Excuse me, or maybe it’s Entschuldigen Sie! now

At the airport, I expected long queues at immigration or baggage claim. But God had other plans to make my first international flight very memorable and stressful. Apparently, God is turning my life into future bedtime stories for my kids ( fur babies do count)  

CDG Paris was my first point of entry into the Schengen area. Against all odds, immigration was surprisingly quick, and before I knew it, I boarded my next flight to Berlin. Two hours later, the wheels touched down! Yay, I made it! I’m officially in Germany!

Or so I thought,

For the first hour, everything felt like a dream; I grabbed my checked suitcases from the baggage carousel, navigated the exits, bought a train ticket at the counter, and made my way to the airport railway station to catch my train. I was feeling calm and low-key, I know; this wouldn’t last, Lmao.

Then, as I stood on the platform waiting for the train, I saw a girl walk past carrying a laptop bag.

My brain froze. I looked down at my hands. I looked at my luggage stack.

Wait.

Where was my laptop bag?

Cue the instant cold sweat. The realization hit me like a freight train: somewhere between getting off the plane, grabbing my checked bags, and walking to the train station, I had left behind my most crucial piece of hand luggage. My brand-new laptop, my certificates, and all vanished.

Luckily, I had my Passport with me, phew.

Picture me in that exact moment: one exhausted student, two giant suitcases, one trolley bag, and zero laptop bags.

I ran straight to the Lost & Found, begging them: “Please, I’m a student, I just arrived, and my whole life is in that bag!” The lady went to check the seating area near the baggage carousel where I had been sitting earlier. She came back with bad news: No bag.

My heart shattered right there. I literally burst into tears in the middle of BER airport and called my best friend back home, sobbing uncontrollably.

My brain was a total nightmare for an hour. Then, my junior on the phone gave me great advice: “Go report it to the police!”

And that’s how my crazy airport marathon started. Hauling three heavy bags, I did 5 or 6 laps around Berlin airport! I went from the information desk to baggage tracing, and finally to the state police.

The police checked the CCTV footage for me. After four terrifying hours of sweating, running, and crying… we found out what happened! Someone had spotted my unattended bag earlier and handed it over to the airport officials.

And I have to board the train in 5 mins. Because that’s the last train to my place. I reached my place around 9:45 PM. My parents were terrified back in India. I booked an Airbnb for the night to stay.

I was late, and as everyone knows… Germans are serious about punctuality.

Boom, as soon as I arrived, the host scolded me in German for being late. Welcome to my master’s journey, lol! I frantically typed out a long explanation on my phone, translated it into German, and explained in my broken German that it was my very first day in the country, and I had lost my bag.

Once he read it, his mood completely changed—he accepted my apology and was actually super friendly and welcoming!

And that is how my wild first day in Germany ended with a very well-deserved, peaceful sleep.