Oof....

So first off I would like to apologize for the lack of posts for the last few days. On Tuesday I spent the entire day on trains and I couldn't get the Wifi to work in the place I'm in until today.

Oh yeah! Happy Thanksgiving!

TUESDAY

As you know, I was stuck in a small French town called Tourcoing. Probably wasn't actually that small but I like to think it was at least small enough to be considered quaint. I woke up feeling the initial hunger pains associated with lack of caloric ingestion for a period of time and a gleam in my eye. Just kidding, I was mostly just hungry. After packing up I made my way downstairs to face my first full day alone. It was raining outside and not a really nice rain. It was hard, cold, and coming in sideways with the wind. At least I got to make sure my rain cover worked. It turned out that the next train was due in exactly an hour from when I made it to the station. Seeing this as an opportunity to find an ATM or a bank or something, I went back into the elements. The town was actually very nice. It screamed a charm that can only be deemed "French". Quiet, streets, Loud streets right next to them, and beautiful houses right next door. Along with French charm comes the absence of ATM's you see.

I hopped on to my train to Antwerp soon after. Throughout the entire time I felt a slight pang in my gut. I realized there that I was in an area that I spoke none of the language of, and had no way of getting out if in trouble. This feeling was soon replaced by a feeling of equal intensity known only as "Hey, that's actually pretty cool". In Antwerp did a quick sweep and found the station to be barren of ATM's. I realized I had the choice of missing my train to the Netherlands or going outside to panhandle.
I choose the later.
As I went outside to find a sufficient corner, I found an ATM. Another day on the streets averted. My first purchases were a sandwich, some Pringles of a flavor we don't have in the US, a can of cheap beer, and a waffle (Cause, you know, I had to. It was Belgium).

The rest of the day was basically me getting on a train, getting off of that train, and then getting on to the next train. Not very exciting. I arrived at my destination, Gelsenkirchen Germany, Way too late. Nevertheless, my host (A friend of my mom's) was awake and happy to see me. I'll be staying with him until Friday.