Regrets, or "A New Beginning."

My blog has been pitifully abandoned, and for that, I am sorry. There was so much left to be told, and I've forgotten so much. Therefore, I am making a promise to the two people who read this (Hey, Mom and Dad!) to update at least once a week. I'd say more than that, but, come on. I know I'm not going to post something about a day when I sleep in and don't leave my room. No one wants to read that. Or write it, for that matter.

My trip has just been thrown together this year. I wasn't able to take Germ 304 because of my migraine, so I was encouraged to go to Germany to satisfy that credit and to brush up my German skillz to prepare myself for upper level classes and then a semester in the country. All good and well--I applied, got in, had a heart upon seeing the tuition in dollars instead of Euros...the usual. Then came time to buy plane tickets.

Booking flights is not pleasant for anyone, I don't think, except the CEOs who are raking in money like nobody's business. You can try online, but not all the flights are there. You can go to a travel site and end up flying Air Canada to Germany. You can spend hours on the phone with the airline directly AND work with your computer. I chose the third option. I had nothing to do that day except a chapter of geology, and, by damn, I was ready to buy my ticket to Germany. Many, many hours, transfers, menus and technicians (all with bouncing accents that led me to believe that their names were not "Pam" and "James"), I not only had no ticket, but also had become uncomfortably familiar with the hold music. I was at my wit's end. Why was there no way for me to fly out of the country's capital? Why did I have to ride the train for 6 hours to Amsterdam? Why does every flight have to suck so much? And what if they don't have gluten free meals? It took two more phone chats that began mid morning and ended in the early afternoon, but I finally got my damn ticket. The flights are decent--nothing too early or too late, no random connections in Kenosha, Wisconsin--and I was assured that the airline would (most likely) provide something gluten free (maybe).

I took a much-needed break from trip-planning after that; however, when I did start reading about where to stay and in which ho(s)tels to stay, I was immediately met with a problem. I was feeling especially continental as I read about a hostel in German, and I clicked the rates calendar. I typed in the dates we'd be staying there, how many people, what kind of room. An e-mail almost instantaneously arrived; turns out, it was thanking me for reserving with them and that they look forward to meeting me. Whoops.

So now I at least have something to show for my trip: plane tickets that aren't unbearable (but are free--thank you, Skymiles!), a meal to eat on the plane (maybe), and a reservation at a hostel I looked up because it has a bar and pretty bathrooms. This is shaping up to be an interesting trip.

Peace,
Eli