I always knew it would happen

For a long time I've joked a bit saying that if I ever wanted to get married I'd probably have to settle for a foreigner who wants a green card. Well, as it turns out, I might have missed that opportunity.

I was on the train this morning heading to Europark, Salzburg's local mall. It's about a forty minute ride from Kuchl, so I settled down with a book. The seats on the train are in groups of four, so it's not practical to sit alone, but even if three of the seats are open, courtesy calls for you to ask before you sit. When I have a book with me and my headphones on, I don't even bother to look up to see who's asking me. I just nod my head and keep to my own business. Most people will do the same. But every now and again, you'll get someone sitting across from you who wants to chat. That's what I got today.

He started off innocently enough. Commented on my book. Said if he tried to read it he would have much too much trouble with the language. Said he'd even have trouble with children's books. I told him I had some trouble, too, since I'm not a native German speaker. That led him to ask where I was from. Sometimes when you're abroad it's a bad idea to admit you're American, but I wasn't sure what else I could claim and get away with. And oh boy, was he excited to hear that I was American. He asked me what on earth I was doing in Austria, what I thought of it, what I think of the language here (yes, the dialect can be a pain), etc. and told me a bit about himself. He's been living in Hallein for a year now, and he has no intention of ever returning to his home country (honestly, if I were him, I don't think I'd want to return either). He's also not too pleased with Austria, but what do you know, going to the United States is a dream of his. And he asked if I could perhaps help him in that endeavor. Another TA in Salzburg has been helping a student figure out a way to spend a year or two in the USA, either as an exchange student at a high school or as an intern somewhere, and the process is complicated. For as much the US claims to be a country of immigrants, we sure do like to keep the immigrants out. I thought this guy on the train was asking me to help him navigate that whole mess of forms and applications, but I declined, saying that I couldn't help him if he couldn't speak English. To my luck, he can't. Then he said that that was okay, but he'd still like to get to know me. I told him I'd be heading back to the States at the end of the month since the semester is over (a little white lie - it's true that the semester is over) so wouldn't have time. Then he told me he could go back to the States with me. Uh, what? That's when he started to talk about "Heiraten"... marriage. Something like, "You know, I could easily get into the US if we were married. And it's easy to get married." Afterall, it is his dream to go the the US, and what are the odds of running into an American on a train like that. It was a sign! Sure, I have trouble with coincidences, too, but really? To his credit, he didn't come right out and ask, "Would you marry me?" But I think the intention was clear enough. Oh man, he thought he was smooth. Luckily, I only had to repeat my line "I can't help you" for about another two minutes before the train got to his stop. He wished me good luck with my journey back to the US and said he was sorry I didn't want to help him. I hope the Austrians on the train who must have been eavesdropping had fun with that one.

The only question now is, since I always felt like I'd have to marry a foreigner who wants a green card and I've now rejected one, will I ever get married? Ha.