Monday, August 04, 2014 3:38 AM The Great Tczew Adventure

Tczew.

By raise of hand, who has heard of Tczew?

Right.

Better question.

Who knows how to SAY Tczew?

Okay. T-ch-e-v. Now. Say it all together, nice and fast. Tczew.

Ah. There it is. Good job.

On Monday night, I had the great pleasure of exploring Tczew with my friend Elder J. Yep. That happened.

And now, wihtout further ado, THE GREAT TCZEW ADVENTURE.

It was Monday. We had P-Day (we wandered around Jarmark Świętego Dominika - it happens here in Gdańsk every summer, and has been for the past 754 years. Quite the history). It was delightful. After that, Elder J and I went to catch our train. We were both scheduled to go on exchanges to Bydgoszcz last week. So. We went to buy our ticket. I was at the machine, trying to buy our tickets, and they didn't have the train we were supposed to take as an option of trains to take. So I was like, "Ummmm ... Okay." And I bought us tickets for the next available train - about 30 minutes later than the train we were told to take. We went up to the peron, J and Monty and Elder Ja and I. We were waiting and stressing. Well. All of us waiting. I was the only one stressing. But we had the wrong ticket and there was confusion and we weren't sure what train we were going to be on and so on and so forth. Stress.

Meanwhile, a train pulls up. The original train we were supposed to take. So Elder Ja grabs the ticket from me and walks up to one of the train people and was like, "Hey, is this our train?" And he was like, "... No." So Elder Ja took our ticket and walked up to a DIFFERENT train guy and said, "Hey, is this train going to Bydgoszcz?" Um. We already KNOW it's going to Bydgoszcz. Dumb. And the guy was like, "Yeah." So Elder Ja was like, "Cool." He handed me my ticket, took my suitcase, and threw it on the train. And then basically pushed Elder J and I up the stairs. And I was like, "Excuse me, this ISN'T OUR TRAIN." And Elder Ja was like, "It's going to Bydgoszcz!" And then the door shut, and I said, "I'm going to kill you. I'm going to kill him - Elder J, I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill you!" Elder Ja couldn't hear me. The train was already pulling away. But I was upset. It was stupid. I was stressing HARD FLIPPING CORE. Elder J was really chill though. That was nice. One thing led to another, things were CRAZY, and Elder J and I had to get off in Tczew - one stop south of Gdańsk. Because we had the wrong ticket. More stress.

So. The two of us were in Tczew. We walked into the train station to buy a ticket to B-Town. I went up to the window to talk to the lady, and asked for the next train to Bydgoscz, and she was like, "Okay. The next train is at 21:30." That translates to 9:30. At night. And I was like, "Ummmm ... What? That's the next one?" And she was like, "Yep. Do you want tickets or not?" And I was like, "Uh. I'll get back to you." So I went over and explained the mayhem to Jourdy, who mostly thought it was HILARIOUS, and we decided we needed to call B-Town. We didn't have a phone. More stress. So we went phone hunting. I told people we were lost and asked if we could borrow their phone for a second. I don't know - I've never been on the other end of that onversation - but I like to think I'd let some poor sucker borrow my phone for a second. Not these people. RUDE. So finally this one lady - after telling us we couldn't use her phone - helped us find a pay phone and a place to buy a phone card. That was nice of her. I guess. I'd rather she just lent us her phone, but alright. It's fine. I was still freaking out, so Elder J volunteered to call. Bless his heart. So he called. He did a stelllar job. Bydgoszcz freaked out a little bit, because we weren't going to get in until about 11 at night. And then, we waited. An hour and a half. For our train. It was a great time.

We wandered around the mall in Tczew. It was SUPER lame. We got hungry. We found a decent kebab place and ate.

Then we got on our train with a bunch of other late night travelers. We stood the whole way to Bydgoszcz in the back near the party of drunkards by the bathroom. That was nice. Then we finally got in and everything was fine and I slept like a ROCK.

The exchange was nice. I LOVE Bydgoszcz. I'm going to miss that city.

The train ride home wasn't nearly as interesting. We were on the right train and everything. But it was fun. I love train rides.

The rest of the week has been pretty mediocre. In a good way.

So. That's it! Pretty exciting stuff!

Oh. And this morning, my BEAUTIFUL companion Monty blew up balloons and put up streamers for my birthday. And we made pancakes during comp study. We're buildling comp unity, so it's okay. And she also got a me a cute pink whale stuffed animal and a scarf that is my exact favorite color of coral. I LOVE MY MONTY. It was lovely.

And after email, we're going to go see a castle with Stanley and the elders. It's going to be a GREAT day.

Love you all SO MUCH!