We had to get up early to catch the S1 from Heidelberg to Mannheim and board the ICE to Hannover.
All went well except we forgot the apples and some other minor stuff.
Approaching Frankfurt, there was an announcement that the engine is failing and that they will have to repair it. This made a delay, which was getting even bigger when it came to the point where they told us it was not to be repaired, and they had to use the engine on the other end of the train and that we had to take a detour to turn the train around.
This ammounted to almost an hour running late.
In Hannover we met Sascha and his mother who were going to the conference as well. We did not get the 'apologize' package of juice and sweets whyever, but had some company from then on :-)
We boarded a totally overcrowded RE then, because the connecting IC did not wait for us. It was the purest of horrors Aspie can experience, lots of stressed people, a big backpack to manage, and not being on time. I still wonder why S. had such a calm state he was in.
When we finally arrived at Bremen Hauptbahnhof, we had to wait for a RB to Schoenebeck and walk through unknown streets to the university the conference took place at.
All very late, but we made it there with no great injuries except the one that all went so totally different from expected. I missed out a talk I had wanted to hear, so I thought.
It turned out the programme was changed and the talk was to be held in the time we were there, so I did not miss it at all.
We had the opportunity to stay on campus and this made it easier on us for the stay, so we dont get lost between transfer from and to campus.
Such totally new surrounding always tells me over and over again how lost I feel when in new territory. Reading the signs, taking them literally, landing in streets where there are no signs to follow, construction areas nobody had talked about, unclear descriptions which only make sense after we had found the place, all such things show how the perception is so totally different.
There was the desctiption of crossing a bridge over the Autobahn, but it actually was a bridge over the train tracks, there was the talk about the second street left after the bridge, but due to the construction all looked so different, we could not make out the second street. There were people passing by on bikes, but we did not dare to ask, untill one passer by asked us if he could help.
There was a worried contact person on campus and then, when it was too late, I had the idea, I should have called her from the train and told her about the delay.
It was good to meet old friends there, and get to know new people, and find ways of helping to make the world less chaotic for people with different neurological wiring.
