Friday 23rd May 1997, 5:18pm

'Garbel, garbel, garbel... Köln Hauptbahnhof?'
'Ja'
'Garbel, garbel, garbel...'
'Sorry, my German is not so good.'
'You don't speak German?'
'A little' .... 'You speak English?' ... 'Ja.'

'Where are you from? WWWWhhhhheeeeerrrrreeeeeee aaaaarrrrreeeee
yyyyyooooouuuuu ffffrrrrroooommmm? Where are you from? Where are you
from?'
'New Zealand.'
'Australia?'
'No.'

'New Zealand, New Zealand, New Zealand....'

And so it begins again. He is very interested in my shoes. Cigarette
smoking, cigarette to mouth, hands to sides, hand to mouth, open mouth
upward release (concentrating on the action), flick to ashtray ....
hand to mouth, hands to sides, open mouth upward release, flick to
ashtray, quick cycle .... tailored cigarette consumed... 2 minutes.

Asks me how long I am in Germany for, what I do, etc. Tells me he lives
with 20 in a home for the mentally ill. In breaks in the conversation
he rocks in discomfort, absorbs my shoes or stares.

Teeth push out in angle, yellow edged, white jacket, nervous hurried
searching through pockets for unknown. Bends, inspects my shoes again,
another hurried search.

Enjoys the conversation, repetitions narrow to two or three... much
humour with the word psychology.