Train Travel

Munich Hauptbahnhof with the Olympus "Diorama" Art Filter - quiet but active in the early morning

Travel tends to bring out the best and the worst in people.  (One reason why travelling together can be a great test of a relationship...)

It's not just air travel - it's also true when travelling by train. While one of the things I enjoy most about train travel is seeing how the countryside changes, I also enjoy seeing the people and how they interact with one another.

Let's be honest, usually the most memorable travel stories are about the "worsts," not the "bests."  Last week, however, I experienced one of the bests.

I had another work day with a round trip to Frankfurt.  Early that morning the train left Munich with the car rather empty.  In our section of 4 seats facing each other (with the table in the middle), I sat at the window and another guy sat across the table on the aisle. And had his stuff in the seat by the window. He then decided to take the seat next to me for sitting, AND the TWO across the table for his belongings....Not the best start for positive glimpses into humanity, but it didn't matter much to me...I was in my reserved seat and had the space I needed.  The issue of the other seats would be someone else's battle to fight.  This is a typical German train situation.

Munich Hauptbahnhof with the Olympus "Dramatic Tone" Art Filter - almost empty when Frau A returns about 21:00

At Würzburg, a lot of people boarded the train, meaning this guy occupying 3 seats had to move some of his things and share the space.

A 30-something German guy sits down at the window seat across from me just before the train departs. At this point, many people are walking through the train trying to find empty seats. He moves the other guy's stuff and tells a 20-something tourist that the seat is "vacant."  In the confusion, it sounded a bit like "taken," but he made sure to let her know that she could sit there. So she and her friend finally find seats on the packed train - one at our table and one across the aisle.

Then the fun begins.  The German guy asks "So where are you from?" The average business traveller is not usually so outgoing or caring about other people and strangers don't strike up a conversation here as much as they do in the southern US where you learn someone's family history in the grocery checkout line. I admit that while I'm always careful not to infringe upon anyone's rights to enjoy the train, I'm usually exhausted and don't go out of my way to talk to people. 

These girls were here from Dallas (!) and were headed to the Frankfurt airport after the last leg of their European vacation.  They had visited Wurzburg, home of Dirk Nowitski, which only made me like them more. 

The German guy noticed that at times the two girls conversed in Spanish, so when she apologized for bumping him, he responded with a no te preocupes to her.  Over the next hour or so, he conversed with her in Spanish and English, and was incredibly helpful in telling them out of which terminal their flights would depart and drawing a map of how to most quickly navigate the airport (they were a bit pressed for time). And at which club in Würzburg they stood the best chance of running into Dirk.

It left me with a happy feeling, because I had witnessed what I'm sure was the creation of a positive memory of foreign travel and of the people who live there. When she first found a seat, she commented to her friend that "this train is totally different than the last one...people aren't so rude!" And after talking to a random German guy (in two languages that were not his native tongue), I suspect that the feeling was intensified.  Instead of the usual difficulties anyone faces in navigating a foreign country, the last part of the trip included a friendly and helpful person and an easy final leg of the journey. It just left me with a happy feeling inside.

 

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Bahnhof with Photomatix for HDRThe Munich-Frankfurt connection also delivered another memorable trip, this time with an eastern twist:

A couple of months ago, I was seated in the middle of a wonderful example of clashing cultures: Middle-aged Chinese tourists vs weary German business travellers.  It's slightly before 5am on the Munich-Frankfurt train, and only a few of us are scattered through the train car. No one wants to be up this early, so it is quiet and peaceful. Until the flash flood of Chinese tourists, that is. I choose the description "flash flood," as the train changed in a few seconds from an empty & quiet to overcrowded with much noise and activity.

As a generalization, Germans often are more measured and deliberate in their actions, and on the mornings trains prefer relative quiet, especially in the cars that don't allow talking on the cell phones. A disapproving glare at an offender often is enough to quiet him or her down.  While conflict definitely has a place in German culture, it usually is more quiet conflict...battles fought by laying down umbrellas to keep the neighboring empty seat or a short gesture or word to let someone know when they have overstepped the boundaries.

In China, things are louder and, to the outsider, utterly chaotic.  Lots of pushing, bumping and speaking very loudly, but that's just how the system works.  This tour group was ending their German trip and headed to the Frankfurt airport with loads of suitcases and packed cardboard boxes. As they began to fill the train car - both physically and with noise - I could see the discomfort on the other passengers' faces.  These new passengers were very loud, bumping each other, and taking all of the overhead and luggage rack space in the car.  One of the already seated passengers muttered very softly, Ruhe, bitte, but a barely audible whisper in German is not going register over the din to non-German speakers. Most just sat there looking very uncomfortable, as if they didn't know what to do about the situation.  I sat there trying not to chuckle.  On one hand, yes, a lot of noise is not what you want when you've gotten up at 3am. But on the other it was fascinating to see how different the two cultures were. Both the Germans and the Chinese were following their respective social norms, but WOW do those norms clash! Probably the same would be true on early morning trains in most Western European or US cities, but the differences were so clear here.

Empty track at Munich Hbf - awaiting arrival of Frau A's train from Frankfurt Hbf after 3.5 hours

Today is another Munich-Frankfurt round trip....another 7 hours to pass the time with sudoku and reading and watching people. I'm hoping for some more positive experiences or just some sleep!