I made it!

Packing (and re-packing... and vacuum packing... and flat out ditching stuff to be shipped later) was actually completed as of Tuesday afternoon, almost 18 hours before my flight boarded. That's a fairly amazing feat for me.

But even more amazing, of course, is the fact that I'm blogging from Frankfurt, Germany! No flight delays, no lost luggage... an annoying gate change in Chicago and a bit of a bumpy ride and a bit of waiting in the street before the compassionate housekeeping staff to let me into the hotel (before it officially opened for the day)... and I'm no worse for the wear! It's hard to believe.

I communicated with a cab driver in German and got where I wanted to go. Now that's hard to believe!

And this is what I got. The room:

The bathroom (yay hot showers post-airport!):

The view:


It turns out there was another Fulbright student on my flight, but we didn't meet until we were both stranded outside the hotel at 6:30am. After a shower and a nap we went for a walk, ostensibly to find some kind of Mittagessen (lunch) but we didn't find much on this side of the river after an hour's walk, so we gave up and turned around. Another nap, our first meeting with the whole group, then dinner.

And then... internet in the computer lab! I have no idea what access will be like in Kiel (hopefully I can ask tomorrow) but so far so good. I won't be able to stay on all the time since I can't leave my laptop down here, but I'll be around, so watch for me back home. Everything has been a whirl, but I miss you folks and I love you!