I'm not sure if I subconsciously crave mass chaos, but I somehow always seem to attract it.
And no, I'm not talking about last night when our whole program went on our last Booze...ahem, I mean BOAT Cruise. And no, I did not get drunk. Nope nope nope. I took care of everyone else. Gold star for me. This post would be way too long if I told you everything that happened last night. But I suppose that means I've attracted two instances of chaos within the last 24 hours...great.
I'm talking about today. Yes, today when I tried (key word: tried) to book my train tickets to and from Euskirchen, Germany. I sound like a fool when I try to pronounce it. Either way, after searching online for a few hours over the last couple of days comparing times and prices, I finally have my route and timeline figured out. I was so proud. I go to book it and have everything planned out when they tell me....
Roadblock Number 1: They have to ship the tickets to me and want to know when I'm leaving The States. Can't ship the tickets anywhere BUT the US. Hmm...that won't do me any good...I'm already in Europe. So I think shipping them to the person I'm staying with in Belgium is the smartest idea--that way I'll get them in time. Also, since I'm so responsible, I don't know my address here in the UK where I've been staying for the past 5 weeks. So Belgium it is. Of course you can't do ANY of this online, so I decide to call RailEurope via Skype. It's free. That's literally the only thing I had going for me today.
Talk to a nice lady and she helps me figure everything out AGAIN. We had to re-figure everything because some trains are already booked, my luck is bad, etc. Almost done and ready to pay when...
Roadblock Number 2: Call is dropped. UGH! Knowing that RailEurope has over a thousand employees and chances of talking to the same lady again are about a million to one, I resolve to Skype call them again to start over. What else was I going to do? Gotta get to Germany.
So I talk to a different lady and tell her my last call was dropped just to prepare her. This time she gives me a confirmation number to track my itinerary just in case. This was a good call. Because, yet again, we are ALMOST finished when...
Roadblock Number 3: Call is dropped. Again.
I call back. The first two ladies were super nice. But this man is mean. Very mean. I came to the conclusion that he hates his life. He has to help other people prepare their awesome European adventures while he sits in a cubicle all day long. I'd hate my life too. We look up my already-planned trip and--surprise!--it's actually there. And it's a whopping 400 dollars. WHAT?! For two trips? Interesting. He e-mails it to me and.....
Roadblock Number 4: I find a ton of extra charges on each ticket. The lady thought I wanted First Class. Wait, you couldn't hear the poor-college-student's-desperate-need-for-money dripping from my every word? She also thought I wanted rail insurance. False. Finally getting my fare filed down to only 300 dollars, I feel better. A little. Scrooge on the line asks the address in Belgium so they can ship it. Realizing...
Roadblock Number 5: I asked my friend in Germany for her address--not the lady in Belgium--so I have to to say I don't have it. Ignoring the disappointment and frustration in his voice, I apologize and hang up the phone. I stare at my computer screen for at least 10 minutes contemplating exactly how I just spent the last 4+ hours. When finals are on Friday. And I've done nothing to prepare.
Don't worry, I'm sure everything will turn out fine. That way, I can be surprised and thrown for a loop when it doesn't! I can't wait for the excitement to continue...
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