Public Transportation

There are no school buses in Germany, kids as young as elementary age all take the bus to school. Buses typically come every five to ten minutes, so if you miss a bus it's no big deal. Yesterday after school I bought a bus pass that's good for one month, and with it I can go on any bus or train. It's initially expensive, but completely worth it because of how often everyone uses public transportation. Plus, AFS covers the cost since I use it to get to school, which is super nice.

The downside to this system is that I don't know Hamburg or its bus systems yet, and many of you know how hard it is for me to follow simple directions. So without my host sister present, a bus ride that should take only 15 minutes turns into 50.

So, today I was able to go to school later since I had first block free. Feli, my host sister, had to go earlier, but a girl who helped me take the bus a day before also had first block free and was going to meet me this morning to catch the 9:59 bus. However, due to me not yet knowing which clocks are accurate in this house (I just realized that the clock in my bedroom, for example, is 10 minutes late), I ended up on the 10:04 bus. It could literally happen to anyone who wasn't German. I asked the driver if he knew where Gymnasium Bornbrook (my school) was, but he had never heard of it. So I spent that bus ride trying to remember if I needed to switch buses somewhere. Using my politest German I eventually asked the woman beside me if she knew where the school was, and she didn't, but she very helpfully pointed me toward the train station.

Once at the Bergedorf train station, I went inside an information booth to ask for directions. The man had also never heard of the school, and I was beginning to think I made the name up. However he found it in his computer, pointed me toward the right bus (I did in face need to switch). I happily boarded the bus, and all was well.

Until a few minutes later. I didn't know how long I was supposed to stay on the bus, so when things started to look familiar, I got off. Plus I saw a big sign marked "school" so I figured I couldn't go wrong.

But of course I did. It was a different school with incredibly similar surroundings. I wasn't sure if I went too far or not far enough, but I decided that I should check down the road. So I went back to the bus stop to wait for the next bus.

While I was waiting, who should pass on her bike but Josie, a girl I had met the previous day at school. She was just in the nick of time, another minute or two and I would have boarded the extremely punctual bus and gotten off who knows where. She walked her bike and me the rest of the way to school and showed me where my class was.

And that's how I got to school. On time, too.

P.S. How I got home is very similar.

Wichtige Wörter

• einsteigen - to get on. The bus, for example.
• aussteigen - to get off. The bus again.