he was just in the bathroom for the two minuets that I called. On the train I called again and my battery died.

Here I was hurling towards the next stop, not knowing which one to exit on, and if I screw up, I have to wait an hour for the next one. Eventually the hard to understand voice on the PA system said "nachtser halt-- Herisau" which was close enough to English, that I understood it. I remembered that the old Holderegger shop was in Herisau, and I decided that it was my best bet. After getting off of the train I quickly realized that this wasn't Kansas anymore, and the only language spoken was Swiss German. After a bit of sulking, and trying to figure out a complex bus map (entirely in German) I decided to ask around for WiFi, so i could could contact My cousin over Skype. After what seemed like a million people who didn't speak either of my two languages, I found a girl, in a cafe/bakery who took a little English in high school. She told me I could get free WiFi if I just made a short kilometer hike up to the post office, which was closed when i got there. My phone was dead, it seemed there was no WiFi in Herisau, I was hot sweaty and tired. that little voice in my head was saying "go home, this isn't worth the trouble, hike back to the train station. you can have the satisfaction of trying, but this excursion is over."

But, being of competative nature, I decided to exhaust all options of getting to this reunion before giving up. I made a quick inventory of my pockets, and found a two frank coin, convinently the largest coin that will fit in public telephones, but unconviniently the last of my physical money. (in my defense, I didn't just head off with a two frank coin, I bought a sandwich on the train, and some toblerone, and a map of Switzerland in the Herisau train station (because it was in french and I thought I could use it to find my way)) Anyway, I made another "Hail-Mary" call to My cousin, which he missed because he was out of the room. "no biggy" I thought to myself "I'm sure this two frank coin is worth more than one missed call" as I look down at the telephone (the only thing in Herisau that spoke fluent English) snidely remarked "call lost, no refunds, have a nice day"

I felt like the poster boy for Murphies Law. I was totally exausted, smelly, thouroughly discouraged and about 5 minuets from turning around and heading back to Bulle when I saw the Holderegger shop (no longer the Holderegger Shop, but the building is still there) and i decided it was a Kodak moment. after feeling alittle better that i found something of our family's, i decided to continue a little further where i saw a restuaraunt. I thought to my self, "Ok get a cold coca cola (TGFP(Thank Goodness For Plastic)) and then you can head down and catch the next train back".

As I was walking up the steps, my stomach rolled over, I thought I was gonna puke, but at the same time, I was happier than I'd been all day, when I saw the words FREE WiFi HERE conviniently printed in English, on the steps to the restaurant. I rushed inside and asked how to connect. The lady inside understood and gave me the card (in German) of how to connect to the WiFi. After figuring out a seemingly complex card of how to log on to the internet, I was able to log on onto Skype and call my cousin, which lasted ten seconds before the internet cut out. "NO" i thought to myself "I AM TOO CLOSE TO LET THIS GO" I re-entered the login and password and he was able to say "where are you" before it cut out this time. I toggle typed on my iPod as fast as I could and decided that I would say "Herisau post office" when we connected this time and he could drive and get me. when we connected the third time i almost screamed "HERISAU POST OFFICE" as fast as I could and he said "OK, wait there" and it cut out. as I looked around people were staring at me for screaming, but I was too excited to care. I packed up my things and headed out to the post office, where another cousin was arriving to pick me up.

After this, my trip went relatively without incident and I had a blast. I was able to talk to family members i had never met, and catch up with the ones I had. I also got to spend time with Allisa (I know that's spelled wrong, post the correct spelling if you know it), who is strangely similar to my niece Allysa in the United States, which is increasingly bizarre because they have similar names and were born around the same time. We took a nice leisurely walk, and ate some dinner at Wald Shonengrund. It was well worth my time and I am so glad that I didn't give up.