I was able to get a few hours of sleep before heading to the airport. Sharon came along with Lori and me. We left home at 4:45 and arrived at the airport at 5:30. Security through customs was smooth and without incident.
Flight into Chicago was interesting. I met a colleague whom I taught with back in 1999 – 2000: Lorelei Bunkowsky. It was great catching up with her. She was off to a leadership conference in New York for 10 days.
It was a bumpy ride as we descended into Chicago. They were experiencing scattered thundershowers. After a quick transfer, I was off to Washington D.C. on a much larger jet. We cruised at 39,000 feet and the puffy white clouds created a cotton-like view from the air.
Arriving in Washington D.C. we flew past the Pentagon. After a quick pick-up of my luggage, I headed off to another new experience: the subway. I had to purchase a farecard, go through the correct turnstiles, get on the yellow train and then get off after six stops. This was all very exciting since there is no way of knowing where you are going when traveling through under-ground tunnels. It reminded me of two events: driving through the centre of Boston when our family went to the east coast, and the “Fire in the Hole” ride at Silver Dollar City, Branson Missouri.
I got off at the right stop and then went up two escalator levels to street level in China Town. I noticed another person carefully reading the same instructions I was using, and introduced myself to Dana, another TOP participant.
We left our luggage at the hotel and then walked around Washington D.C., finding a place to grab a bite to eat. We ate at an Irish restaurant and then checked into the Hampton Inn.
At our orientation meeting at the Goethe-Institut we met the other members of our group, as well as a second group leaving at the same time. Klause gave us a quick introduction to Germany today which was very interesting. I was fascinated to hear that he grew up in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, and his father understood Flat – German, or Low German. I was also intrigued by the fact that Germany had to rely on immigration in order to keep its population growing. This is very similar to Canada. Approximately 14% of Germany’s immigrants come from Turkey. For Canada, almost 25% of our immigrants come from Eastern Asia.
I found out that I left my belt at home just before the orientation meeting. So after a late supper, I was off to find a store that sold belts. This is not easy to find in Washington D.C. since most of the stores and malls close at 8:00 p.m. As I was walking around, I also did two caches just to make the trip worthwhile.
Well, tomorrow we are off to Germany. This is very exciting!
Flight into Chicago was interesting. I met a colleague whom I taught with back in 1999 – 2000: Lorelei Bunkowsky. It was great catching up with her. She was off to a leadership conference in New York for 10 days.
It was a bumpy ride as we descended into Chicago. They were experiencing scattered thundershowers. After a quick transfer, I was off to Washington D.C. on a much larger jet. We cruised at 39,000 feet and the puffy white clouds created a cotton-like view from the air.
Arriving in Washington D.C. we flew past the Pentagon. After a quick pick-up of my luggage, I headed off to another new experience: the subway. I had to purchase a farecard, go through the correct turnstiles, get on the yellow train and then get off after six stops. This was all very exciting since there is no way of knowing where you are going when traveling through under-ground tunnels. It reminded me of two events: driving through the centre of Boston when our family went to the east coast, and the “Fire in the Hole” ride at Silver Dollar City, Branson Missouri.
I got off at the right stop and then went up two escalator levels to street level in China Town. I noticed another person carefully reading the same instructions I was using, and introduced myself to Dana, another TOP participant.
We left our luggage at the hotel and then walked around Washington D.C., finding a place to grab a bite to eat. We ate at an Irish restaurant and then checked into the Hampton Inn.
At our orientation meeting at the Goethe-Institut we met the other members of our group, as well as a second group leaving at the same time. Klause gave us a quick introduction to Germany today which was very interesting. I was fascinated to hear that he grew up in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, and his father understood Flat – German, or Low German. I was also intrigued by the fact that Germany had to rely on immigration in order to keep its population growing. This is very similar to Canada. Approximately 14% of Germany’s immigrants come from Turkey. For Canada, almost 25% of our immigrants come from Eastern Asia.
I found out that I left my belt at home just before the orientation meeting. So after a late supper, I was off to find a store that sold belts. This is not easy to find in Washington D.C. since most of the stores and malls close at 8:00 p.m. As I was walking around, I also did two caches just to make the trip worthwhile.
Well, tomorrow we are off to Germany. This is very exciting!
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