Adventures in transit

So, the adventure begins. We spent the weekend packing and I thought we did well. We ended up with one large suitcase each, plus one additional bag to check in (my shoes; $60 for the extra bag…thank you Delta, but gotta have my shoes).   We also had one carry on bag each, plus a computer bag. This photo is of us at Groome, thanks to our friends Judy and Steve Bowden, who stuffed our bags into their trunk and dropped us off.

When we checked in, both Art and I were over the 50 pound per bag limit.  So, if you have been in the Atlanta airport and see folks unpacking their luggage at the baggage check in area and thought…what’s up with those folks? Well, that was us, trying to lighten our checked baggage and stuff it into our carry on baggage. (Sigh)

We finally got it all sorted out, checked our luggage, and did not have to pay the $75 overweight baggage fee, thanks to our now heavy carryon bags.

The flight was uneventful. We upgraded to economy comfort, which gave us an extra 4” of leg room; well worth it on such a long flight. Still not very comfortable, but we managed.

We arrived in Frankfurt on time and were able to collect our luggage without a problem, even though the baggage handlers in Frankfurt were on strike; apparently, the strike affected only Lufthansa flights.

However, we then had to wrestle our bags onto the train from Frankfurt to Karlsruhe. Picture this: two 50 pound large suitcases, one small red bag with my shoes, one medium size roll on bag with Art’s reading materials and other ‘stuff’, one soft sided black bag with my ‘stuff’ and our computer bag. We wrestled this load from Terminal 2, the international terminal, onto a bus, which took us to Terminal 1, where the Hbf (train station) is located. Down the escalator to where we thought our train might be, up the escalator because that was the wrong train, across the train concourse (maybe a quarter-mile), down the escalator to the right train track, and then onto the train. By this time, we were both questioning why we had so much ‘stuff.’ (Big * sigh*).

My first faculty meeting – Tuesday, 28 Feb.

After we arrived at Frankfurt on Tuesday morning at 7 a.m. (local time; 1 a.m. GA time), we checked into our hotel and had lunch. Then, we walked over to my new office, on the Kaiserplatz. This photo is over Kaiser Whilhelm riding his horse. Apparently, most streets (strasse) and squares (platz) are named after famous Germans.

My first faculty meeting was at 2:30 today. The technical communication department (Technische Redaktion) has 8 faculty members and 260 undergraduate and graduate students.  Here is a picture of my colleagues and the flowers they gave me as a welcoming gift. I am the only American faculty member teaching at Hochschule Karlsruhe – Technik and Wirtschaft (Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences) this year. Whew --- no pressure here.  The entire faculty meeting was devoted to curricular issues and was in German; 99% of which I did not understand. So, after an hour, I politely excused myself and headed back to the hotel.

This photo shows where my office is located. The entrance to the office building is between a wine store and an Italian ice cream store; how perfect is that?

My office is here; what a great view of the Kaiserplatz! Am working to get access to a faculty internet account. It is no easier here than at Mercer; seems like all universities have that in common!

Stay tuned. Tomorrow I have to register with some agency to let them know where we are staying, set up a bank account, get a work visa, and move into our new