Yesterday we had a snow day - it was actually the most snow I've ever seen in DC. Usually snow days happen here because it is snowing lightly, and they have no way to move the snow, so they just wait until it melts (almost always less than a day). This time it actually started at night and looked like a blizzard, and all the next day there were a couple inches of snow covering everything - it looked so cool! Unfortunately, I only ventured out once, and forgot my camera, so no pics here.
Snow day for me didn't actually change much, since I work from home most of the time anyway. But Jeff's school was closed, so he was home too, which was nice. And I didn't have class in the evening.
Mostly we just did work and errands all day. Reading and writing papers, mostly. We did take a break at one point to watch "Idiocracy" which is a really stupid movie, that is sometimes funny and has a basis in an interesting idea - that we've gotten to a point where evolution and 'survival of the fittest' is no longer based on being smart or strong. The plot, according to imdb is: "Private Joe Bauers, the definition of "average American", is selected by the Pentagon to be the guinea pig for a top-secret hibernation program. Forgotten, he awakes 500 years in the future. He discovers a society so incredibly dumbed-down that he's easily the most intelligent person alive." It was sometimes funny (Luke Wilson is good), but had tons of bathroom humor, and maybe would have been better at one hour instead of two.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Boston
I haven’t been to Boston since last fall, so I was excited to travel there on Wednesday morning, even though I’d just gotten back from Europe on Monday. I had a work meeting during the day, and then met up with my friend Amanda for a while. I had dinner at one of my favorite Boston restaurants – Vinny T’s – with Craig and Carvey. Then I flew back this morning. Short, but fun. Now I need to get back to school work.
Another World
The trip to Europe was really great, and also very different from other trips I’d taken. It was one of my first international trips for a conference, and it involved moving almost every day and visiting people I hadn’t seen in years. The conference was really cool and interesting, I love seeing new places, and it was amazing to meet with old friends. It was a very fast paced trip, without much time built in for just lounging around and sightseeing. I’m not sure I would do anything differently if I did it again – but I wish I had more time!
Another interesting aspect of this trip was that it felt like a completely different world. I didn’t have time to check or read email, I didn’t do normal school work or work-work. I was with all different people, but still people I was friends with, and I had different responsibilities than I do at home. It’s interesting how much if felt like a completely different environment, even though it was just a week. And now I’m back home and within days, back to my normal schedule of classes, work, and (local) travel.
Another interesting aspect of this trip was that it felt like a completely different world. I didn’t have time to check or read email, I didn’t do normal school work or work-work. I was with all different people, but still people I was friends with, and I had different responsibilities than I do at home. It’s interesting how much if felt like a completely different environment, even though it was just a week. And now I’m back home and within days, back to my normal schedule of classes, work, and (local) travel.
Goodbye, Europe
Monday was our last day in Europe. When we woke up, we gave Diana a call and went to meet up with her to run a few last-minute errands. We went grocery shopping – stocking up on German chocolate and candy. Then Diana took us to a “rindswurst” place by her house, which she said is always crowded with people (which it was even when we went, even though it’s just a small butcher shop outside the main part of the city – must be very good food.) We had a cup of broth soup, a piece of bread, and a beef sausage with mustard. The food was great – a very nice last meal before heading to the airport.
Diana came back with us to the hotel to hang out and help us pack, and joined us on the trip to the airport. We said our goodbyes and headed back to the USA.
Thanks to the magic of time zones, we were back in DC three hours after we’d left Frankfurt – just in time to set down our stuff and go to bed.
Diana came back with us to the hotel to hang out and help us pack, and joined us on the trip to the airport. We said our goodbyes and headed back to the USA.
Thanks to the magic of time zones, we were back in DC three hours after we’d left Frankfurt – just in time to set down our stuff and go to bed.
Freiberg to Frankfurt
Completing our loop, we headed back to Frankfurt – our final stop before flying back to the states. We got into Frankfurt hauptbahnhof (main train station) at about 11am, and our friends Cordula and Neils were waiting for us. Cordula is the sister of the first German exchange student my family hosted in Minnesota. Neils is her husband, who I had heard about but never actually met until today. They live in Goettingen, but had come to Frankfurt for the day to see us. The four of us (Jeff, Cordula, Neils, and me) then met up with Sabrina and Jesse. Sabrina is Cordula’s sister, who stayed with us in Minnesota, and Jesse is her girlfriend. They’re living in a town somewhat near Frankfurt, and had also come in just to visit us.
The six of us wandered around the city, though the weather wasn’t spectacular. There was actually a Carnival parade going on. Lots of crazy floats throwing German candy, and many more of those adult marching bands.
We had lunch at a steak place, were the food was good, and we could all chat together. It’d been four years since I’d seen Cordula, more since I’d seen Sabrina, and I’d never met Neils or Jesse, so there was a lot to catch up on.
After lunch we walked around a bit more and stopped for a cup of coffee (Germany has real coffee – not just espresso!). In the late afternoon, they all headed out, since they had long drives to get home.
Jeff and I walked around for a while longer after that, but since it was Sunday, almost everything was closed. We met up with Diana and her boyfriend, Marco, later in the evening. We were going to stay with Diana, but since her boyfriend was consulting for a nearby hotel, he was able to arrange a nice room there instead. It was very nice of them to do that – and nice for Jeff and I to have a little space to collect our things and re-pack before flying home.
Diana and Marco had thought we might be interested in a more traditional German experience, especially Jeff, who had never been to Frankfurt. So they took us to “Adolf Wagner’s.” It’s an apfelwein (apple wine) maker and restaurant. The tables are family style – with long benches so lots of people sit together. We ended up sitting with about four older German people, who had begun their apple-wine drinking before we arrived.
It was sooo much fun! Since it was carnival, the place was all decorated, and there were old folk songs playing. All the German people were singing along. We had come for the apfelwein and atmosphere, but decided to stay for dinner, since they had such a wide variety of traditional German food. I ordered some kind of pork (it looked kind of like a giant, thick piece of bacon) with fried onions, sauerkraut and potatoes. It tasted incredible. Jeff had slices of beef and potatoes with gruene sauce (green sauce), which is a specialty in Frankfurt. His food was also very tasty. So much so, that I have resolved to try to cook a German meal at my house sometime soon. Diana and Marco got us one of the Adolf Wagner pitchers (bebeln) to take home, and Jeff and I bought a couple bottles of apfelwein, so we’ll be all set for our German night in the USA.
After Adolf Wagners, Marco and Diana took us on a drive through Alt Sachsen Platz (Old Saxony Place). It is a part of town with small pedestrian cobble-stone walkways lined with lots of tiny pubs. It was a really cute area. Now the pubs are all different nationalities – German, Spanish, Turkish, Asian, etc., but before it used to be all traditional German places.
From there, we headed to a more trendy bar, where we relaxed and chatted into the night. Diana and I had been lucky to live near each other a number of times – she lived with my family during the high school exchange, and I lived with hers. I visited her a second time a year later, staying with her family again. While I was in college, Diana moved to a town just north of Boston, working as an oper (nanny), so I was able to see her fairly often then, too. It was great to see her again and chat about what we’re both doing now.
The six of us wandered around the city, though the weather wasn’t spectacular. There was actually a Carnival parade going on. Lots of crazy floats throwing German candy, and many more of those adult marching bands.
We had lunch at a steak place, were the food was good, and we could all chat together. It’d been four years since I’d seen Cordula, more since I’d seen Sabrina, and I’d never met Neils or Jesse, so there was a lot to catch up on.
After lunch we walked around a bit more and stopped for a cup of coffee (Germany has real coffee – not just espresso!). In the late afternoon, they all headed out, since they had long drives to get home.
Jeff and I walked around for a while longer after that, but since it was Sunday, almost everything was closed. We met up with Diana and her boyfriend, Marco, later in the evening. We were going to stay with Diana, but since her boyfriend was consulting for a nearby hotel, he was able to arrange a nice room there instead. It was very nice of them to do that – and nice for Jeff and I to have a little space to collect our things and re-pack before flying home.
Diana and Marco had thought we might be interested in a more traditional German experience, especially Jeff, who had never been to Frankfurt. So they took us to “Adolf Wagner’s.” It’s an apfelwein (apple wine) maker and restaurant. The tables are family style – with long benches so lots of people sit together. We ended up sitting with about four older German people, who had begun their apple-wine drinking before we arrived.
It was sooo much fun! Since it was carnival, the place was all decorated, and there were old folk songs playing. All the German people were singing along. We had come for the apfelwein and atmosphere, but decided to stay for dinner, since they had such a wide variety of traditional German food. I ordered some kind of pork (it looked kind of like a giant, thick piece of bacon) with fried onions, sauerkraut and potatoes. It tasted incredible. Jeff had slices of beef and potatoes with gruene sauce (green sauce), which is a specialty in Frankfurt. His food was also very tasty. So much so, that I have resolved to try to cook a German meal at my house sometime soon. Diana and Marco got us one of the Adolf Wagner pitchers (bebeln) to take home, and Jeff and I bought a couple bottles of apfelwein, so we’ll be all set for our German night in the USA.
After Adolf Wagners, Marco and Diana took us on a drive through Alt Sachsen Platz (Old Saxony Place). It is a part of town with small pedestrian cobble-stone walkways lined with lots of tiny pubs. It was a really cute area. Now the pubs are all different nationalities – German, Spanish, Turkish, Asian, etc., but before it used to be all traditional German places.
From there, we headed to a more trendy bar, where we relaxed and chatted into the night. Diana and I had been lucky to live near each other a number of times – she lived with my family during the high school exchange, and I lived with hers. I visited her a second time a year later, staying with her family again. While I was in college, Diana moved to a town just north of Boston, working as an oper (nanny), so I was able to see her fairly often then, too. It was great to see her again and chat about what we’re both doing now.
Strasbourg to Freiburg
On Saturday, we started the last leg of our trip. We caught a train from Strasbourg to Freiberg, where Christoph and Jakob were waiting. We went back to Christoph’s house, saw his neighborhood, and took a walk through the park back to town.
Freiberg is a really nice city – home to one of the oldest universities in the world and to many famous philosophers and other academics. It has a really nice mix of impressive traditional buildings and trendy new stores.
We stopped for a doener at what Christoph told us was the best doener place in Fienberg. I actually practiced my German a bit – ordering for Jeff and myself. Re-fueled, we headed out for more wandering around Freiberg. It was actually the beginning of Carnival, so there were tons of random people in the street, dressed in costumes. One of my favorite was two guys dressed as chairs – they had somehow taken all the stuffing out of two fluffy living room chairs so that they could wear them. And they had a mechanism built in so they could sit down and then they just looked like a chair with a head coming out of the back rest.
There were also lots of bands playing. Jeff and I were confused, because it wasn’t like high school marching bands – it was all adults. They all had matching costumes and marching-band like instruments – drums, tubas, trumpets, etc. Apparently these adult bands are common in Germany and often organize themselves specifically for Carnival.
We climbed up the big mountain/hill in Freiberg, and had a really nice view of the city. Though a bit treacherous with the snow and ice, we were able to make it up and back. (Though we cheated a bit by taking an elevator part of the way up.)
Freiberg is right on the edge of the Black Forest, so you can see it on the surrounding mountains and hills as you’re walking around. Christoph offered to take us to a small town in the Black Forest near a lake, but since it was getting dark, we thought we might not be able to see much. That’s on the top of my list for next time, though.
Anyway, all this Black Forest-seeing made us crave Black Forest Cake, or “Schwarzwald Kirsch Tarte.” Christoph found us a cute café where we were able to buy the last piece they had left. Combined with a warm cup of tea, it was the perfect thing to do after climbing down a snowy mountain/hill.
After cake, we headed back to Christoph’s house, where we all hung out for a while and then cooked dinner together. We had a great recipe of Christoph’s for pasta with mozzarella, tomatoes, and spices. Then we spent the rest of the night chatting away – catching up after four years of not seeing each other.
Freiberg is a really nice city – home to one of the oldest universities in the world and to many famous philosophers and other academics. It has a really nice mix of impressive traditional buildings and trendy new stores.
We stopped for a doener at what Christoph told us was the best doener place in Fienberg. I actually practiced my German a bit – ordering for Jeff and myself. Re-fueled, we headed out for more wandering around Freiberg. It was actually the beginning of Carnival, so there were tons of random people in the street, dressed in costumes. One of my favorite was two guys dressed as chairs – they had somehow taken all the stuffing out of two fluffy living room chairs so that they could wear them. And they had a mechanism built in so they could sit down and then they just looked like a chair with a head coming out of the back rest.
There were also lots of bands playing. Jeff and I were confused, because it wasn’t like high school marching bands – it was all adults. They all had matching costumes and marching-band like instruments – drums, tubas, trumpets, etc. Apparently these adult bands are common in Germany and often organize themselves specifically for Carnival.
We climbed up the big mountain/hill in Freiberg, and had a really nice view of the city. Though a bit treacherous with the snow and ice, we were able to make it up and back. (Though we cheated a bit by taking an elevator part of the way up.)
Freiberg is right on the edge of the Black Forest, so you can see it on the surrounding mountains and hills as you’re walking around. Christoph offered to take us to a small town in the Black Forest near a lake, but since it was getting dark, we thought we might not be able to see much. That’s on the top of my list for next time, though.
Anyway, all this Black Forest-seeing made us crave Black Forest Cake, or “Schwarzwald Kirsch Tarte.” Christoph found us a cute café where we were able to buy the last piece they had left. Combined with a warm cup of tea, it was the perfect thing to do after climbing down a snowy mountain/hill.
After cake, we headed back to Christoph’s house, where we all hung out for a while and then cooked dinner together. We had a great recipe of Christoph’s for pasta with mozzarella, tomatoes, and spices. Then we spent the rest of the night chatting away – catching up after four years of not seeing each other.
Last Day in Strasbourg
Friday was the last day of the conference, the day I presented, and our last full day in Strasbourg.
The morning session of the conference went well. There were a lot of presentations on Space Situational Awareness, given from different perspectives. Lunch was very nice again, though this time I was a bit distracted, running through my presentation in my head.
I was the third presenter after lunch. I think it went well – I didn’t rush through my slides, and I remembered to say the things I meant to. It seemed to go quickly, especially because the presenters before me had taken more than their allotted 15 minutes, and I had taken slightly less. However, on Friday afternoon, I don’t think people are too upset if you take a bit less than the time allowed. People asked me questions afterward and asked for my slides, so it did seem like there was interest in the presentation. I was very happy to finally be done and able to relax a bit.
After a long day at the conference and the stress of presenting, I decided to take a much needed nap in the evening. I woke up in time to eat some of Halit’s awesome dinner and head over to Pol, Raycho, and James’ apartment to visit with friends. Later in the evening we met up with all the ISU students at “The Living Room” and spent the last night partying together in France.
The morning session of the conference went well. There were a lot of presentations on Space Situational Awareness, given from different perspectives. Lunch was very nice again, though this time I was a bit distracted, running through my presentation in my head.
I was the third presenter after lunch. I think it went well – I didn’t rush through my slides, and I remembered to say the things I meant to. It seemed to go quickly, especially because the presenters before me had taken more than their allotted 15 minutes, and I had taken slightly less. However, on Friday afternoon, I don’t think people are too upset if you take a bit less than the time allowed. People asked me questions afterward and asked for my slides, so it did seem like there was interest in the presentation. I was very happy to finally be done and able to relax a bit.
After a long day at the conference and the stress of presenting, I decided to take a much needed nap in the evening. I woke up in time to eat some of Halit’s awesome dinner and head over to Pol, Raycho, and James’ apartment to visit with friends. Later in the evening we met up with all the ISU students at “The Living Room” and spent the last night partying together in France.
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