17 hours later...

17 hours later, and I'm here in Germany! Grüße aus Deutschland!

  

(left:) en route to Newark airport!  (right:) view of NYC from the airplane... the spark of light is Times Square and the middle island towards the top is the Statue of Liberty!!

-- Newark to Berlin: I sat next to a really nice couple from Denmark. The woman (who was 4 months pregnant!) was actually Brazilian, and the couple was on their way back to Denmark from her brother's wedding in Brazil. We enjoyed talking... in English. :)

-- Berlin to Munich: Getting through passport control and to my next gate in the Berlin airport was kinda confusing, but the flight itself was really smooth. I had an empty seat next to me, and I slept most of the way!

-- Munich to Basel: I found this cool internet dome with a number of computer screens that could be used for free on certain sites. Although my email and the blog were not on that list of sites, Facebook was! :) It was nice to have a little taste of home while I waited for my flight. My (tiny!) plane to Basel took off a little later than planned, but we still got in before the predicted time.

I found several BFA staff members outside of baggage claim at the Basel/Mulhouse airport and we traveled about 20-25 minutes to BFA. (Kristen, I did not see any cows, but there are sheep right across the road from the school!!) The whole thing was surreal... the traditional German houses, rolling hills, and the town where I'll be living for the next 2 years! The dorm parents and RAs who were providing transportation from the airport seemed really neat.

  

The first person I saw when I entered the school to register was the BFA recruiter who I met back in October at GCC! She has since returned to the USA for grad school, but she is in Kandern for the conference this weekend. She actually didn't know whether I had been hired, so it was exciting to share with her that I will be teaching in the elementary school this coming year!!

I'm at my guesthouse in the town of Kandern right now. I have my own bedroom with a double bed and a great view of a beautiful old church up on a hill. There are three other rooms in this little apartment area -- we share a kitchen and a bathroom. It's a great setup (and really nice to have wireless internet, too).

    

I spoke briefly with the conference coordinator at check-in, and she said she has a schedule for me for volunteering -- I told her I liked schedules. :) Everything starts tonight with dinner at 5:15 (which is in less than an hour), and I'm sure the time will fly by after that!

Bis dann,
Heather Joy