Thank God, I Could Go Home Safe And Sound!

Well, I skipped more than a month of writings given some reasons and extreme mood-swings in these last several of months. But now I'm back! And nothing will matter, right? Hohohoho...

So, what I'm gonna write is something that happened like exactly a month ago, on a cold windy day of May 1st, 2014. I've tried to write this as soon as it happened but again, there're things I couldn't explain (say the last one with a husky and whispery voice!). Anyway, it'll be a really long story. Keep reading!

Here we go.

The story began with my huge undeniable desire to make a visit to an aquarium, including a short one day trip in a city I've never been in. Why aquarium? I don't know, I just really want to see some nature and fish and animals, not to mention, I actually really want to visit a zoo too. This weird feeling of "I must go there" were even bigger as I got some discount vouchers for an aquarium-visit.

So I made plans.

The nearest upcoming holiday was May 1st. Of course, some smart people will know why exactly May 1st is a holiday. But this dumb girl (a.k.a. me) didn't care about why people don't go to school or work on May 1st, all I see and care about was that it's a holiday! For the whole nation, for the whole word! And it's just several days away and it's probably the last holiday I could enjoy without being chased by those horrible deadlines.

Then I asked some friends in Lübeck and surroundings to come too and they responded very positively. There was a little debate on when we should be better going, May 1st or May 2nd. It was decided that we'll go on May 1st because the weather report said it'll warmer and sunnier (which was in fact NOT warm and sunny enough) and my short-patience didn't allow me to wait for another day.

Long story short, on an early morning of May 1st, the three of us rode the train from Lübeck to Stralsund, where Ozeaneum, let say, the biggest aquarium in the area, is. We're planning to meet the other six (who come from Wismar) on the entrance of Ozeaneum. Our plan for the day was masive and supposedly to be a real fun. Supposedly...

After, I think, a short hour on the train, we had to make a quick transfer in Bad Kleinen, a really small Dorf (what is Dorf in english? Village, maybe...) with a really small station. We're waiting for the next train to Rostock (where we had to make another quick change before finally reached Stralsund) and there they come, a group of people: mostly men, skinn-headed (almost all of them), wearing blacks (all of them). For the foreigners like me, it means just one thing: they're Neo-Nazis! NN works together with die Rechte: a german political party, who supports NN's movements and denies, that Holocaust ever happened. They hate capitalism and liberalism, which they accused to be the reasons on why many germans now can't find job easily and so on. In short, they believe that all source of Germany should be taken care and benefited by germans and ONLY germans.

But wait, in my 2 years experience living in Germany, I've seen some people wearing black and skinn-headed and it doesn't mean they're those NNs. So I tried to conceal my suspicions and throw my attention to some other places. Minutes went by, more suspected-to-be-NNs-men coming, and I couldn't resist the feeling of being looked at. In some way, we're a bit out of place: we're the only asians, wearing very colorful clothes (I wore a bright red wind-breaker, one friend wore a neon yellow, also, a wind breaker and the other one wore maroon) among a sea of people wearing black sweatshirts. Those people were looked really fierce, I saw some of them peek on us and then whispered something to their friends. I felt uncomfortable.

"I think they're palbot," said one of my friend, who wore neon yellow. Palbot is an invented name for NN, which is used only among indonesians. The purpose is so that we could talk about it more freely. I think the name "Nazi" in some way similar to Voldemort, whose name most people prefer not to say directly, instead the use You Know Who.

"I think you're right," I replied. I tried to read what's written on their sweatshirts and banners (oh yeah, they brought banners too!) by stealing glances over my friend's shoulder. What I read confirmed almost immediately our suspicions.

"No, it's not I think. They ARE palbot," I  said and became more uneasy and more uncomfortable. The sweatshirts they wore had some sort of symbol, which I recognize to be a modified swastika. The words and sentences on their banners were not very friendly either. I wish the train would come soon... At this time, there were like about twenty or more people in black.

FYI, NNs don't like foreigners and they do violence. Just... a little further information, in case you don't get it, why I became uneasy. And, oh yeah, we're foreigners: I AM foreigner.

Then came a group of police in the station, who also wore black. Now, there were as many police as the NNs on the site. Ok, at least there're police around. Finally, the train came and we decided to wait and enter lastly, after we make sure which cart the NNs went in. Some policemen stood by the cart entrances. When we entered one of the cart, a policeman directed us to go to the front side of the train, he blocked the other way. So we did what we told and the trip continued, peacefully, without any sights of NNs in our cart.

After another hour, we arrived at Rostock's Central Station and what we saw, didn't very helping: there're more and more people wearing blacks, brought banners and standing in groups. And more police also. The station was crowded because of the sea of people in black, included the police. We rushed to the platform, where our next train to Stralsund supposed to be.  The train was already there and there were people, normal passengers, standing in line, waiting to enter the train: among them were our six friends from Wismar. It turns out that they had to change train in Rostock too. Also, we boarded the same train from Rostock to Stralsund and the-now-nine of us spent another hour in train. The train was full of people and just like the train in Bad Kleinen, there were police guarding in some spots, directing other passengers. So I assumed, in some carts in this train were also NNs. The police separated the NNs and the normal passengers, that's why our cart was full but no one seemed to be part of NNs (they're looked friendlier and less-scary).

Finally, we reached Stralsund. The day was a bit cold for May: the wind was strong and grey clouds covered the sun repeatedly, which made it colder. The weather report last few days was proved to be not accurate, because the day was not warm. It was even raining a bit.

We spent a good two-three hours in Ozeaneum, had lunch and, after a quite long and slow discussion on what we're going to do next, we decided to visit Rostock on the way home and do some sight-seeing. But because it's a holiday, the train didn't work as often as usual day. We had to wait another some hours in order to get the next train to Rostock. Stralsund Central Station is small and not so interesting (just like Lübeck's), in addition on holiday some shops were closed. We then went by the riverbank near the station to spent time and found a small playground. That afternoon was, finally, quite warm. We gathered on the playground and chatted until the time was come for us to walked back to the station and continue our trip.

Another hour on train to Rostock was spent quite silently. Most of us fell a sleep and the rest chose to be occupied by their phones or the beautiful scenery from the window. We sat on the first cart, directly behind the machinist. The cart was empty and we sat like the real owner of the cart but on the midway, entered some other passengers and we continued to ride the train in silence.

Until, which I think, the last station before Rostock, the train stopped to allow passengers get in or off the train but the train's not moving for a longer time than on other previous stations. An officer, who checked our tickets, came out of the small room in front and said, "If you, please, look out the window, there are all black. But don't worry there're also police," or something like that. Then I turned my head and looked out the window: there are NNs, everywhere. In an even bigger group and guarded by similar amount of police. My heart raced and my hands went a bit cold. The fear and uneasiness had come back. Even the germans, normal germans, in our cart seemed uneasy. I heard some of them swore out of worries.

It took sometime for all of them to enter the train and when the train finally continued its journey, I saw the small room between our cart and the next cart full and guarded with police and I knew, just behind the police's barricades there're full of NNs. Not a good feeling I had, if I may emphasize...

The train arrived at Rostock and we're welcomed by some shouting on the platform. The NNs in our train got off first, which made us had to wait and stayed longer on the train. I saw a bigger group of people wearing blacks on the platform and I saw the NNs from our train joining them and they began to yell as soon as their feet on the platform, off the train. I couldn't really understand what they're shouting about but a large group of people on the other side of the platform were also shouting at, I think, the NNs who were just getting off our train and now standing on our side of the platform. Between the NNs and the people on the other side was a thick line of police, not just in black, but also in military-green uniform, which I assumed were prepared for much more serious problem.

Ok. So now there are two enormous groups of people, both wearing blacks, standing on each side of the platform, divided by a strong line of complete weaponed officers, and shouting at each other in the most unfriendly way. What was really happening?

The train officer, who warned us before, came out again and looked more uneasy. My friend threw him the question, "What is really happening?" The shouting got louder and they seemed to sing some kind of chants in a very scary way. Now I could hear some of the words they shouted: "Hau ab! Hau ab! Hau ab!" For the records, hau ab comes from abhauen, which means "to bugger of" (a bit of german language lesson never hurts). So, I think it's not friendly or nice.

"Today is May 1st, the International Worker's Day. Many people do demonstration and when die Linke and die Rechte meet each other, they fight," the officers explain shortly and rushed to the door to talk with a policeman. I got it now. There're two groups on the platform and although both of them wearing blacks, they're not from the same side. I've explained before about die Rechte and to make it simple, die Linke is the total opposite of die Rechte: they value capitalism and liberalism.

There were still shouting and yelling and chanting outside on the platform. Nobody in our cart had got off the train. We looked outside from the window uneasily and full of worries. The NNs moved forward while shouting anything they shouted and yelled, leaving the cart door empty. Slowly, other people in the train get off with cautious-look in their eyes. We too decided to get off and once we're on the platform, standing in group, we didn't know what to do next.

The platform was long and full of people and police. We turn or head around, trying to find a sign to the exit way of the station. We clearly want to get out of this station as soon as possible. There're an uproar in the middle of platform, more shouting and the people in black -from both parties- moved in sudden towards each other direction, still shouting and yelling. They looked angry. They shouted from the very deep of their throats. The officers now formed a tighter and thicker wall between the two parties, tried to keep them divided. The shouting and yelling were not uniform and well-practiced anymore, they just shouted at each other angrily.

We're stunned and stop moving. Most people from our train, who just get off, stood by near the same train, hesitated to move forward, where the tumult was. Suddenly, there was a loud voice, yelling, from our right side and I felt something thrown and landed near our feet. People around us screamed and the police rushed to the source of the loud voice. We're pushed back to the same train we just got off, while the people rushed back to the train and used it as a secure shelter.

"I think we should go home. I think we should just go to Lübeck," I said to my friend. My hands were cold and I trembled in fear. I could hear people said: It's a rock. It's a big rock they're throwing at us!!. Well, so there WAS something thrown at us. From the opened door, I saw the uproar went wilder and the police rushed everywhere. They tried to control and calm down the angry people.

"I know. I'm checking the next train to Lübeck," he answered and I saw him busy with his phone, checking the train connection. Sight-seeing in Rostock? Nope, thank you. I just wanted to go home.

"We need to go to the Platform One. There'll be a train to Lübeck in ten minutes!" He said after a while. I stretched my neck trying to see the surroundings from the opened door and found out where Platform One is. Shit! Platform One was on the other side, which means, we had to walked through the uproar. I went panic. How could we go across the station full of angry people?

A nice man, he stood by the door, might saw our fear and cautious looks. He offered help and asked where we wanted to go. I answered, still trembling, "We need to go to the Platform One. We want to go to Lübeck." He then talked with the train officer and explain it. The train officer then talk with the army guy, asked whether he could accompany us across the station. Unfortunately, he seemed not able to leave his post and accompany us. Confuse and full of fear, we might have to ride the train back to Stralsund, if we're not able to leave this shelter-train as soon as possible. And if we're back to Stralsund, only God knows when we'll be able to go home.

In minutes, the station seemed more quiet and the uproar is over. The police have succeded to end the chaos. There were still people with angry faces wandering around across the station, but the crowd had been scattered and not so tight anymore. We officially had passed the train to Lübeck. The officer came in again and talk to us, "You could wait there (he pointed out the empty space on the right side of the platform) and take your train after the situation is better." We thanked him and get off the train again, to the place he pointed. I saw a crack on the front window of the train, where another thrown rock probably landed. As we walked, a policeman called us and told us not to move and stay where we were. More confuse, we saw the train had moved back to Stralsund, leaving the railway empty. I saw a man being caught on the other platform behind us. 

Well, now we're stranded in Rostock, all nine of us. We're looking around, trying to find a way out, and there it is: on the platform where die Linke was, was a train to Hamburg. Hamburg is only forty-five minutes away from Lübeck! With a new hope in heart, we saw a policeman came toward us. He asked us where we wanted to go and we said Hamburg. He then accompanied us to the train on the other side and showed us the entrance. But before we could enter the train, a policewoman stopped us and, again, asked where were we going. The policeman explained to her and said that we could board the train behind her.

"No, you should wait there," she said and pointed out a space between the pillars, where, as I saw, some other passengers were, also waiting to be able to board the train. My heart sank but my feet obeyed her and we walked to the pointed place. I think, the police wanted to make everything 100% sure and safe before letting people board the train. It's good but it takes time and I just really want to go home. Fortunately, not long after, we're allowed to enter the train to Hamburg.

The train was almost full but we could find seats. There were some people of die Linke on the front seats and they asked my friend about our destination. It turns out they also wanted to go to Lübeck, so they offered us help and told us to just follow them and stay close to them. Relieved that some people were ready to help us, we're now able to discuss the current incidents and starting to check the last train from Hamburg to Lübeck, because we're definitely going to arrive really late.

The train began to move slowly, a woman who sat in front (she's one of die Linke) hit the window hard and showed the middle finger provokely to the NNs outside. Why did she do that? Can't we just go home peacefully? I desperately want to leave this place. But then suddenly the train stop moving, we hadn't even leave the platform. The door were re-opened and some policemen got in. All the people in the train were confuse. What's happening now? An announcement was heard from the loud-speakers in the train, the train was canceled and will board for the next schedule, which was two hours later, and WILL not reach Hamburg but directly to its endstation, Schwerin. My heart dropped to the stomach. I just want to go home.

It turns out that someone in the train had pulled the emergeny brake and according to the regulation everyone had to leave the train, while the officers checked the whole train thouroughly. We stayed in the train and I think the police too thought, that it'd be safer for people to stay on the train. It's obviously just some unresponsible act of the demonstration's participants. Some passengers complained and get off the train, trying to find another punctual train to their destinations. After some minutes, more people get off the train just to get some fresh air. We remain to stay inside. One of die Linke came to us and explained how we're going to reach Lübeck: we need to change train in Bad Kleinen, from where a train to Lübeck would be. The problem was, Bad Kleinen was in die Rechte's territory, so there might be another chaos waiting for us in Bad Kleinen. As for Lübeck, we'd be completely safe when we got there (Just another reason to love Lübeck more, isn't it?).

Hours of waiting went by and we always put an eye to die Linke's people because they had guaranteed our safety, as long as we stayed close. The six who come from Wismar decided to get in the other train directly to Wismar. After asking the police, they finally got in the train to Wismar (it was on the other platform) safely and guarded by the police. Finally, the train moved and this time it didn't stop. The police stood by in the small space between the carts and guarded. We were told to only walk around the first two carts and I knew again, behind those barricades they're all die Rechte. The fact that we're on the same train with an enormous group of people who hate us, gave a really not-nice feeling. Really.

Long story short, we've reached Bad Kleinen and get off the train following the police instructions. The station was empty and its surroundings were dark. All the people from the first two carts get off and wait in line by the train, they didn't move to the next platform where a train to Lübeck waiting. Our train moved again and as the later carts passed by, I saw it filled with NNs. It was really scary. The-now-three of us standing among the crowd with black jacket. I realized there were four or five other people who weren't with die Linke. There're just normal people like us. I thought we'll move as soon as everybody get off the train but it's not. After some other provocative actions through the window as the train went by and showed its rest of passengers inside (some middle fingers, bangs on the window, and yelling), die Linke started to chant and yell their motto (something about stopping facism). They kept yelling and chanting while rushing across the station, to the train that would bring us to Lübeck.

Finally, we're on board. The train moved to Lübeck, everyone seemed not so tense anymore. After another good hour, we arrived at Lübeck at almost midnight. Fortunately, I was still able to catch the last bus and went home.

That day was a very long day.

Thanks God, I reach home sound and safe. Thanks for this unexpected, incredible adventure and lessons and experience. :)

Moral of the story: Never EVER go traveling on May 1st, especially when you want to visit the East side of Germany (which known as NNs' domain), and anywhere in the world will have big demonstrations on this very International Worker's Day, so I think it's best to just stay at home.