As they pass the bright green budding trees on this warm, sun-filled, spring day, he leans in so she can hear him over the hum of the train riding along the tracks. "You have such beautiful eyebrows," he whispers in her ear, "try not to furrow your brow."
Sound crazy? I've had some pretty crazy experiences in my travels this year including the accidental trip to Asia from Istanbul, the mad hunt for the unnamed Hungarian marzipan candies in Budapest, and the Bulgarian man who got punched in the face repeatedly while standing shoulder to shoulder with me on the bus coming home from Sofia University. This one ranks right up there.
When I announced that a 9 hour layover in Frankfurt on Easter Sunday was part of my itinerary, everyone told me Frankfurt is awful. So I loaded up my ipod with episodes of Dirty Sexy Money (I know it's been cut from the lineup, but I still wanted to see the last 9), grabbed some short stories, and prepared to dig in at the airport for a while. I figured I could at least learn where to buy my train tickets to Baden Baden, my destination on April 30 - yay! Imagine my surprise when Henry approached me as I was talking to the information agent.
It seems, like me, Henry, whose South Korean name is unpronouncable by native English speakers, so we can just call him Henry, had an extended layover on Sunday. He figured out how to buy a subway ticket to go to the Rhine River and enjoy the afternoon outside, even though nothing much would be open on the holiday. He overheard me talking and was apparently excited that my English is so good. When I explained that I'm American and an English teacher (one would hope I speak good English, though it is sometimes debatable), he was thrilled. He offered to pay for my ticket and lunch if I would accompany him downtown. A little unusual, but I figured why not...no harm in making a new acquaintance. After all, my travel experts keep telling me I should embrace traveling alone because it's such a great opportunity to meet new people. So, off we went...
We stopped at a cafe for lunch...I had a salad with turkey and fruit. It was pretty good. Things got a little weird when Henry asked me to choose something for him. I couldn't do that...food choices are way too personal. Then it got worse. Now, I'm trying to embrace a new, less OCD misanthropic attitude here, but when he asked if he could taste some food off of my plate, I was weirded out. I didn't really know what to say, and I was done eating, so I went with it.
After lunch we went down to the river where tons of people where biking, rollerblading, laying out, and enjoying the beautiful day. He told me all about how rich he is - apparently he's a successful author. He talked all about his "humanistic approach to business managment" and how for the price of his apartment in South Korea (he owns two) he could buy 5 HUGE houses in America. I also heard how South Korea pays English teachers per student and how popular teachers can make $250,000/year, how it's completely democratic, women are respected and treated equally, and how foreigners are adored. I kept waiting for him to try to sell me into a pyramid scheme or something. It was weird. He also mentioned that he is only 33, "very young" after inquiring about my age and making sure to guess that I was only 23. (I know I look a little younger than my age, but even my ego didn't buy 23!) To top it all off, he kept touching me. You know how I feel about that. After guiding me to a bench in the shade so I could rest (evidently he thought I was tired after my red-eye flight even though I insisted I wanted to stay up and move around so I could adjust to the jetlag), guiding me across the street, and guiding me out of the way of other pedestrians on the bridge, I had to explain that as an American I value my personal space. I thought he'd gotten it till that train ride back to the airport - eyebrows? Yikes.
Needless to say, once we arrived, even though I still had another 4 hours till my flight, I politely excused myself and got the heck out of there. Luckily FRA is a huge airport. I think I am now completely justified in my misanthropy and refusal to travel alone. Of course, I found out later that my friends Geoffrey and Cora were in town that day. Even though I'll be seeing them in Baden Baden soon, obviously, I would have liked to hang with them in Frankfurt. If only I had a global cell phone! At least I got a good story and you guys get a good laugh out of it all. Nonetheless, Frankfurt is a lovely, clean city. Should you find yourself stranded there during a long layover, it's well worth the 7.40 euro roundtrip downtown to walk along the river.
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