By
Cory Spiller
Editor's note: Cory Spiller is spending the summer in Paris as part of a UA program.
PARIS-Traveling is truly an educational experience, and, oddly, I think I've learned more about myself than the places I've visited.
I decided to do the last two weeks of my stay in Europe alone. And going solo is rewarding in many ways. However, the long hours that you are left alone with your own thoughts eventually take a toll. At least they do for me. In fact, I've started to question my own sanity.
Often on trains and in hostels I find interesting people to talk to. Other times I find certified lunatics, or drunken Scotsmen, but usually I just talk to students traveling across Europe like me.
But just as often, I find myself alone staring out the window of the train, my forehead firmly planted on the glass, while my mouth hangs slightly open allowing a bit of spittle to ooze down my chin. It was during one of these slightly comatose episodes that I remembered a joke told to me by one of my eccentric and overly intellectual ex-editors. The joke goes like this: "Why is the Champs-Elysees lined with trees?" I don't know Dan, why? "Because the Germans don't like to walk in the sun!"
I burst out laughing (something you're probably not doing right now). Tears came to my eyes, I clapped my hands, and even may have given my knee a slap. The four other passengers in my compartment looked over at me cautiously. I saw one girl's hand move slowly towards the conductor's button.
I did my best to stifle the laugh. I put my hand over my mouth and giggled like a schoolgirl for the next hour and a half into Copenhagen.
I've also noticed certain obsessive-compulsive symptoms in my daily routine. I'm traveling around Europe with a backpack and another bag around my shoulder. In a small zippered pouch of that bag, I have my documents: passport, Eurail ticket, plane ticket and about 800 dollars in traveler's checks. It's everything that I have. If it gets stolen, I will be royally screwed. I keep it tight against my side, often cradling it as if it were my only child. Most nights I can't go to bed without checking every document and counting every check.
On a ferry from Germany to Denmark, I leaned up against the railing and stared down at the sea at least a hundred feet below. My bag was resting on the railing in front of me and I thought to myself: if for some reason my bag went overboard would I go in after it? Yes, without a doubt. Would I pause to take of my shoes first? No, I wouldn't hesitate.
I've also come to the conclusion that I'm a decent person when it comes down to it, more so than say you average Norwegian train conductor. I was in Oslo boarding a train to go to the beautiful western town of Bergen.
It was a sleeper train with compartments that had three bunk beds. While I was stowing my luggage I heard an odd thump in the adjacent room. I stepped into the corridor, only I saw a semi-conscious Norwegian guy lying on the floor bleeding profusely from his head. Blood covered the floor, and in my professional opinion, the poor guy was in an advanced state of shock.
I handed him a towel and ran down the corridor to find the conductor, a robust fellow with a condescending glare. Breathless, I informed him, "There's a guy in the sleeper car with blood squirting out of a hole two inches above his ear. He must fell off his bed!"
"What," he asked, "is bed?"
"Bed, you know, couchette, cot, bunk, death trap for drunken Norwegians."
He followed me, still confused as to what the hell I was getting at. When he saw the man on the floor, he shouted something completely unintelligible, which I figure was Norwegian for, "Holy shit! He has blood squirting out of a hole two inches above his ear!" But in fact he must have said, "Excuse me sir, may I see your ticket?"
The poor guy showed him his ticket and got back into his bunk and fell asleep, still bleeding into a towel. I watched him awhile; no one else seemed to care. I saw that the harness that keeps people from falling out of their bunks wasn't attached. I took the liberty to attach it and nearly tucked the guy in. I went back to my bed and sat there amazed that they didn't stop the train and get the guy to a hospital. Lord knows what would have happened to me had I pulled the emergency brake.
