Almost Home

I only have a few moments here while waiting for my final flight from Chicago to Indianapolis.  I am very tired and was not able to sleep much on the flight from Munich.  Those international jets are huge.  I would estimate that the one I was on held 450 easy.  Getting from the arrival gate to the departure gate is crazy here.  I bet if you add all the time it took to get form plane to plane for my previous 3 flights it would not equal this leg of my journey.  No matter, I am here now at my gate and ready to get home to my wife an kids who will be anticipating my arrival in about 90 minutes.  I am looking forward to seeing them of course but right now my body is only yearning for my bed.  I am probably 3 hours away from that at the time of writing this blog (there is no free wi-fi here so who knows when I will have the work laptop booted up again to post my last few blogs.  Well, college basketball is on the TV here in terminal B21 so I think I will log off for now.

Jon

Two Flights To Go

Well I have an hour to kill here in Munich.  There were announcements on the plane that passengers on flights going to the US might experience delays as the security process was time consuming.  I am not sure what they are talking about as I flew through what few checkpoints there were.  Perhaps since I am a US citizen or on a connecting flight (or both) that warning did not apply.  Either way, I sit here in gate H08 with my fellow Chicago bound passengers killing time.

I arrived at the Bucharest airport about 90 minutes before my flight (which was the recommendation of my co-workers here).  I did not have a boarding pass so I had to get in the long line to check my luggage.  I was behind 20 or so Japanese (I think) men who were all travelling together as a group.  It seemed that only a few of them spoke English so the process of getting their luggage checked (and there was a lot of luggage) took a while.  Then it was on to the Romanian version of TSA.  I was still behind the gaggle of Japanese travelers and trying to explain that belts must be taken off and that laptops had to be out of their bags was (to say the least) interesting to watch.  Once they were through, I flew through and then needed to decide what to spend my extra Romanian currency on.  I wanted to bring some home of course but not all of it.  I settled on (after applying the exchange rate in my head) a $3+ bottle of water and a $2+ candy bar.  Use it or lose it I guess (well not “lose it” since I would still have it but since Romanian currency is not much good in the US it might as well be true).

After in the air, the flight attendants (who were impressively multi-lingual) served us some sort of sandwich (ham, I think, I didn’t ask as I was hungry and was not going to be picky) and then drinks.  In all domestic flights I have been on, you could pay for beer or wine (or something stronger) but there was a fee.  On the way over her and on this flight there appeared to be no charge.  I did not matter as I just wanted coffee (plus, how could I choose the right wine if I didn’t know what I was eating?).

This upcoming flight to Chicago is a doozy clocking in at 10 minutes shy of 10 hours.  Then I have 2 hours in Chicago and then a 1 hour flight to Indianapolis.  I have to check my baggage and go through customs in Chicago so I am glad to have the 2 hours just in case.

Well it appears that boarding is getting ready to be announced so I had better finish this up.

Jon

Time To Go

Well, my week here is almost over.  In about an hour I will hop in a taxi and head to the Bucharest International Airport and begin the journey home.  I will save last night’s activities for another blog (spoiler alert, it involves my first attempt at karaoke).

I am really tired.  This 41 year old body could probably not last another day.  These folks were just too young for me.  I tried to keep up and pretend that I could do so.  I hope my facade worked.  In about 18 hours I should be in the arms of my wife and kids.  My flight into Indianapolis should arrive around 11 pm and this tired traveler will be back home again in Indiana.

I think we accomplished everything we wanted to accomplish this week here and made many new friends and memories.  Thank you to all my hosts.  I will not forget my time here (and those of you who were at the karaoke bar with me will likely NOT allow me to forget it).

Jon

Happy Wives Happy Lives

I have explained my motto to all the young people we are working with over here in Bucharest.  My motto is really “Happy Wife, Happy Life” so let me explain the plurality of the title of this blog.

I think I have blogged in the past how I deal with ordering food at a restaurant when dining with my wife.  Basically I let here order (2) things that sound good to her and then (after she has tasted both) she tells me which is mine and which is hers.  This has left me at a slight disadvantage when I am eating out with a group of people that does NOT include my wife.  I am at a loss of what to order as over time I have lost this skill.  After I explained this to our hosts, they each decided they would take turns being my “wife” when we are at a restaurant.  One such wife is Alex…

Here we are last night at a nice Italian restaurant.  Alex has offered this service at lunch each day (other than the first day when there was a catered lunch).  He has not steered me wrong and he even allows me to make suggestions and (as a bonus) he does not ask to take a bite of my food with the intent of swapping plates with me.  It is now a running joke each time we enter a restaurant, “Who will be Jon’s wife tonight?”  They are having a little fun at my expense.

The penne pasta with arrabiata sauce was good as was the appetizers, wine and desert (tiramisu).  There were about a dozen of us and we had a very good time and spent several hours together.  These late nights are taking a toll on my 41 year old body though and I only have (maybe) one more night in me before I collapse.  I am looking forward to being home and getting back to normal (oh, and getting my REAL wife back).

Jon

Down To Business

Today I got to speak to the team here for the first time.  That it to say I was presenting in a training session.  I have gained a lot of confidence since I last did live training in Cordoba 4 years ago.  Tomorrow most of the day I will be speaking / training / answering questions.  Tomorrow is the reason why I was invited to come on this trip so I hope I can perform well.

I have blogged before about my habits of ordering food at a restaurant.  Typically I let the wife order 2 things that sound good to her and after she has tasted them both, she decides what she will have (and by elimination, what I will have).  I discovered this week that I have lost the ability to order for myself.  Couple the language barrier with this fact and you will see that I simply had to allow Alex (a worker here) to pick something for me while I was going through the line at the cafeteria here…

 

I think this was some sort of cabbage wrapped around some kind of meat.  The yellow piles is some sort of corn thingy.  It was good and I ate it all.  The one thing I did choose for myself was my drink and the Schweppes Bitter Lemon that I selected was something that I do not think I will try again.

After a long afternoon session, some of the team met us at a local place and (once again) I has someone to order for me.  The lady who did this was not with us at lunch and looked confused as to why she was asked to do this strange thing (I did not ask this but rather it was the person who ordered my lunch).  I think they were having fun with me…

This is ribs with potatoes and pickles / pickled red peppers.  The meat was a little tough but it hit the spot.  Eventually she ordered dessert as well (some sort of flan).  Most of the team was drinking plenty of beer and some were smoking.  I just sat back and enjoyed the conversation and tried to answer questions about America (including a few about The Young And The Restless).  It is always funny to hear what interests people about my country.  After a quick taxi trip back to the hotel we all agreed to meet for breakfast at a certain time tomorrow morning.

I am having a good time and trying to take it all in.  Today is my wedding anniversary (and I think the first one that the wife and I have been apart).  I was able to call her twice today (using Skype) and we will be together in a little over 3 days.  I miss the kids as well and they are both ready for me to be home already.

Jon

A Nice First Day

So I have been here in Bucharest for more than a day.  Last night we ate at a restaurant located here within the hotel, Benihana.  For those of you who do not know, it is a hibachi type Japanese restaurant.  Nothing special really and a little overpriced.  But we were all tired and hungry so it hit the spot.

This morning we took a taxi for about 30 minutes to the local office and after getting our badges registered to work with the card readers here it was off to the cubicles and meeting room that they reserved for us for the day.  We had a nice time and a catered lunch followed by some introductory meetings.  We got a map drawn up for us and after 30 minutes at the hotel to freshen up a bit we were off to the town.  We wandered around downtown until we found a restaurant to our liking and then settled in for a great dinner.  I had some pork steak with a wonderful red wine sauce with mashed potatoes…

Really, that sauce was very good.  As we headed out of the restaurant the doorman and the chef were hanging out just outside the restaurant so we were able to express our love for his food.  We then headed downtown toward the Palace of the Parliament…

My camera is not really high quality enough to do this awesome building justice.  We then flagged down some taxis and caught a ride back to the hotel.  It is 1 am local time so I need to get to bed but it was a very nice day overall.  I am looking forward to tomorrow.

Jon

What a View

When last I left you I was at the airport waiting for my co-workers to arrive.  They did.  After a nice long taxi drive to the Howard Johnsons where we are staying we checked in and agreed to meet back down in the lobby at 6.  This gave us 2 or so hours to shower and brush our teeth (something we all agreed that we needed).  I got up to my 18th floor room (the top floor) and immediately began taking pictures.

You see, my son is really into hotels and hotel rooms for some reason.  I have found it easier lately just to send him pictures rather than endure the endless questions from him on the phone.  Here is one pic that I will send to him…

 

This is the view from my window.  This reminds me of the view from my window 4 years ago while I was in Cordoba.  The window is set back in a deep recess…

…so deep in fact that I can stretch out my legs.  Did I mention that this photo was taken pre-shower and after travelling for 18 or so hours?  Well I wish I had more time right now to tell you about dinner last night but it is time to head down to breakfast.

Jon

I Have Arrived

Greetings from Bucharest.  The 2 1/2 hour flight from Frankfurt to here was uneventful and I cannot tell you how relieved I was to see my luggage come down the belt.  Next for me is a short wait for my Argentinean co-worker to land (in about 5 minutes from her layover in Rome) and then my fellow American co-workers should arrive (from their layover in London) in another half an hour.  Getting through customs was almost so fast I missed it.  The security person did stare long and hard at my passport photo and then me and then the photo and then me.  This went on for at least a minute and then with a quick stamp in my passport I was through.  No free wifi here so this blog post (like the one from Frankfurt) will have to wait for later.  Well I do not want to sit here too long as I want to be ready to greet my Argentinean friend when she arrives.

Jon

Somewhat At Home

Greetings from Frankfurt, Germany.  My watch (and my body) tell me that it is 4 am but all the clocks on the walls here say 9 am.  My 8 hour flight from Toronto was great.  I got a late dinner on the flight that consisted of a very hot penne pasta with minimal sauce, a dinner roll with butter, some sort of salad that contained some vegetables that I could not identify and some sort of apple desert.  It was satisfactory and did the job of causing my hunger to go away.  Even though I was in economy class, each seat had its own touch screen monitor with a large selection of music, tv shows, and movies.  I actually watched The Social Network while eating dinner and True Grit (half before falling asleep and the other half with the light breakfast that was served (fruit salad, some sort of breakfast par and a small loaf of sweet bread).  I caught a break (I think) in that the seat next to me was empty.  I had the aisle seat next to the seat by the window.  This allowed a little extra room but did rob me the chance of getting to know a new person.  The middle seats were staggered with the window seats so the layout did not lend itself to making new friends.  All instructions were given in German and English and all the flight crew (including the captain) made live announcements in both languages (I was impressed).  I was also impressed with the touch screen in my seat.  It had (among many other things too numerous to mention) overview videos of all the major airports that this airline (Lufthansa) flew in and out of regularly.

One thing that was strange to me was the departing of the plane.  Once we landed and taxied for a bit, we departed the plane down a portable stairway and to the outside.  We then got onto large shuttles that took us the the main terminals.  I don’t think I have exited (or entered) a plane in this manner in about 20 years.  Maybe I am just spoiled but I found it very exciting and the fresh air was nice.  We were packed into the shuttle like cattle and the ride to the terminal seemed like it was going to go on forever but eventually we arrived at the terminal 1.  From there we had to go through another security check that involved scanners.  Unlike the US, I got to keep my shoes on at least but these folks here are very thorough.  Almost every bag that went through had to be opened and inspected.  They seemed to know what they were doing and were very methodic.  A few moments later I was on my way to my terminal and to the writing of this blog.  Internet here at Frankfurt is not free so posting this blog will have to wait a bit.  I should be in Bucharest, Romania in 4 hours or so.  My co-workers arrive from 30 to 60 minutes after me so I will have a wait there as well.  I am still hopeful my luggage will be there waiting for me like Nick (from Indianapolis) promised me.

I mentioned in the blog title that I am somewhat at home here in Germany but that is only true in that my last name (Dieterman) is German.  I half think that some airline employee will assume that this would mean that I speak German.  I guess we will see if that comes up.

Jon

Already International

So it is around 6 pm eastern time and I am in the Toronto Pearson airport with about 60 minutes to kill.  My next flight is over (8) hours long and will take me from here to Frankfurt, Germany.  The flight from Indianapolis to here was uneventful.  It took off on time and though the plane was one of the smallest craft I have ever flown on (something my wife definitely did not know or else she might have forbade me to come) all went well.  I was in seat 2C so that put me in the very front of the plane and I was seated next to a Canadian lady who was married to a man from Indiana.  We spoke off and on during the hour long flight and I learned that fifteen years ago she lived in Ecuador for a year and a half with her husband and children.  No special reason was given other than they thought it would be a good experience.  From what I good gather, they rented their house out in Canada and from the profits could live nicely in Ecuador.  The flight ended quickly and we wished each other well.  She still had another flight within Canada and so we parted ways where the local and international flight paths split.

One thing I remember about being in Argentina (and even Chile at the airport) 4 years ago was feeling very out of place due to others not speaking English around me.  I somewhat remember feeling very helpless and slightly embarrassed that I could not even speak simple phrases in Spanish.  I assumed this feeling would return when I hit Germany and eventually Romania.  What I did not figure was that it would start in Canada.  The instructions on the plane were spoken both in French and English and the tv blaring over my head at this moment in the terminal is also part French.  Since I am flying to Germany where many connecting flights to other countries will depart, my fellow passengers could be from anywhere and I do not recognize some of the languages all around me.  That helpless feeling is beginning even in Canada, so close to the US.

The wifi here in Toronto (unlike in Indianapolis) is free so I am able to post my blog written from Indy and also this one.  Not much has happened since that blog so I guess I will wrap this up for now.  I will chat with you all in Europe.

Jon

Up Up and Away

Well, I have an hour or more to kill here at the new Indianapolis International airport.  I have never traveled internationally going east and west.  My trip (4) years ago to Argentina was strictly north and south.  I did not have to deal with much of a time zone change or with flying over any oceans so this trip to Romania will give me experience in both.  I woke up this morning at 3:30 (actually Oreo decided he wanted to go out).  After his return to the house, I decided to stay up anyway though I did nod on and off while on the couch waiting for 6 am to arrive so I could make the coffee and wake up the wife.

I started packing for my trip around 9 or so (nothing like waiting until the last minute) and other than almost giving up on my 2nd pair of jeans that I wanted to take (I found them after the luggage was already in the van) all went well.  The trip to the airport (75 minutes or so) went well and we all enjoyed some final moments together as the foursome that constitutes our immediate family.  The wife and kids did good and were not overly emotional when dropping me off and I quickly made my way to the United Airlines ticket counter.  It was there I met Nick, the behind the counter guy that I had to use as the self service computers did not like that I was switching to another airline in Toronto so I had to rely on Nick.  Nick didn’t seem to have it all together as he was asking ME for airport codes (which I did not have).  But, after another attendant jumped in to help, my single bag was checked and I had all (3) of my boarding passes (from Indy to Toronto, Toronto to Frankfurt and then from Frankfurt to Bucharest).  Nick was able to calm one fear, namely that I would have to seek out and re-check my 30lb luggage at every stop.  He assured me that my bag would be there when I was (Nick, I hope you are right [though I always carry an extra pair of underwear in my carry on just in case {yes, I know that might be too much information}])

The TSA experience was uneventful (just the way I had hoped) and after I put everything back in my pockets and put my shoes back on, I was on my way to the terminal to kill some time (and write this blog).  I think I will log off and find a place to relax with my headphones.  I do not have internet access here (or that is to say I don’t want to pay for it) so I am not sure when this blog will post.

Jon