Sister cities?

According to the wikipedia entry on Saarbrucken, my current "home", its sister city in the US is none other than my much-more-real home Pittsburgh (where I was born, attended college, and most of my family lives). Good to know!

Wonder what, if anything, it means. Do they have club meetings? Share kielbasa recipes? :-) Alright, that's Polish... whatever...

The secret of exchanging money

A small deal to some, but after all of my months of travel, I finally did find a way to exchange US money without losing half of it in the process! The not-so-secret secret: exchange at a bank.

Of course, for a scenario like my four month stint in Prague, there's no way I would have been able to bring over that much US cash, so my high-fee approach might still be unavoidable. For shorter trips though, I'd heard suggestions ranging from

• Exchange US-> foreign while in the US: lower demand means the exchange rate will be better
  Absolutely not! Or, possibly for high demand currency like euros (but then that might go against the motivation anyway), but not for currency like Czech koronas. Low demand means even lower supply, and the rates were the absolute worst.
• Exchange US->foreign at a standard currency exchange booth at your destination.
  Sometimes this is okay, but watch for unflattering exchange rates and extra fees.
  
• Exchange US->foreign by simply using foreign ATMs.
  It is possible that the rate is better than standard exchange booths, but don't forget about bank fees, especially from your US bank. Note: Bank of America loves to f*** you on all foreign transactions -- atm withdrawals, check card usage, credit card usage, etc.
• Withdraw $$ in US and exchange at destination bank. Note: probability of teller speaking English is low; bring translations.
  

Instead, I withdrew $300 in the US (ha, like that will be enough), converted $100 to euros in the Frankfurt airport to start with, and just returned from the bank to convert another $100 as I'm, yes, already running low.

$100 US at airport yesterday --> 67 euro and change
$100 US at bank today --> 75 euro and change.

Where did my first $100/67 euro go? 6 euro taxi, 15e dinner, 20e dine card deposit, 10e on university dine card (4,80 gone on first lunch), 10,5e on week-long bus pass, and just a few left (plus my new 75e :-))

Much of that is ~one-time expenses -- hopefully sailing will be smoother here on out!

On the train: lovin' the leaves

Though when I passed through Pittsburgh and Ohio recently to attend my cousin Heather's bridal shower, I found that autumn had long passed, Baltimore has been going through a late and extended beautiful fall these past few weeks. I'm thrilled to report that this area of Germany looks to be about the same. The views from my train from Frankfurt to Saarbrucken (3hr, not nearly as eventful as my last pass through this area) have been quiet lovely.

I'm afraid to pull out my camera though for fear of looking like the ultimate tourist -- not that reading Rick Steves' classic "German Phrase Book and Dictionary" hasn't given me away! -- but I've got a good hour left on the train so I may change my mind yet, especially if my car empties out.

Even the rows of crops seem to change a variety of colors. I wasn't expecting that! I don't typically think of crops as deciduous, but I guess it depends on what types of crops they are.

Speaking of the Rick Steves' book (and yes, he does apostrophize that way), thanks much to Simil for letting me borrow it! It's concise and well-organized; definitely I'll be going into this Germany trip slightly more prepared than last March's trip, when I was too overwhelmed with trying to absorb Czech (alas, to no avail) to worry about the correct way to say "good morning" in German. I don't expect to need German much this trip either, but I'll at least give it a go.

Just as I admired the German scenary here in.... [glancing out the train window -- where am I? Fahrkarten? Whoops, no, that's the ticket counter I think. ;-) I don't see the sign...] anyway, small little German town en route to Saarbrucken. [Sobernheim.] But between all of the traditional little houses, etc, I just saw the "Chicago Sports Bar", which if I'm not mistaken also offers kareoke. Funny the things that pop up where you don't expect them. :-)

My train is running a good 20 minutes late.... I'm thrilled that I caught the one route from Frankfurt to Saarbrucken which didn't require transfers. :-) I definitely trust myself more than in my early travels, but this is just easier.

It's raining now, as weather.com warned me to expect for at least the next 10 days. So much for my nice out-the-window-colorful-crops photos. Oh well, hopefully there'll be nice scenary to record in Saarbrucken.

Beginning a new journey, and recalling the last

Today's flights were my third trip across the Atlantic this year, and those who know me probably know that a fourth trip awaits in December. My trip to Prague from January to May was pretty well documented in this blog (as were the subsequent intra-Europe trips to London, Saarbrucken, and Paris). I don't believe I mentioned my trip to Spain in August at all, so now is as good a time as any...

This August I spent 10 days with my boyfriend's family in the village he's from but never officially lived, and where his mother grew up. (details: Liendo is a small village on the northern Spanish coast west of Bilbao -- see related link). I'll include a few quick shots below -- why not? -- but too much to write up. Basically, the area was gorgeous,


I enjoyed meeting his father and Spanish side of the family, and had a lot of time going out (til at least 5am most nights, and often later) with his friends!

The biggest surprise: after 3 years in high school and a few semesters in college, it turns out that I really do know how to speak a little bit of Spanish! I had some serious doubts going into it, and was a little worried about feeling out of place and left out of conversations when I didn't understand. Once I relaxed and stopped worry about the inevitable mistakes though, I did pretty well! His friends were all impressed with me. And good thing too, because I definitely overestimated the English proficiency of everyone we'd meet there.

Let's get this party started...

This Saturday I head back to Europe, spending two weeks in Saarbrucken, Germany and one week in Prague. The trip is completely work-focused, as was my initial Prague trip, but I'm hoping once again to get a little exploring done in the meantime.

Stay tuned! :-)

Finally compiled: The Best of Prague

I've been home almost a month now, and have finally compiled the best of my photos from Prague. A few pictures don't do the sites justice still, but several are breathtaking. I consider myself unbelievably lucky to have considered these streets my home for four months. I hope you enjoy them!

http://www.clsp.jhu.edu/~erin/photos/prague

Observations on U.S. life from an ex-expatriot :-)

I've been back in the U.S. for a week -- 2 days in NC, 1 day (12 hours!) driving to Baltimore, a weekend in Philly, and several days in Baltimore since. Being back is very strange -- I haven't been away long enough that much has actually changed, but yet things have. I feel like I've entered a time warp, cryogenically frozen for four months. No, too dramatic. I feel like someone switched the channel on me during a commercial break and forgot to switch it back, for just long enough that I have to stare at my original surroundings in confusion for a minute or two until I finally understand again how all of the characters and subplots are fitting together. Not a big shock, just a double take and a readjustment period til I'm all settled in again.

A few things I've noticed more than usual

• Sitting in traffic S-U-C-K-S! Why is there no decent train system here?? :-)
• Grabbing food on the run -- I've missed you much
• Weather always seems better when I'm not there! Just as Prague was getting gorgeous I had to leave; just as I arrive in NC and Baltimore, the beautiful weather hides behind cold breezes and lots of clouds. :-/ Poo.
• Just sitting in lab exhausts me as much here as it did there, but the daydream-inducing view out the window there was better.
• I love driving through the mountains and cities full of green (that would be NC, not Baltimore, for those who don't know...)
• Americans speak really loudly to each other on the streets -- especially as tourists, it seems, but even here at home
• Gone for four months, but the main headlines never see to change: Iraq, Natalee Holloway, and the sniper trials.

I miss Prague, but am glad to be home, despite its quirks. :-)

Last night in Prague

Departure time: Seven hours (leave for airport 4:15am, flight departs 7am)

Suitcases packed: ~75% done

These past few days have been full of goodbyes. My last day at my office in Malostranske Namesti. My last walk across the Charles Bridge and through the streets of Prague. My last drinks with American pals in Prague. My last dinner with co-workers. Tonight though, saying goodbye to my incredible Czech friends Pavel and Eliska, has definitely been the hardest, and for really the first time I'm feeling some of the loss soon to come.

Less than a week!

I fly far, far away from Prague in less than a week -- seriously, my time here has sped by much faster than I anticipated back in October when my advisor told me I had to come for four months. I'll be leaving Prague with mixed feelings. Not only is this an incredibly beautiful city with a rich people and history, but this really is the best time of the year to be here (and the weather through Sunday looks gorgeous!). On the other hand, returning to normal life of friends, boyfriend, and family will be really nice as well. Not to mention about 23432 weddings to attend over the course of the summer!

So, what will I do with my last week? Beyond work, I plan to spend the next few days going out with friends, finally catching a performance at the National Theater, packing and wrapping up loose ends, completing my rest of my ridiculous souvenier shopping list, and most of all, spending a lot of time walking around outdoors and loving Prague. :-)

Some cool things I've done in the past week:

• Explored Prague views on Petrin Hill
  
  
• Attended a campfire party with Czechs -- cooking sausages on a stick over a fire and singing songs with live guitar accompaniment was never so fun :-)
  
  
  
• Skipped most of a day of work to finally explore Kutna Hora, an old silver mine town an hour or so outside of Prague
  
  
• Spent an afternoon playing touch football (fun!) with a fun set of expats

• Evening barbeque with friends
  

All about London

As usual, I'm way behind -- I'm sure I'll be writing about things I did and forgot to mention months after I return from Prague. :-)

Anyway, London... (trip taken April 20-23, photos here)


I was fortunate to be able to meet up with two friends and have another fantastic weekend with beautiful weather. :-) Happily I was also able to save money on hotels in the process! And a good thing too, because... good lord, London is expensive! Seriously, NYC didn't even compare. I just kept pretending that I was paying dollars instead of pounds for my own mental health (when in reality one pound is ~ $1.78.... wow, has that changed a lot...). My bank account caught on to the trick though.

But we'll forget that for now.

List of favorite London moments (not nec in order)

1. Seeing the Producers at Covent Gardens in the London West End
2. Catching up with Jeff Goodman and reminiscing about good old high school days :-)
3. Jeff's whirlwind tour of London's sites
   
4. Getting to wander London with my boyfriend's sister Sara -- first time we've really hung out alone, and as I expected we had a great time!
   
5. Getting to ask my dumb tourist questions in English instead being limited to large arm gestures and repeated pleas of "Yes? Please? English?" in whatever language was appropriate at the time :-)

Paris was more beautiful than London, but London just felt more approachable and definitely more familiar. Plus, the London subway map didn't give me a headache.

London Underground

Paris Metro

Paris was a beautiful place to visit, but I think I could actually see myself living in London.

If I could afford it. :-)