Freelance Announcer Aika Kanda’s “Year-End and New Year Trip to Germany & Luxembourg (1): Don’t Underestimate Me! Edition”

First time in Germany & Luxembourg

Every year, I travel with my mother over the New Year holidays. So far, we’ve rung in the New Year together in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Fort Worth in the United States; London in the United Kingdom; and Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Each place differed in the scale of its countdown events and the way people celebrated, making each trip a valuable experience that broadened our horizons.

When I asked, “So, where shall we go this time?” my mother had two requests: “Before long-distance travel becomes too hard for me, I want to visit a country as far away as possible that I’ve never been to,” and “I’d like to include a train journey.”

Hmm… I found myself staring at a globe. If we were to incorporate train travel, Europe would make sense. She hadn’t been to Germany yet, and there’s a direct JAL flight to Frankfurt, which I love. So we decided to make Frankfurt the starting point of our trip. From there, traveling by train to Berlin or Munich sounded exciting. However, a quick online search of winter conditions showed that both cities tend to accumulate quite a bit of snow.

My mother is now 75. She’s an experienced traveler but not used to snow. If she were to slip and break a bone, it would be serious. So we decided to stay only in Frankfurt while in Germany and look to a neighboring country instead. Among the countries bordering Germany that she hadn’t yet visited were Poland, Denmark, and Luxembourg. Warsaw, Poland’s capital, is about an 11-hour train ride away. Copenhagen, Denmark, takes about nine hours. Since we would also be flying home from Frankfurt Airport, doubling those travel times for a round trip felt daunting.

That left Luxembourg. When I looked into it, I found that it doesn’t get much snow, and the journey would take only about five hours one way. “This is it!” I thought, deciding we would ring in the New Year in Luxembourg, where you can watch fireworks from a bridge in the city center. Our itinerary would be four nights in Frankfurt and two nights in Luxembourg.

After a 14-hour flight, my mother and I set foot in Germany for the first time in our lives. We took a train from the airport and arrived at Frankfurt Central Station, and I was immediately struck with awe. European train stations are always beautiful and rich with history, but this one was not only beautiful—it was astonishingly large, imbued with deep dignity and an overwhelming presence. It was the complete opposite of the delicate, glittering elegance of Paris’s Gare de Lyon—more like a rugged, powerful grandeur with a heavy, imposing splendor. I couldn’t help but exclaim, “Whoa,” as I slowly turned in a circle to take it all in.

Then, braving the far more biting cold than we had imagined, we walked to our hotel. Since my mother was with me, we splurged this time. We chose a hotel famous locally for having hosted stars and dignitaries from around the world.

More important than the right words is the right spirit

At check-in, when I’m in an English-speaking country, I usually fire off requests like, “Do you have a room on a higher floor?” “Can we have one without a building right in front of the window?” or “My mother is sensitive to noise, so could we be far from the elevator?” But this was Germany. My poor English didn’t seem to get through, and I certainly don’t speak German. So I simply accepted the key and checked in as I was told.

We were then shown to a second-floor room with frosted glass windows and absolutely no view. (What? Why?) I had booked one of the higher-tier rooms in the hotel. (What is going on?!) Anger welled up from the pit of my stomach. “Mom! Grab your luggage again! We’re going back to the front desk!” I said, storming back, practically snorting with determination. At that point it was, (I don’t care if it doesn’t come out right—just listen to me!)

I firmly handed the room key card back to the young, handsome front desk clerk who had checked us in and said, “This room! Smoke glass! No! Room change, please!” And successfully secured a room on the sixth floor (out of eight) with clear glass windows.

The earlier awe I felt at the train station was long gone. That night, I was so frustrated I couldn’t sleep. I’ve had so many experiences checking in overseas and have learned repeatedly that if you don’t clearly state your requests face-to-face, things like this happen. And yet, I let myself become timid just because of the language barrier. (What on earth am I doing?!) I scolded myself. And toward the Germany I was about to spend time in, I declared silently, (Don’t underestimate me!)

I finally managed to sleep for just one hour around 4 a.m., and with that, our Germany and Luxembourg trip officially began.

Aika Kanda: Born in 1980 in Kanagawa Prefecture. After graduating from the Department of Mathematics in the Faculty of Science at Gakushuin University, she joined NHK as an announcer in 2003. She left NHK in 2012 to become a freelance announcer. Since then, she has been active בעיקר in variety programs and is currently a regular main MC on the daytime show “Poka Poka” (Fuji TV).

Her first book, ” Where are you going on the road called Royal Road?” is now on sale by popular demand!

From the February 13, 2026 issue of “FRIDAY”