i meet this guy on the train from venice to interlaken. he is corean and in his 10 day vacation he visits dubai, rome, florence, siena, venice, interlaken, schilthorn and finally paris, where he visits his brother, who studies there. the henna on his arm is from dubai. “i like dubai, i very much recomend it”. after we talk a little he asks me: “so, you look like a venice lover”. he gets very confused when i try to explain to him, that i do not like venice, that i think it is a huge tourist trap and that i go there only to see the art. it is his first time in a night train and he tells me that he was very nervous before, but meeting me has made him comfortable. the next day when we drive into switzerland and the weather is shitty i feel miserable. this guy has 12 hours to enjoy our country and we give him rain and fog?
but back to the night before. after a few stops a guy from rumania joins us in our sleeping car. he does not speak italian, english, spanish, french nor german. i run out of languages. he does not carry along any bagage. he wears only an orange tanktop tshirt. he smells pretty bad. somehow he communicates. it seems that he is on his way to spain, to albacete, to visit his parents and sister. he says he won’t sleep tonite.
after we turn off the light the rumanian guy starts playing some game on his mobile phone. the key tones on his phone are on. beep beep beebeebeep. he then calls someone. practically yells into his phone. i go to see if i can find space in another sleeper…