Mass update

[Delayed Posts due to lack of internet connection] Time: 1:09am May 3/06 Frankfurt time, 4:09pm May 2/06 Pacific So here we are, 39000 feet above the Atlantic. At last we're heading to Germany! It was a little hairy getting onto the plane though; our connecting flight was running late so we had to run from gate to gate just in time for the final boarding call. It's all good now though, had a decent meal (hooray for international flights and decent food), and a magnificent sunset just outside our window. So, packing was kind of crazy. I should have started earlier but of course, it's kind of hard to start right after finally getting some time off; nevertheless everything that I should need is (hopefully) on its way to Frankfurt with me! Really not much to report since last post though -- I'm pretty much bored on this plane so I figure I might write an entry while I'm at it and have nothing to do. This is a half-decent flight, not uncomfortable or anything, and I don't have to pee too badly yet. Go Oilers! Way to knock off the Wings...I had originally predicted Detroit in 5, claiming myself a realist, but I'm back on the bandwagon. Woo! In other news, a Happy Birthday to my Dad! --- Time: 10:23pm, May 04/06 Well, I'm sitting in the youth hostel that is my current home (for the next 4 days or so), enjoying some simple downtime. It's been so long since we have had real bona fide downtime, and it's great! Last night when we all arrived here, we headed out to downtown Wuerzburg (it's just a stone's throw away, literally down about a block and across a very nice footbridge) and had dinner and chatted a while. It's nice to be relaxed; I suppose when I get all of this downtime and general relaxation out of my system I will be able to head out (like some of the guys did tonight) to enjoy the nightlife and everything. For now I'm content to just sit back, write something up for the blog, and do a bit of reading... especially reading that German tutorial book. I guess that I'm very much a guy who likes to know what is going on, etc. so I really find it disquieting when I know absolutely nothing about what is going on. I had never felt quite as lost and alone as when I was waiting for the train to here from Frankfurt. There we were, waiting for the train that we were "pretty sure" was going to come because we "followed" the train info peoples' "directions"...luckily it did and it was good after that. I will definitely be working on some survival German; I just can't stand looking like a total idiot when I have no idea what is going on, or worse yet, when the hostel keeper or other renderer of service simply doesn't speak English and I can't even do anything. Wuerzburg is a really pretty city. The old architecture is really cool, like the bridges that connect two sides of the river that the city lies on. The downtown is nice too -- in the evenings, everyone is just out on the street, walking, sitting in the grass overlooking the river, having drinks on patios...it's really refreshing to see. Hopefully when we move into our 'permanent' place (a month or so from now), I will get an Internet connection so I will be able to actually post updates in real time instead of waiting for being at the lab or something before I can upload.