Thursday, February 24, 2005

Fahrkarte bitte! (Ticket please!)

Today when we were going to our language institute in the morning, the ticket-checker came. Its a usual thing for them to check tickets. I put my hand in my pocket and received a shock!!! I had no ticket. I had forgotten my ticket at home. Fine for travelling without a ticket is 40 euros, which is very much. Now i was thinking of what to do or say. The ticket-checker was getting nearer to me and my stop was after 5 min.

The ticket-checker came to my seat and asked us for tickets. People started showing their tickets. Fortunately (for me :) the person sitting opposite me had no ticket. So he started explaining his reason for no ticket. The ticket-checker did or didn't believe him (they were speaking in German :) So the gaurd gave him a challan. I prayed to Allah. There were still 2 min till my station.

The gaurd started advising him about different ticket offers that they give. They talked and talked until my station came. I got off the train and thanked Allah. It was unbelievable as it usually doesn't happen. Normally, they just give the challan and move on.

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Trip to North Germany (uni Paderborn)

I went to check another univerity in North of Germany. It is uni of Paderborn in the city named Paderborn. A lot happened during this trip, which i'll write later. The university turned out to be very good and people are good as well. Let's see what happens.

btw, on the way back, something funny happened. I puchased the train ticket and saw a train on the plateform ready to leave. I ran and got on it. I tried to check the train number but it was nowhere written. I asked a boy onboard and he said that this is the correct train and that he is going to the same immediate destination (mostly you have to switch trains during a long journey). But after an hour, i came to know that it was going in opposite direction (towards North - Hannover city). Then i came back to Paderborn and restarted my journey to my city (cologne) westwards.