The Power Of The Aggie Network

By Anne Richmond '12

Before returning to Texas for a wedding, I decided to go a trek through Western Europe starting off in Brussels and making my way through different countries until I wound up in Normandy to see a friend of mine from school. I had only booked 2 nights for my weeks worth of vacation. First night in Brussels, the second in Luxembourg. I looked up transportation times and found that transportation ran every hour, so as long as I made it on the right day everything would work out fine.

I departed Luxembourg early in the morning after being awoken when my host family’s cat decided my stomach was a good resting place. I’m a bit of a history nerd so my first stop was a hike to the American Cemetery in Luxembourg to see Patton’s grave. It was just a few kilometers' hike and then back into the city; however I ended up being overwhelmed with the site and stayed much longer than anticipated. After speaking with the station attendant, it seemed like I could just push my train back, so i set out for my next stop, Bastogne.

A common misconception of European travel is that you can just take a train anywhere. Not true. Sure, the major cities will have a train station, but this isn’t even always the best way to travel. Buses are much more commonplace and in the case of Bastogne, it was the only way to get there.

The trip to Bastogne required some walking and a local bus trip, all of which took a little over an hour. I got to the village, exited the station and got on the first bus. I had 20 minutes to get to the following bus or be stuck for an hour waiting on the next one. It wove us through the town up the hills, as we got farther and farther from the stations my doubts grew and grew, until finally we reached the end and I was the only one on the bus. The stop was not the same stop I had written down, I showed the man my paper and he just pointed straight ahead. I cannot stress enough that there was nothing around. No people, just little residential houses spaced out. No information center, shop, park, nothing.

I walked and as the minutes disappeared, I grew more and more concerned about not knowing where I was. No other bus had come by. The bus stops I had found didn’t correspond to the numbers I could take to Bastogne. Finally, some poor soul came out of a house. I rushed over as casually as possible: “Pardon, do you speak English?” To my immense relief he replied, “A little”. I showed him my paper and he told me “straight, down hill.”

There was a small path to go “down hill” at the end of the street. Reaching the bottom, I finally found the proper stop, sadly not soon enough. I was 5 minutes too late. I started to settle down on the side of the wall to wait for the next bus when a miracle occurred and my bus came by. However, it did not stop. I waved it down and they pulled along the side of the road. I’m sure I looked ridiculous running for the bus but at that point I didn’t care, I didn’t want to give them the option of leaving me behind. The bus driver waved away my attempt at paying fare and I collapsed in the seat.

The rest of the journey was fairly easy. The bus dropped us off at the information center, and I got a map and instructions to the museum I was interested in: “From Texas to Bastogne”, an exhibit detailing the lives of five Aggies during World War II. The museum was perfect. It was like walking into a little bit of home. The elevator played the War Hymn and it opened up to welcome you to “College Station.” Once I soaked in my fill of the exhibit, I asked the workers where the closest train station was.

I waited at the indicated stop for over an hour, while apparently school got out for the day and the waiting area was filled with Belgian teens from surrounding villages. One of them was even wearing an A&M letter jacket. As we piled on the bus, it was standing room only. We weaved through the Belgian countryside as I struggled to maintain balance.

When I finally made it to the train station,  I was given the bad news that I’d have to go to Brussels or Luxembourg in order to get to France. So more back tracking, I returned to Luxembourg and went to buy my ticket. I asked for a one-way ticket to Coen. It was around 5 or so in the evening. “It is not possible,” came his reply. Upon further questioning I learned that despite my previous research there were no more trains to Coen at this point in the day. I had two options: stay in Luxembourg, pay for a hotel and leave early in the morning; or go to Paris and hope for the best. I chose Paris.

I had never been to Paris, knew no one in Paris, and as previously mentioned don’t speak French but I figured it would be better to be closer to my final destination than farther. When I got on the train I messaged my friend Ophelie to let her know the situation. She panicked. I reassured her that it was fine, things could be worse, we’ll figure it out, then I proceeded to text one of my friends who was back in College Station. 

“Don’t freak out but I may be stranded in Paris. Can you look on the Association website and see if there are any Aggies in Paris?”

She found two good matches, one who happened to be the same class year as me. I wrote out a message for her to send. Within five minutes of sending the message, I received a phone call.

“Hi, is this Anne?”

“Yes.”

“This is strange but my name is Derek and your friend sent me a message saying you were stranded in Paris.”

Derek, Class of 2012, is a good Ag. He called me up, opened up his home and apologized for not being able to do more for me. In all our time spent at A&M we had never met. As far as I knew we had no mutual friends. We just had this one thing in common. I exited the metro, looked to my right and saw the Eiffel Tower, and that’s when I finally lost it. After all the complications on this trip, this felt the most ridiculous--being in Paris was not a part of the plan not even a little bit.

Derek welcomed me in and introduced me to his friends. All of them were either from Europe or Canada. They seemed shocked that we didn’t know each other, that he was willing to let a stranger stay at his flat, and that I would just stay with someone I didn’t know. We explained as best we could about the Aggie Network and how we’ll do what it takes to help each other out, especially abroad. They especially loved seeing my Aggie Ring, since they had always seen his but never seen another.

The next day I was able to catch my train and meet my friend, but I will be forever thankful to Derek and his willingness to help a fellow Ag in need. To be part of something that I can carry with me to a small village in the Czech Republic or to an awe-inspiring metropolis like Paris, is something I will remember to cherish from now on.