II: The Fatherland Beckons

Oh my, what a long flight!

I started my Friday (that would be Friday, June 20th) slightly behind schedule. I had nothing packed. I didn't get to the ATM. My apartment was woefully unclean. But, I didn't really care. Packing would take an hour...there were ATMs in Europe...and I wasn't going to be there, so who cared if there was some grime and filth left behind?

First order of business: set up a ride. So, I let my fingers do the walking and picked up my handy-dandy Falls Church Yellow Pages. Guess what? 'Cabs' aren't listed. Nor are 'Automobile Rentals', 'Transportation Services', or anything else that that I could think of that would get me to the airport. Ugh! Defeated so soon! Oh, wait, try 'TAXICABS', ah yes, there we go...

By noon, I had succeeded in putting the majority of my life into two bags; one to check and one to carry and my immigrant waited at the lobby. The journey to Dulles was uneventful except the dam thing cost nearly $60! Holy Toledo, who knew? Fortunately, there's both a Fuddrucker's and a Pot Belly Sandwiches in the airport, so my lunch was delicious. Farewell, American food! I'll miss you!

Check in was the usual airport hassle. I managed to time my arrival just in time to get behind a pack of wild hyenas, or were they just adolescents in a tour group? The ticket agents were very nice, and moved me (without my asking) to an exit row so I would have more leg room. Security was long but very tolerable. The only problem was my toiletries. Since I was going on a very long trip (three months!), I did not pack travel sized items, so my tooth paste was confiscated. A harbinger of things to come? No, just an annoyance.

The flight itself was quite nice. We had some turbulence midway across the Atlantic, but it was a minor shake-up, if you'll pardon the pun. The entire crew was French, apparently Delta sub-contracts flights to Paris via Air France so that was understandable.

The layover at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris was about four hours. Then it was off to Stuttgart. I have a rental car that's about as big as two shopping carts, a hotel room with a teensy weensy kitchen-ette (that is it has a mini-fridge and a microwave) and, best of all a breakfast buffet. At least, I assume that's included in the bill. I'm going to have a very unhappy realization if it isn't.

I've started my new job, but mostly it's all paperwork at the moment. There's a whole load of processing that happens for a new hire and even more when it's overseas, but I'm getting through it.

Now, if I can just get caught up on my sleep and defeat the evil jet-lag.