Issue 151

Front Abroad

29th January 2007

"He's still in Swansea" were my dad's words to me on the phone when I rang to speak to Jason, my boyfriend, the night before his flight to Mannheim to see me. "You're joking" was the only reply I could mut- ter, my mind rapidly imagining the worst possible outcome and him missing his flight.

The problem was his car. The front passenger window had decided to let itself down and then refused to go back up again! The AA had been called, but they were only in a position to tow the car to the local garage when they finally emerged two hours later. There was nothing else for it, Jason and his housemate proceeded to completely cover the misbehaving window and door in… cling film!

I was convinced that a huge gust of wind on the M4 would cause him to crash on his way, but he made it to my house in one piece before midnight, ready to fly into Frankfurt the next morning.

The next few days were spent gorg- ing on bratwurst and fried potato pancakes, all washed down with Glühwein, whilst wandering around Christmas markets in Mannheim, Heidelberg and Frankfurt. The markets smelt of hot crepes and beer and showed off stands selling everything from handmade wooden children's toys to steel soldiers and of course festive decorations and things to eat.

The cold, no, freezing weather was tolerable, but the rude lady selling a present to Jason was not! I had armed him with all of the necessary vocabulary so that he could buy a present for me, and could even tell the lady he was not able to understand what she was saying, all for nothing: He was greeted with a snappy, "I know" and a miserable look in English! That was that as far as Jason was concerned, some Germans were definitely rude!

I was full from lunch, but still could not turn down a chocolate crepe from the stand that seemed to be saying "come over and buy one, you know you want to"! I ate it whilst we were walking; big mistake. I had sticky hot chocolate sauce cascading down the front of my new £130 wool coat before I knew it! I was close to tears, unable to believe I could be so clumsy. To make matters worse, the stain would not budge, at all. Little did I know then that it would amount to a £15 dry cleaning bill! I was less still able to believe my lack of luck the following night, when, at a different Christmas market, the same thing happened, with my old £100 coat! It takes a special sort of clumsiness/stupidity to make a mistake like that twice.

Our flight home returned us both safely to Bristol, two days before flights were cancelled and redirected because of fog. A friend was not so lucky, her flight home was cancelled, but she made it to Birmingham in the end, although she lives in Wales!

My first day back was spent in beautiful Bath. A return train fare costs a mere £3.50, with a student railcard and the journey takes 30 minutes. Bath is minute compared to the big abyss of Bristol, but I fall for the place more and more every time I go. Its cobbled streets, lined with graceful Georgian houses are charming and quaint. Then there is the shopping: Amazing. So many decent shops for such a small place! Carrying a 5ft tall box of twig-lights around, and nearly decapitating more than person with them certainly made the day more interesting.

Christmas was lovely, largely because I did nothing but eat good food for two weeks! I'm pleased to say that I am still in Swansea now, because the summer semester in Mannheim doesn't begin until the middle of February! I have no idea why students are given a two month break for Christmas and still finish in June, but I'm not complaining. Whilst I have had a lot of fun in Mannheim so far, it is really good to be back, despite the rain!

Caroline Sutch