People on Trains

People on trains can be pretty great. Kind of like people at airports. They make for good people watching. Which happens to be one of my favorite activities. This is the story of mine and Gemma's train ride to and from Bayreuth.

On the way there, Gemma and I were on the fairly empty train sitting across the aisle from and old man and his wife. After a while this [slightly paraphrased] conversation happens [in German]

Old man: Excuse me, can I ask where you two are from?
Gemily: The US and England
Old man: Oh, I thought you were speaking English! What are you doing in Germany?
Gemily: Well we both work and live in Germany now.
Old man: Our granddaughter is in Australia right now working as an au pair! She'll be so excited we met English speakers. What are your names?
Gemily: Gemma and Emily
Old man: Evelyn?
Gemily: Emily.
Old man: Amelie?
Gemily: Emily.
Old man: Evelyn?
Gemily: E-M-I-L-Y
Old man: Oh, well I have a very German name, Reinhard. Could you write your names down? Just the first names! 
Gemily: of course.
Old man: Then we can tell our grandkids we met English speakers!

This conversation completely made my day. They were absolutely adorable and so sweet. And it was further proof that Germans just don't seem to get my name. 

On the ride home it was less exciting. We just sat across from two teenage boys who kept talking about us and commenting on their inability to understand us in German. Not to mention the total ETA and Famous stares they were blatantly giving us the whole time.  Hey, news flash - you didn't understand us, but we understood you perfectly.

These train rides also happen to be a perfect example of the two most common reactions you get to speaking English in public here.