Cast of Characters

Language camp is officially over, so here's some drabble paying homage to my time in Köln. The city is one giant melting pot, and seems to have  no end of interesting people to meet.

 

Customer service in America scares me. Ordering stuff in English is bad enough as is [like repeating your order to the Taco Bell drive through people five times and still getting a gordita when you clearly ordered a quesadilla].

Auf Deutsch, it doesn't get much better.

Which is why my little Oberhausen Hauptbahnhof cafe has a special place in my heart. The staff there was so friendly, that my daily Milch-Kafee-mit-ein-löffel-Zucker run was something I actually looked forward to. 

...

Or maybe it was that they memorized my order two days in, so I never actually had to order. Pfhah.

 I don't understand why this isn't more famous. It's döner. In a box. Chinese takeout style. It's absolutely brilliant. And the owner of this store speaks Arabic [guess what my second language is?], and being able to actually converse with someone fluently was oh-so-nice. And the staff here are just so gosh darn nice and the food is nice and this place makes me happy.

If you're ever in Köln, go eat at Imbiss Hop behind the Dom Hauptbahnhof. Go get your döner-in-a-box, and be proud of it. 

And for goodness sake, don't skimp on the calories. Get the baklava as well.

 

This. Is. Spartaaaa!

Actually, it's the biggest ripoff in Köln.

A lovely line of costume-clad people stand in front of the Kölner Dom, taking pictures with tourists. 

We're not tourists, we're exchange students.

When trying to get a group picture, this Roman guy literally wedged himself into the middle of us- and then demands 3 euros-- 50 cents apiece-- for the photo.

Say whaaaaaaaa?

And for a 3 euro photo, it's not even good.   

 

 

It's the two-jokes-one-euro guy!

We ran into this guy in the middle of the main shopping street on one of our daily afterschool romps in the city. After asking for photos, he responded- in English! That's not surprising [because everyone in the world and then some speaks English], but it turns out that once upon a time, he was an exchange student in the U.S. as well!

One of us CBYXers could end up telling jokes and wearing elephant hats one day.

I love it:)

And our last noteworthy cast member is who we have dubbed the most interesting guy in Köln.

 On our last day in the city, we bypassed the main street and explored some gorgeous European backstreets and alleyways, where we stumbled upon this gem of a bookstore- an English bookstore. The five of us in the group went in-- and quite possibly did meet the most interesting man in Köln. 

We instantly stumble into a discussion about politics, at some point in which he pulls out a ukelele, a short time later replaces it with a tenor guitar, both of which he played and sang to- after which he's prompted into an art discussion, being both a photographer and photography teacher.

All delivered in a fabulous British accent, which instantly makes anyone fascinating to listen to.

And the best part?

He was an exchange student himself twelve years ago.

He came to Germany, ended up in Köln.

That could be one of us twelve years from now.

Playing our ukelele in a bookstore when a group of cute widdle exchange students stumble in.

There are exchange students everywhere. 

Where on earth are we all-from this group, this year- going to end up?