The Kindness of Strangers
Doing laundry in a foreign country, I've come to learn, can be a very taxing experience. Given the state of my clothes I decided it was time to get some wash done. To that end I asked the woman at the hotel desk where the closest laundromat was (well really, I called it 'the place where you can wash clothes' because 'laundromat' doesn't really translate).
Get on the 116 bus across the street and go two stops, and its right in front of you. good. that's easy.
There's no freakin laundromat two stops down. What is two stops down is nothing, and nothing is a very lonely place. As I started considering what to do next, it started to dawn on me that I was literally several thousands of miles from anyone I knew. Feeling utterly alone, with a bag full of rank clothes on my back things looked bleak.
Fortunately enough, a guy walking by saw me and asked if I needed directions. Upon telling him that I needed a laundromat he confirmed my belief about the hostel desk attendent - she was full of it and there was no laundromat! Long story short, Harry offered me a ride (in his BMW) to the laundromat which I accepted. A truly nice guy, he went on to inquire about what I was in Germany doing laundry and asked a lot of questions about my trip. He even told me about his desire to see the US, and that he and his wife were planning a trip to Florida (everyone in Europe wants to see New York or Florida for some reason). I said goodbye and went into the laundromat.
Once in the laundromat I stared at the directions before two little old German grandmother type woman decided to have pity on me. After debating in excited German for literally 5 minutes over which temperature to use, they showed me how to use the machines, but they said everything in German. smile and nod.
The fortunate thing about all this was that I ended up right near a metro stop, so I was able to get back to my hostel with ease. Right now the Germany vs Italy game is beginning and I need to go watch!
Da sind Sie ja endlich,
Andrew
Get on the 116 bus across the street and go two stops, and its right in front of you. good. that's easy.
There's no freakin laundromat two stops down. What is two stops down is nothing, and nothing is a very lonely place. As I started considering what to do next, it started to dawn on me that I was literally several thousands of miles from anyone I knew. Feeling utterly alone, with a bag full of rank clothes on my back things looked bleak.
Fortunately enough, a guy walking by saw me and asked if I needed directions. Upon telling him that I needed a laundromat he confirmed my belief about the hostel desk attendent - she was full of it and there was no laundromat! Long story short, Harry offered me a ride (in his BMW) to the laundromat which I accepted. A truly nice guy, he went on to inquire about what I was in Germany doing laundry and asked a lot of questions about my trip. He even told me about his desire to see the US, and that he and his wife were planning a trip to Florida (everyone in Europe wants to see New York or Florida for some reason). I said goodbye and went into the laundromat.
Once in the laundromat I stared at the directions before two little old German grandmother type woman decided to have pity on me. After debating in excited German for literally 5 minutes over which temperature to use, they showed me how to use the machines, but they said everything in German. smile and nod.
The fortunate thing about all this was that I ended up right near a metro stop, so I was able to get back to my hostel with ease. Right now the Germany vs Italy game is beginning and I need to go watch!
Da sind Sie ja endlich,
Andrew
posted by Andrew at
2:43 PM
4 Comments:
Hi, Andrew
Your mother and I wound up in a laundromat in Paris once. We had gone out for the evening, and while walking home, realized there was smoke coming from our street -- it turned out to be not in our hotel, but I think it was the downstairs, or the place next door. So we had to find a laundromat to wash the smoke smell from all of our clothes!
These are the types of adventures that make travel interesting, though.
By
ChristineP, at 3:14 PM
Yes, my laudromat experience with Aunt Cree in Paris was the first thing to come to my mind when reading your post. (BTW, it was the Chinese restuarant next door that was on fire.)
Anyway, "there you are at last," which is the translation I found of your complimentary closing.
It sounds as if you're having a great time. Off to Russia tomorrow!
By
Mom, at 6:45 PM
Oh, yes, I remember our Parisian laudromat experience. It was a Chinese restaurant next door that had the fire.
Say goodbye to the Latin alphabet for awhile. On to Mother Russia!
By
Mom, at 9:21 PM
Hahaha... the infamous German washing machines, with directions that are impossible even for native speakers to follow. And yeah, about them all wanting to visit Florida... that's where my German host mother went when she came to the US (and she hated it). (And I'm curiuos about how you bypassed the z-y problem in this posting- close attention to what you typed, find and replace, an american keyboard, or changing the settings on the computer you used?)
Tschüß
By
Pam, at 12:30 AM
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