I recently spent two weeks in Germany. Given that I go for stretches without blogging, I'm going to predict that it'll take me two months to blog about those two weeks. Any other bets?
I don't know if I mentioned it in a previous blog or not (actually, remember that webinar I mentioned when I was in Vegas?), but I was accepted to a fellowship in Germany. In typical me fashion, I was nervous and excited. I had applied in December and found out in March that I got in. I was SO EXCITED because I really wasn't sure if I stood a chance. Then I panicked for a couple of days when I thought job commitments might prevent me from going, but it all worked out. Prior to going I participated in two webinars and read an assortment of interesting required reading. Work is pretty busy for me in June so the few days before I left were a bit of a whirlwind. Somehow I got through them. Finished work on a Wednesday and used that Thursday for last minute packing, having lunch with a friend, and just plain trying to catch up on non-work stuff, oh, and writing thank you notes. Friday morning it was off to the airport. My flight to Washington, D.C.--more on that in a minute was at noon. Traffic near the airport in the morning can be, well, let's just say less than enjoyable so I took an earlier shuttle than I maybe would have liked and go figure there wasn't much traffic. So I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. The check in machine didn't like my credit card (to pay for my luggage) so I had to wait in line there for a few minutes, but somehow I ended up with a TSA Pre-check. I've never done that before, but it was quite nice. Anyway, I had plenty of time to read my book and play Words With Friends.
Oh, so I had orientation in Washington, DC Friday evening and Saturday morning then it was off to Germany from there.
There was one other person in my group on my flight to DC so we met up at the airport. It was nice to meet someone ahead of time and have someone to travel with--and yes, I know I should not have just ended that sentence with a preposition. The flight wasn't bad, but my luggage was not on the carousel so that freaked me out a bit until someone came by and said some luggage from our flight was elsewhere. I have no idea why, it was just standing in the airport and not on the carousel, it wasn't oversized or anything, but I was just glad to have it. Traci, the girl from my flight, and I Ubered to our hotel, quickly got settled into our rooms then wandered down the street for lunch. I had some type of vegetarian pizza at a Mediterranean restaurant. It was good. I haven't had a lot of Mediterranean food, so I was pleasantly surprised. Then back to the hotel for a little while until it was time to head to orientation. I met one other person ahead of time too and then met a bunch of people in the lobby and we all took the subway to the building where our orientation was being held.
I don't know if you've ever been on the DC subway, but oh my goodness, those escalators are crazy. I kind of wish I'd taken a picture. You just go down for ages. I can only imagine how far underground we were. I don't know if I've ever been on an escalator that long. I could only imagine how it would be with luggage the next day.
Orientation was good. The people I met all seemed really nice. We had orientation with our group and another group. There were people from all over the US. We played a funnyish game and learned a bit about our requirements on and after the Fellowhsip as well as a bit of German and met a few people who worked/interned for the program. Then we had a nice dinner. After dinner, it was back to the hotel to get some sleep since we'd soon be up for over 24 hours--I was not looking forward to that part, but I was definitely looking forward to going to Germany.
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