Lufthansa Strike!

After my last post, I read a quite alarming article.

Lufthansa strike to hit Frankfurt and Hamburg

According to the article above, over 52,000 Lufthansa employees will strike this week, disrupting air travel in many airports around the world. Lufthansa has already cancelled over 100 flights for Tuesday with even more cancellations expected.

My flight for Germany is actually on United but my United flight would be serviced by Lufthansa in Frankfurt. For those of you not familiar with airline alliances, Lufthansa and United are both in the Star Alliance, which is one of the largest alliances in the world. (and my favorite) The airlines are so close, that sometimes they seem indistiguishable from one another.


My United flight doesn't leave for 12 more days so the union and airline have plenty of time to resolve their differences before my flight and the Frankfurt airport can return to being one of largest airports in the world. However, I'm not convinced this strike will end soon as the airport employees are demanding a 9.7% wage increase for all employees to counter inflation. Nearly 10% !!!!! Who gets that kind of money?

I guess I should prepare for strikes at airports. My daily phrase German course even devotes an entire lesson to preparing for train strikes. Since my flight is nearly 2 weeks out, I guess I just have to cross my fingers and hope for the best.

On the road

I said goodbye to Champaign on Sunday. Parting was much harder than I thought it would be. I didn't leave Champaign until after 7pm, nearly 4 hours later than I intended as I kept finding reasons to stay a bit longer. It was hard to leave the town that I chose to call home for 5 years. I will greatly miss my friends and roomate of 5 years.

But enough sadness. I arrived in Bloomington, IN for the 20th Biennial Conference on Chemical Education. http://bcce2008.indiana.edu/
In less than 24 hours I reconnected with my chemical education research advisor, professors from various universities that sabbaticalled with said research advisor, and even former graduate students/postdocs from UIUC. I'm very grateful for going to a school with such a robust alumni unit. I love coming to conferences because I love reconnecting with people and making new connections. Its been very therapuetic.

As I drove away from Champaign, I began to fear that I would not be able to make friends in my new home. However, this conference reminds me how its much more likely that I'll make so many friends that I won't be able to feel lonely again. Only time will tell.

1 more day left

Wow, only 1 more official day in lab and then I leave for a year. This week has been incredibly productive for those tiny things that you always need to get done before leaving town, but incredibly unproductive for actual work. I learned a valuable lesson this summer, write all papers and take care of work that needs actual thought at least three weeks before you leave. By the time the last three weeks arrive, you are too caught up with saying goodbye and tying up loose ends that you can not concentrate for more than 10 minutes at a time. On Wednesday I had to practically lock myself to my computer to write a 2 paragraph abstract for a conference. Now the abstract is 'nearly' done. I just have to make one picture and then submit it.

As one of my final acts before leaving, I had a very detailed meeting with my primary advisor today where we discussed a timeline for my graduation and the work I needed to do in Germany. I was completely surprised when he not only supported my accelerated timeline (graduating within 2 months of returning from Europe), he even considered the possibility that I could even schedule a 'virtual defense'. I would give my final defense in Germany while my thesis committee watched me on a computer screen. :-) As interesting as the idea sounded, I decided that it would probably be easier to visit Champaign for a few weeks and finish up all details. Earlier this year I though I needed a 6 month lease, hoping that I could graduate by December 2009. Now it looks like I may not even stay long enough to justify anything more than a hotel room for a couple of weeks!

I am extremely excited about graduating sooner than expected, but I am saddened by the finality that today's meeting portended. Now when I take the bus home for the night, I realize it may be the last time I take the bus 'home'. My next bus trip may only be to a hotel for the night, or more likely to a friends home to sleep on their couch. I wrote this post on the bus, and now it appears that my bus ride is over...another last moment, gone.

Details make the going tough

26 days until I leave for Germany.

It seems like I still have a while before I leave, but perhaps these numbers make more sense

3 days until I move out of my house
12 days until I leave champaign for a year
21 days until I bid farewell to Andy on US soil

Time flies quickly when you're busy. My desk at home and in lab is covered with post-it notes, detailing all the things I have to do before I leave town. The sheer number of post it notes is overwhelming and causes me to lose motivation. Add in the fact that I'm also trying to sell out my stock of Mary Kay before I leave (help me out by visiting www.marykay.com/chariteach) and give 30 free facials before July 22nd, it makes for one very busy person.

Preparing to go overseas for a year is very very stressful and exciting at the same time. So far, I think I'm managing but I think its because I'm procrastinating. I still haven't even started my presentation for a conference in two weeks and I still have to draft 3 papers before I leave town. I have a draft of one paper, the other two have outlines. I keep thinking that time will just appear out of nowhere or that I will somehow become ubermotivated before I leave. So far, motivation eludes me.

One of the hardest parts of leaving is that I don't know what is going to happen. If you know me, you know that I love to plan and plan for contingencies if the first plan fails. I have no idea what my expenses will look like next year, how I can find time to visit the grocery store when the lab is on the top of the hill, or how I'm going to learn Quantum Mechanics in a language I can barely understand! I try to remind myself that I will survive, even if I have to eat Mensa food for lunch every day (2 Euros for a 3 course meal) or if I fail Quantum Mechanics (my grade will not transfer back to the University anyways).

My research advisors obviously think I can handle a year abroad or they wouldn't have written the application letters. My fiance is convinced that next year will be absolutely amazing, despite the fact we will be seperated by an ocean for another year. Deep down, I believe them and I believe that the next year will be exciting as well. I could continue more on that thought, but the army of post-it notes is threatening to invade unless I start taking them out one by one. Hopefully next time I post, the army will be reduced by a battalion or two. :-)