Sorry, but since I have limited access here in Germany (or at-least so far), my posts won’t be very visual. I am posting via email, and I am not quite sure how to include pictures, nor do I have any good maps or pictures to include without the internet.
Anyway, I am here in Hannover. Yeah! The other four members of the team will not come until Friday because their visas are for then. Since I am American, I don’t need a visa, so they sent me ahead to take care of all the shipments when they arrive Thursday morning. I am a little nervous I am going to screw something up, but then again how hard can it be? I just need to find the electrical technician, and confirm our power order, and then move the power cables to the right place. Find our truck, and unload the 15 boxes in the right order. That is first the boxes with our stand need to be unloaded. Then I have to lay the carpet and place the boxes containing our compressors in all the right places since you have to pay for each use of the forklift beyond the first. Of course we didn’t send a protective plastic layer to put over the carpet until show time, so I have to find a place in Germany to buy it, and then put that down too. I have all of customs paperwork incase there are any problems. Although I don’t have to, I imagine I will start setting up the stand by myself on Friday since the others won’t arrive until the afternoon.
All that doesn’t amount to the truly intimidating task that lies before me at this very moment. I am sitting in a biergarten (beer garden - it is exactly what it sounds like, sit in a garden and drink beer) somewhere in Hannover. Normally, I am very good at remembering places and navigating metros and things like that. When I got here, I immediately went running for a few kilometers and found my way back no problem. I found my way to the fair ground no problem. I made my way to the city center no problem. My year abroad has made me very good at navigating Western European cities. This time however, I made one very bad mistake. A very bad mistake.
I didn’t sleep very much last night because we had a meeting that ran until 1030 or 11pm about the fair, then I had to watch the Manchester United Game until 1am or so (Man U beat Rome 7-1!!!!!!!!!!!!! ). I got up at 6 to go to the airport so today I have not been 100%, and therefore my mistake is not completely unjustified. For all you future adventurers out there, I cannot stress this enough: it is so so so important to know what stop in the public transportation system that your accommodations are at (or at-least in what part of the city you live) Yes, I did indeed forget where I am staying. I would actually have no idea which line it was on if I didn’t have a small note saying which lines to take to get to the fair ground. I am hoping when I take the tram back, I will recognize the red store, or the penny markt that I remember are near where I am staying. If not, I am sure I will be able to figure something out; I am rarely one to worry about things like this. It’s just, I have never made this mistake before, and it’s funny. Fortunately, I have a backup plan.
P. S. On a side note, I bought some flower pots, and some seeds, and some potting soil. I am hoping to grow some spices on the porch, and maybe buy a few hanging pots for out there (make it a little more like home). If anyone has any suggestions for a vine plant that will grow down from a flower pot and does well in a lot of sun, let me know. I also want to get a plants for my room, which has a new apartment smell that I hate. I want it to smell like earth, or dirty clothes (like my room in New York). Unfortunately, I don’t have enough junk yet to cover the floor of my room.
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